Berger, Viktor:

Tinder, or the Mediatisation of Dating

This paper looks into the experiences of Tinder users from a materialist phenomenological perspective and in the context of the mediatisation of dating. The affordances of the application are created by a dynamic interplay between the properties of the user interface, the algorithm of the application, and the perceptions of the users. The user experience of Tinder is characterised by the dominance of visuality, speed, (self-)objectifying tendencies, and an atmosphere of cynicism and boredom. The application evinces the dualisms of reflexivity vs. impulsivity, superficiality vs. depth, and instrumentality vs. the desire for relationships conceived as authentic. Even so, some users are capable of relying on their existing real life knowledge and hence to counter the negative tendencies of the application. Albeit in a general and unsystematic way, this paper also attempts to provide some theoretical considerations for future empirical analyses of the Hungarian context.

Keywords: life-world, mediatisation, online dating, Tinder

Benedek, István:

The Rise of a Hybrid Media System

This paper studies the rise and functioning of Hungary’s anti-pluralist hybrid media system under the Orbán Regime, placing it in the broader context of the country’s transformation into a populist electoral autocracy (PEA). It analyses how institutional changes and media manipulation strategies such as partisan media regulation, biased state advertising, and third-party campaigns have enabled the government to extend its control over the public discourse. By the late 2010s, the regime had achieved overwhelming media dominance, which fostered self-censorship, anticipatory obedience, media capture, asymmetric parallelism, and the erosion of media independence, all under the guise of formal media freedom. This paper also explores the implications of these developments for media polarisation and autocratic resilience, emphasising how government-controlled discourse and partisan audiences undermine informed decision-making and accountability, thereby securing electoral success and sustaining public support for the regime. Finally, it highlights potential challenges to the system’s resilience in the mid-2020s amid emerging international and domestic pressures, which could significantly impact the future of Hungary’s media landscape.

Keywords: autocratic stabilisation, Hungary, hybridisation, media system, Orbán regime, populism

Tóth, Zoltán János:

Platformisation and movie stars

This study examines the relationship between platformised entertainment and post-millennial film culture with a focus on the mediatisation and representational critique of contemporary film stars. It assesses the impact of blockchain technology on film production, distribution, and marketing, and explores the consequences of the transformation of the media environment surrounding film stars for the film industry. It places particular emphasis on the competition between the film industry and social media platforms in the context of the emergence of new types of celebrities and star regimes. This examination of competition situates the study at the intersection of media studies and film studies. It has a dual purpose: on one hand, it provides insights into film consumption, reconditioned as a result of technological paradigm shifts and, on the other, it offers perspectives to revisit star theory approaches.

Keywords: celebrity, platform, star, star studies, streaming

Keszeg, Anna:

Trash, Post-Soviet Aesthetics, Craftsmanship

This paper analyses the labels of global visual culture in general, and in the fashion industry in particular, with regard to Eastern Europe. It is to develop a framework of criteria that exposes techniques of colonisation and self-colonisation. It explores five visual stylistic layers, including trash, folk motifs, post-Soviet aesthetics, brutalism, and DIY culture. These categories have been defined and refined using generative artificial intelligence. Each phenomenon is examined through a representative case study. It also addresses the ‘New East’ label, which reflects on these labelling practices as a kind of forceful concept. The analysis seeks to uncover the dynamics between banal Eastern Europeanism and self-colonisation.

Keywords: Eastern Europeanism, folk, self-colonisation, trash, visual styles

Maksa, Gyula – Murányi, Kata:

Migration in Birgit Weyhe’s Graphic Novel Madgermanes

In the decade following 1979, more than 16,000 guest workers arrived in the GDR from Mozambique. Three of them are the protagonists of Birgit Weyhe’s graphic novel Madgermanes (2016) in which they recount their stories about the difficulties of integration and their struggles in search of a home. The graphic novel portrays migration experiences and cultural shock primarily through the lens of 1980s popular and urban culture, making it a fitting example of an Afropolitan work that participates in the emerging canon of world graphic literature.

Keywords: graphic novel, cultural shock, Madgermanes, migration, GDR

Ármeán, Otília:

Moving Images and Projections on Stage

This paper looks into the dramaturgical/semiotical meanings of still images, moving images, film extracts, and videos projected and transmitted on the surfaces of screens, canvases and stage elements, with a focus on their role in reception and their significance in the media apparatus. In the context of general and deep mediatisation, the use of theatrical moving images and the application of various techniques of representation can provide the spectator with a key to develop his or her own version, his or her own proposal for interpretation. The proposed relations between the cinematographic content and the different layers of meaning of the performance are exemplified via the interpretation of two performances from Târgu Mureș, both directed by Radu Afrim.

Keywords: canvas, projected image, screen, theatre, video inserts