Identifying Impressions of Baba Yaga: Navigating the Uses of Attachment and Wonder on Soviet and American Television

The rise of Baba Yaga on international television provides an excellent case study for analyzing viewing practices associated with identification and allegiance. In analyzing Baba Yaga's presence on Soviet and American television, we argue that viewing wonder tales leads to deep and lasting identification, attachment, and allegiance. Baba Yaga's presence and popularity on Russian and American television allows us to explore how forming such deep impressions of a traditional character on television can provide transcultural viewers with tools to navigate between imagination and reality, thus helping them to better understand the ambiguities of life, including transnational cultural politics.