Most items in the library catalog are indexed by country. In addition, try these regional search terms:
Socialist Fun by
Most narratives depict Soviet Cold War cultural activities and youth groups as drab and dreary, militant and politicized. In this study Gleb Tsipursky challenges these stereotypes in a revealing portrayal of Soviet youth and state-sponsored popular culture. Tsipursky provides a fresh and original examination of the Kremlin's paramount effort to shape young lives, consumption, popular culture, and to build an emotional community--all against the backdrop of Cold War struggles to win hearts and minds both at home and abroad.
Overkill by
Perestroika and the end of the Soviet Union transformed every aspect of life in Russia, and as hope began to give way to pessimism, popular culture came to reflect the anxiety and despair felt by more and more Russians. Borenstein argues that the popular cultural products consumed in the post-perestroika era were more than just diversions; they allowed Russians to indulge their despair over economic woes and everyday threats.
The Socialist Sixties by
In this volume socialist societies in the Second World (the Soviet Union, East European countries, and Cuba) are the springboard for exploring global interconnections and cultural cross-pollination between communist and capitalist countries and within the communist world. Themes explored include flows of people and media; the emergence of a flourishing youth culture; sharing of songs, films, and personal experiences through tourism and international festivals; and the rise of a socialist consumer culture and an esthetics of modernity.
The Library has a rich collection of scholarship on Slavic and Eastern European film, as well as a large collection of films in the catalog and available to stream via Kanopy. The books, journals, and resources linked below will get you started. Be sure to search the catalog for resources on cinema of the specific countries you are interested in.
The BFI Companion to Eastern European and Russian Cinema by 
Cinema of the Other Europe by 
Cinemas in Transition in Central and Eastern Europe after 1989 by 
You can find Eastern European comics in the Library catalog best by doing a general subject search for "comic books, strips, etc." or "graphic novels" and then using the menu at the right to filter by country, region, or language. Use the links below to find more Eastern European comics on the web.
Image: Comic book cover by Polish artist Marzena Sowa, via Eastern European Comics.
Komiks by The Russian punk band Pussy Riot has made international headlines with their protests against Putin's regime, resulting in beatings, arrests, imprisonment of band members. The full documentary Pussy Riot: The Movement (previewed below) is available to stream for free via Kanopy. Check out the other resources below to learn more about popular music in Eastern Europe.
Popular Music in Eastern Europe by 
Hip Hop at Europe's Edge by 
The Humorless Ladies of Border Control by 
For recommendations of contemporary works of Slavic SFF in English, start here: Five Slavic SFF Novels You Should Have On Your Shelves.
Learn more about the history of Slavic fantasy with this essay on Russian "Fantastica," originally published in the Australian journal "The Mentor." A keyword search for "fantastika" in the Library catalog returns mainly Russian language results.
Reading for Entertainment in Contemporary Russia by 
Subversive Imaginations by Science fiction in Russia has origins in the 18th century, with a tradition of utopian and dystopian fiction, and eventually grew into an extensive literature in the late 19th and 20th centuries, encompassing both literature and film. You can read an overview in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, here.
The Library has 12 volumes of Macmillan's Best of Soviet Science Fiction series, which includes SF novels and short story anthologies in translation, published in English in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
We Modern People by
Science fiction emerged in Russia considerably earlier than its English version and instantly became the hallmark of Russian modernity. We Modern People investigates why science fiction appeared here, on the margins of Europe, before the genre had even been named, and what it meant for people who lived under conditions that Leon Trotsky famously described as "combined and uneven development."
