Suchergebnisse

"Vladimir Putin's image functions as a political talisman far outside of the borders of his own country. By studying material objects, fan fiction and digital media, this book traces the satirical uses of Putin's public persona, notably how he stands as a foil for other world leaders. It argues that the internet is crucial to the creation of contemporary Putin memorabilia and that these items show a continued political engagement by young people, even as some political scientists and media experts decry what they see as the opposite. The book further addresses the ways in which explicit sexual references about government officials are being used as everyday political commentary in the United States. Turning a critical eye to Putin kitsch shows how the number of such references skyrocketed during the 2016 US Presidential election campaign, and suggests that the phenomenon is likely to still be important when Americans next return to the polls. Finally, the internet makes possible a totally new kind of kitsch - the virtual kind. An examination of how the Russian president's image circulates via memes and parodies, as well as through apps and games, suggests that political culture has become increasingly participatory in the last decade."--

Includes bibliographical references and index

This article tells the story of Emma Burnham Dresser's 1931 voyage on the Soviet icebreaker Malygin. Emma was not interested in Marxism or social experimentation. Nor was she fleeing discrimation or religious persecution. Instead, she wanted an exotic experience; hence, Emma's story introduces a new kind of traveler to the scholarly literature on the history of tourism to the Soviet Union: the wealthy socialite looking for her latest adventure. By focusing on contemporary press coverage of the trip, we can also see how American interpretations of it differ from the narratives offered by Soviet media, and how Emma's actions defied American conceptions of the Arctic as a space where men went to prove their masculinity.