Panel
01 Oct 2026

Stars, Rebels, Misfits. Disputed Role Models in Eastern European Popular Culture

Venue: Friedrich Schiller University Jena
Contact: Matthias Schwartz, Nina Weller
Research project(s): Adjustment and Radicalisation

Panel at the 15. Slavistiktag at Friedrich Schiller University Jena

Popular culture thrives on the production of role models, whether in film, football, fashion, or nonconformist subcultures—they serve as a projection screen for unfulfilled desires, political hopes, and social fears. As celebrities, they embody the dream of wealth and fame; as rebels they represent the longing for change and a new beginning; as misfits they often symbolize alternative lifestyles. But what is the specific popular cultural function of such mostly contradictory and controversial role models in the context of Eastern European societies? How do they differ from Western star cults or state Socialist heroism? What cultural significance is attributed to them in authoritarian regimes, under conditions of war, or in times of increasing nationalism and populism? What emancipatory or transformative potential do they offer? The panel will discuss various examples of such production and distribution of role models in Eastern European popular cultures.

Program

Panel 1

9.00
Chair/response: Matthias Schwartz (ZfL)

  • Anja Burghardt (University of Innsbruck/Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München): Vorbilder & Abweichler in der Zeitschrift Ogonek der späten Sowjetunion
  • Olha Korniienko (Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam): Staging Ukraine: Stars, Misfits, and Contested Role Models through Eurovision Costume and Performance
  • Ulyana Veryna (ZfL/University of Bremen): Nameless Stars and Star Names: A New Wave of Pseudonymity and Anonymity in Belarusian Literature after 2020
  • Nina Weller (ZfL): »Wie die Kosaken …« Reaktivierung und Neuschreibung eines Mythos in der ukrainischen Populärkultur (1970er–2020er Jahre)

Panel 2

11.30
Chair/response:Magdalena Marszałek (University of Potsdam)

  • Stephan Krause (Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe, Leipzig): ›Jetzt oder nie!‹ Oder: Wessen Star ist Sándor Petőfi?
  • Wiktoria Janecko (University of Potsdam): In der Suche nach einem ›positiven Mythos‹: Anna Walentynowicz als ambivalente Ikone der »Solidarność«-Bewegung
  • Manuel Ghilarducci (HU Berlin): Riffs für den umstrittenen Helden. Heroisierungen von Stepan Bandera im ukrainischen Black- und Pagan-Metal