“On the Barricades” – s04e09
Social media and the constant commercialization imperatives of journalistic discourse have made the public receptive to very simplistic narratives. The war is no exception. The media narrative pushed in the public arena is that of the “real” man—advancing his agenda (Vladimir Putin) or bravely defending his country (Zelensky). As the violent invasion of Ukraine continues, the Romanian public sphere is dominated by narratives in which we have a powerful hero or anti-hero.
In this episode of On the Barricades, Maria Cernat presented some of these narratives, showing how Romanian right-wingers are ready to project onto Vladimir Putin the kind of masculinity they aspire to, displaying a love/hate relationship with the Russian leader, while progressive and liberal circles seem quite taken by the image of Zelensky, the hero that is supposed to save not just Ukraine, but the whole world from the Russians!
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Boyan Stanislavski (Poland) and Maria Cernat (Romania) make a regular video podcast, in which they discuss various developments in Poland, Romania and the region. The work title of their podcast is On the Barricades.