Soldiers on Screen and in the News: Military Heroism, Belonging, and the Politics of Identity in Post-Communist Eastern European Media (2000–2024)
This article analyzes how media representations in post-communist Romania, Poland, and the Czech Republic (2000–2024) construct an unstable "soldier-hero" figure through the interplay of fictional and journalistic narratives, revealing how residual ethnic nationalism and Euro-Atlantic aspirations coexist to shape competing national identities and claims of belonging.