Sounds of Struggle: Music and Cultural Divides in 1990s Serbia

Sounds of Struggle: Music and Cultural Divides in 1990s Serbia with Dr Eric Gordy

Dr Eric Gordy is Professor of Political and Cultural Sociology at the School for Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London. His research concentrates on Southeast Europe, especially the states of the former Yugoslavia. He is the author of The Culture of Power in Serbia: Nationalism and the Destruction of Alternatives and Guilt, Responsibility and Denial: The Past at Stake in Post-Milošević Serbia, and editor (with Adnan Efendić) of Meaningful reform in the Western Balkans: Between formal institutions and informal practices and (with Alena Ledeneva and Predrag Cvetičanin) Captured societies in Southeast Europe. He was coordinator and principal investigator for the Horizon 2020 research project INFORM: Closing the Gap Between Formal and Informal Institutions in the Balkans.

The 1990s in Serbia were a time of deep social, political, and cultural upheaval. Music and lived experience during this period reflect a society grappling with war, isolation, poverty, nationalism, resilience, and cultural rebellion. In the 1990s, turbo-folk emerged as the soundtrack of the Milosevié era, mixing traditional folk beats and electronic elements. Critics decried it as a symbol of cultural decay, while fans saw it as a form of identity and catharsis. Meanwhile, rock, punk, and alternative music offered a counter-narrative of intellectual dissent and anti-war messages, resonating with youth disillusioned by nationalism. These musical movements represented Serbia's cultural divide: one rooted in nationalist nostalgia and the other in resistance to authoritarianism.Music became a battleground reflecting societal tensions, survival, and escapism.Stark contrasts between cultural decay, rebellion, and the yearning for change defined the 90s in Serbia-while the state played out the wars in the region.

Intro music: North Albanian Instrumental.

Interlude: Električni Orgazam ‧ 1981 - 'Krokodili dolaze'.