Concept of \"Popular citizenship\" as a Theoretical Framework for Studies of Popular Culture in Socialist and Post-socialist Society

Pages	71-75
Keywords	popular citizenship, socialist society, post-socialist society, popular culture, normalization
Citation	REIFOVÁ, Irena. Concept of \"Popular citizenship\" as a Theoretical Framework for Studies of Popular Culture in Socialist and Post-socialist Society. Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae – Historia litterarum. Prague: National Museum, 2010, 55(3-4), 71-75. ISSN 0036-5351. Also available from: https://www.nm.cz/en/periodicals/amnphl/55-3-4/concept-of-popular-citizenship-as-a-theoretical-framework-for-studies-of-popular-culture-in-socialist-and-post-socialist-society

Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae – Historia litterarum | 2010/55/3-4

This theoretical essay explores the possibilities of applying the concept of ,,popular citizenship" to the study of enclaves of agency in the authoritarian socialist system in Czechoslovakia in its ,,normalization" period. It draws on the assumption that some part of the agency was potentially stimulated by the use of popular culture. First, the ways in which the discourse of cultural studies adopted the notion of citizenship (and how it transposed it to the cultural/popular citizenship) is reviewed. Popular citizenship is then defined as the process of becoming aware of the matters in dispute via contents of popular culture. The essay argues that polysemy and semiosis (important ingredients of popular citizenship) did not seize to exist after the authoritarian systems had been established. Popular citizenship is therefore introduced as a subtile but possible compensation for the classical tripartite citizenship in the authoritarian socialism.

Full Text of the Article