The Post-Soviet Public Sphere: Multimedia Sourcebook of the 1990s

FAIN: RZ-266168-19

New York University (New York, NY 10012-1019)
Maya Vinokour (Project Director: December 2018 to present)

Preparation of a digital collection of bilingual scholarly essays and an open access website with 500 Russian-language multimedia artifacts created just before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, between 1986 and 2000. (36 months)

Many features of the present geopolitical moment - from international election hacking to the proliferation of "fake news" and "alternative facts" on social media - trace their roots to the media landscape of the post-Soviet 1990s. A group of seven collaborators headed by the project director seeks NEH funding to improve and expand an existing digital project entitled "The Post-Soviet Public Sphere: Multimedia Sourcebook of the 1990s" (http://www.postsoviet90s.com). The proposed sourcebook will consist of a digital collected volume networked with 500 Russian-language print media, television, Web and radio artifacts dating to the "long 1990s," which began in 1986 with Mikhail Gorbachev's policy of "openness [glasnost]" and ended with the election of President Vladimir Putin in 2000. By investigating the rise and fall of Russia's only public sphere to date, our sourcebook will offer insight into the period's ongoing impact on global media and political history.

Associated Products

The Post-Soviet Public Sphere: Multimedia Sourcebook of the 1990s (Database/Archive/Digital Edition)
Title: The Post-Soviet Public Sphere: Multimedia Sourcebook of the 1990s
Author: Maya Vinokour
Author: Pavel Khazanov
Author: Bradley Gorski
Author: Rita Safariants
Author: Fabrizio Fenghi
Author: Daniil Leiderman
Author: Courtney Doucette
Author: Thomas Keenan
Abstract: This project investigates the rise and fall of Russia's independent mediasphere during the "long 1990s," the period between the start of Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost reforms in 1985 and Vladimir Putin's rise to the Russian presidency in 2000. Scroll and click to explore the encounter of mainstream and fringe, of ideologues and idealists, of dazzling creativity and rank commercialism in post- Soviet Russophone print, television, Web 1.0, and radio media, as well as the domains of performance and material culture. By preserving, interrogating, and re-interpreting key artifacts from the first post-Soviet decade, our curated collection sheds light on a remarkable, if short-lived, period in recent Russian history and offers insight into its long legacy in the global present.
Year: 2024
Primary URL: http://postsoviet90s.com
Primary URL Description: Click here to access the Multimedia Sourcebook of the Russian 1990s.
Access Model: Open access

Russian Media Cultures of the 1990s: Inventing the Post-Soviet Public Sphere (Book)
Title: Russian Media Cultures of the 1990s: Inventing the Post-Soviet Public Sphere
Author: Maya Vinokour (editor and author)
Author: Bradley Gorski (author)
Author: Courtney Doucette (author)
Author: Fabrizio Fenghi (author)
Author: Rita Safariants (author)
Author: Daniil Leiderman (author)
Author: Thomas Keenan
Author: Pavel Khazanov
Editor: Maya Vinokour
Abstract: Many features of today’s global media environment—from the pervasive atmosphere of political “virtuality” to the proliferation of disinformation and conspiracy theory—found early and potent expression in the media landscape of the Russian 1990s. Post-Soviet Russian society emerged simultaneously with an explosion of new media, especially a newly liberated broadcast, cable, and satellite television and the fledgling Internet. This volume and the accompanying online sourcebook interpret Russian-language print, video, audio, and Web 1.0 media, along with select elements of performance and material culture, dating to the “long 1990s.” This period begins in the late 1980s, when Mikhail Gorbachev introduced his signature policy of glasnost (“publicity” or “openness”), and ends with Putin’s rise to the Russian presidency in 2000. We are especially interested in tracking the origins and assessing the implications of the media’s “Wild West”-like atmosphere during this period, investigating vectors of influence among popular culture, commercial advertising, political journalism, and nascent social media. As a joint platform, this volume and the sourcebook present the media culture of the Russian 1990s as simultaneously rooted in (pre-)Soviet history, and deeply influential on the global present.
Year: 2025
Publisher: Amherst College Press
Type: Edited Volume
Copy sent to NEH?: No

---