Re/Presenting Europe and Europeans in Twentieth Century Media

Abstract

This special issue of TMG - Journal for Media History examines how historical practices of racialisation structure representations of Europe, Europeanness and belonging in the domain of popular culture. Mainstream media, by which we mean state-sponsored and dominant commercial and publicly accessible radio and television, and widespread print media genres such as newspapers and magazines, have produced and circulated dominant representations of who is European and has a rightful place in Europe. Although the domain of popular culture promises egalitarian and democratic representation, in practice, mainstream coverage of major sporting fixtures and popular music has historically offered simplistic or stereotyping portrayals of the complex and differentiated “othered” groups that contribute to European culture.