Mari Pajala
FT, dosentti
marpaja@utu.fi +358 29 450 2842 +358 50 381 1277 Arcanuminkuja 1 Turku ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2651-7994 |
media studies; television studies; media history; popular media culture; feminist media studies; cultural memory studies
Education:
- PhD, Media Studies, University of Turku, 2006
- MA, Cinema and Television Studies, University of Turku, 1998
I was previously Government of Finland/David and Nancy Speer Visiting Professor in Finnish Studies at the University of Minnesota (2015–2017) and visiting research fellow at Utrecht University (2009–2010).
My research focuses on television history and contemporary popular media culture, with special interest in questions of nationality, memory, gender and sexuality, affect and entertainment. I have published extensively on the Eurovision Song Contest as a media event and my recent work has focused on Cold War era media and Finnish "culture television" of the 1970s and 1980s. Recent books include The Era of Culture Television: Another History of Finnish Television, 1970s to 1980s (in Finnish, co-authored with Anu Koivunen, Laura Saarenmaa and Janne Zareff, SKS 2024) and Remapping Cold War Media: Institutions, Infrastructures, Exchanges (co-edited with Alice Lovejoy, Indiana University Press 2022).
I am on the editorial board of Lähikuva and View: Journal of European Television History and Culture and Communication, Culture & Critique.
I teach courses such as Media History and Archives, Theoretical Traditions in Media Studies, MA Thesis Seminar as well as other courses in Media Studies.
- Turha protestoida Euroviisuissa, tämä on epäpoliittinen tapahtuma (2026)
- Mustekala
(D1 Professional blog post) - Eurovision Song Contest 2007 (2025) Kulttuurin vuosisata. Luova ohjelmatyö Yleisradiossa 1926-2025 Pajala, Mari
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Saastepassio (1970) (2025) Kulttuurin vuosisata. Luova ohjelmatyö Yleisradiossa 1926-2025 Pajala, Mari
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Viuluviikarit musiikkimaassa (1979, 1986) (2025) Kulttuurin vuosisata. Luova ohjelmatyö Yleisradiossa 1926-2025 Pajala, Mari
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Kulttuuritelevision aika: Suomalaisen television toinen historia 1970–1980-luvuilla (2024) Koivunen, Anu; Pajala, Mari; Saarenmaa, Laura; Zareff, Janne
(C1 Refereed scientific book) - Lähikuvassa näkymätön työ (2024)
- Lähikuva
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal) - Monsieur Mosse: A Bad Gay? Queer Celebrity in Finnish Print Media, from the 1960s to the 1980s (2024)
- Lambda Nordica
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Vähemmän voi olla televisionkatsojalle enemmän (2024)
- Vähäisiä lisiä: Kirjoituksia kulttuurista, tutkimuksesta ja kulttuuriperinnöstä
(E1 Popularised blog post) - Lähikuva Vol 36 Nro 2 (2023): Rakkaus (2023)
- Lähikuva
(C2 Editorial work for a scientific compilation book) - Mediatutkimus rakkauden tieteenä? (2023)
- Lähikuva
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal)



