Upcoming Event: Seminar by Dr. Ilaria Sicari about FEC’s book programs (1954-91)

In 1954, the Free Europe Committee (FEC) launched its first program for sending printed materials (leaflets, books, magazines, journals, postcards, stickers etc.) from the West to the Eastern bloc by-passing the ideological and geopolitical border traced by the Iron Curtain. The “balloon program” lasted until 1956, when it was substituted by two different operations – the “mailing program” and the “person-to-person program” – both active until 1991, when their existence became obsolete after the collapse of the USSR and the democratisation of Socialist satellite countries.

In this seminar, Dr. Ilaria Sicari will explore the aims to assess to which extent the Cold War culture was shaped through book diplomacy and soft power, as well as to showcase how the use of digital tools in historical research could improve the studies in the humanities, allowing a deeper and wider understanding of complex socio-cultural phenomena. Her research interests include various areas such as Comparative literature, Translation studies, Reception studies, and the Cultural and Intellectual history of Soviet Russia. In the Slavonic field, she is interested in Soviet and Eastern European literary institutions, censorship, cultural policies, unofficial literature (samizdat and tamizdat), cultural Cold War, dissent and human rights movements. Since 2012 her translations and articles have been published in a number of books and international scientific journals.

We look forward to seeing you there!