Back to the future? Puzzling transformations of post-Soviet television

Abstract

Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania. The goal of this chapter is to understand the transformations of the post-Soviet television field, while approaching changes in media production and consumption from Bourdieu’s field theory perspective. This aim is achieved through the structural analysis of the Soviet media field and its parameters, including different forms of capital, positions and dispositions, as well as habitus. On the basis of oral history interviews we seek to identify audience memories and critical accounts of the changes in the field of post-Soviet television. Structural analysis of television and public accounts reveal the role of both industry and audience operating within this changing professional field, as it is related to new production standards and practices, as well as changing habitus and cultural capital.