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Feel-Bad Euro Noir : Imagining Europe from its Eastern Edge in the Polish HBO TV series The Border (Wataha)

Mrozewicz, Anna LU (2025) In Palgrave Studies in European Communication Research and Education p.289-316
Abstract
This chapter explores the HBO-produced Polish television series The Border (Wataha 2014–2019). The series is examined as an example of what the author terms feel-bad Euro-noir. The analysis delves into the complex use of locations, particularly the Bieszczady Mountains, and the depiction of the Polish-Ukrainian border, which marks the eastern edge of the European Union. These settings are dissected for their layered portrayal, showing how they draw on entrenched stereotypes in Polish cultural imagination whilst also serving as a bleak metaphor for contemporary Europe. The chapter combines an aesthetic, narrative, and cultural analysis of the series’ spatial representation with an account of the political and media-political context in... (More)
This chapter explores the HBO-produced Polish television series The Border (Wataha 2014–2019). The series is examined as an example of what the author terms feel-bad Euro-noir. The analysis delves into the complex use of locations, particularly the Bieszczady Mountains, and the depiction of the Polish-Ukrainian border, which marks the eastern edge of the European Union. These settings are dissected for their layered portrayal, showing how they draw on entrenched stereotypes in Polish cultural imagination whilst also serving as a bleak metaphor for contemporary Europe. The chapter combines an aesthetic, narrative, and cultural analysis of the series’ spatial representation with an account of the political and media-political context in Poland, informed by a 2019 interview with the scriptwriter and showrunner, Artur Kowalewski. The analysis demonstrates how The Border saturates its settings with grim recollections of Europe’s troubled past and unsettling depictions of nature, deliberately avoiding catharsis to create a disquieting, ‘feel-bad’ experience (Lübecker, 2015). Moreover, the chapter investigates how the series’ implied audience expands from a national focus in the first season to a European and transnational scope in the second. This broadening of focus enhances the series’ socio-political relevance, particularly in light of Europe’s current geopolitical challenges.
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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Central and Eastern Europe, Poland, Television series production, Landscape aesthetics, Refugees, HBO
host publication
The Politics of Place : Space and Locality in the European Screen Industries - Space and Locality in the European Screen Industries
series title
Palgrave Studies in European Communication Research and Education
editor
Spicer, Andrew ; Barton, Ruth and Genders, Amy
pages
18 pages
publisher
Palgrave Springer
ISSN
2948-2372
2948-2380
ISBN
978-3-032-06780-7
978-3-032-06779-1
978-3-032-06782-1
DOI
10.1007/978-3-032-06780-7_12
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ecd4064a-4462-4bd5-8b58-5a6ba56c8351
date added to LUP
2025-09-04 08:32:31
date last changed
2025-12-30 13:49:45
@inbook{ecd4064a-4462-4bd5-8b58-5a6ba56c8351,
  abstract     = {{This chapter explores the HBO-produced Polish television series The Border (Wataha 2014–2019). The series is examined as an example of what the author terms feel-bad Euro-noir. The analysis delves into the complex use of locations, particularly the Bieszczady Mountains, and the depiction of the Polish-Ukrainian border, which marks the eastern edge of the European Union. These settings are dissected for their layered portrayal, showing how they draw on entrenched stereotypes in Polish cultural imagination whilst also serving as a bleak metaphor for contemporary Europe. The chapter combines an aesthetic, narrative, and cultural analysis of the series’ spatial representation with an account of the political and media-political context in Poland, informed by a 2019 interview with the scriptwriter and showrunner, Artur Kowalewski. The analysis demonstrates how The Border saturates its settings with grim recollections of Europe’s troubled past and unsettling depictions of nature, deliberately avoiding catharsis to create a disquieting, ‘feel-bad’ experience (Lübecker, 2015). Moreover, the chapter investigates how the series’ implied audience expands from a national focus in the first season to a European and transnational scope in the second. This broadening of focus enhances the series’ socio-political relevance, particularly in light of Europe’s current geopolitical challenges.<br/>}},
  author       = {{Mrozewicz, Anna}},
  booktitle    = {{The Politics of Place : Space and Locality in the European Screen Industries}},
  editor       = {{Spicer, Andrew and Barton, Ruth and Genders, Amy}},
  isbn         = {{978-3-032-06780-7}},
  issn         = {{2948-2372}},
  keywords     = {{Central and Eastern Europe; Poland; Television series production; Landscape aesthetics; Refugees; HBO}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{12}},
  pages        = {{289--316}},
  publisher    = {{Palgrave Springer}},
  series       = {{Palgrave Studies in European Communication Research and Education}},
  title        = {{Feel-Bad Euro Noir : Imagining Europe from its Eastern Edge in the Polish HBO TV series The Border (Wataha)}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-06780-7_12}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/978-3-032-06780-7_12}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}