Popular geopolitical analysis of the series Rise of the Raven

Abstract

The study examines the series Rise of the Raven within the theoretical framework of popular geopolitics, seeking to answer the question of how a large-scale historical television production contributes to the contemporary reproduction of the geopolitical imaginary and national identity. The first part of the analysis reviews the development and main trends of the concept of popular geopolitics, with a particular focus on how it interprets popular culture - films, series, literary works - as a field for the formation of geopolitical thinking. This is followed by a detailed analysis of the series, which explores the representation of “us” and “them,” Christian Europe and the Ottoman Empire, as well as the Hungarian political community and Western power centers. The paper points out that the series builds on both the topos of the “defensive bastion” and the figure of the hero rising from below, while offering a nuanced image of the enemy and a critical representation of the West. The historical narrative thus functions not only as an interpretation of the past, but can also be understood as a geopolitical self-positioning projected from the present.