Listening in on the Neighbors
The Reception of German and Austrian Radio in Cold War Czechoslovakia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9643252 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Rosamund Johnston (0000-0003-1589-4994, University of Vienna, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 603-620 |
| Publication date | 2021-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Central European History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0008-9389 • E-ISSN: 1569-1616 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0008938921000054 |
| OpenAlex | W4206488568 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 16 |
In 1966, a Radio Free Europe (RFE) report estimated that seven in ten Czechs and Slovaks listened to Radio Vienna, making it the most popular foreign station in Czechoslovakia. Yet conventional narratives of Western radio in socialist central Europe highlight the role played by runner-up RFE. By focusing on the practice of listening to German-language radio in Czechoslovakia between 1945 and 1969, this article shows that cross-border, German-language listening mattered not only between the Germanies, but also in central Europe, where listening habits were shaped by the region's multilingual heritage. In addition to highlighting German's significance as a language of regional communication, the article reveals the importance of cross-border contacts and the significance of light entertainment in Cold War central Europe. Rather than separating listeners out by citizenship, foreign radio listening fostered solidarities that cut across national boundaries and divided people by generation, geography, class, and technical dexterity instead
Active listening · Archaeology · Citizenship · Cold war · German · Linguistics · Media studies · Narrative · Political science · Sociology · Communication · Eastern European Communism and Reforms · European Cultural and National Identity · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · History · Law
Cold War on the Airwaves
Curtain of Lies
The Greengrocer and His TV
Cleansing the Czechoslovak Borderlands
A Forgotten Spirit of Commercial Television? Co-Productions Between Finnish Commercial Television Company Mainos-Tv and Socialist Television
The practice of everyday life
Moscow Prime Time
Reconstructing Media Culture
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |