A lecture by Mari Pajala, Senior Lecturer in Media Studies, University of Turku; Visiting Professor (2015-17) in Finnish Studies and Communication Studies, University of Minnesota

Finnish television history exemplifies that the Cold War era European media landscape was not rigidly divided into two separate ideological camps, but movement and encounters between East and West also significantly shaped European television history. On the one hand, the cross-border viewing of Finnish television with its commercials and American entertainment imports has been mythologized as an influence that undermined Soviet authority in Estonia. On the other hand, both public and commercial television companies in Finland cooperated with broadcasters from socialist countries and imported programming from them. How did connections with socialist television organizations influence television culture in Finland, a country outside of the socialist bloc? How does Finnish television history complicate an East-West binary in European media history?

A Nordic Studies event, co-sponsored by the Department of Scandinavian.

With questions, contact ies@berkeley.edu.