Shopping Frenzies and Addiction to Pleasure?
American Pop Culture in Poland
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
The triumphal procession of American pop culture in East Central Europe is not a phenomenon of the post-1989 era, but picks up on established cultural norms and values. In Poland, U.S. products and symbols were mythologised and idealised throughout the interwar era and remained present, at least in the popular imagination, during the East-West conflict. America’s popular and consumer culture is not only attractive because it is so accessible and appearance-oriented, but also because its individualism satisfies a deep longing of people in post-socialist society.
(Osteuropa 1/2011, pp. 265–279)