ABSTRACT
The chapter introduces the concept of memory politics and outlines the book’s main argument and objectives. It sketches the development of memory politics as the Russian state has practised it since 1991. This brief discussion of the main trends in governmental policy serves as a necessary introduction and background to the multi-actor analyses in the case studies. The chapter summarises the most important trends in historical programming for both the big and small screens in the years 2000–2012, as well as key developments in state policy regarding television and film production. The final section describes the study’s methodology and outlines the book’s structure.
