Baker, C; (2008) Popular music and narratives of identity in Croatia since 1991. Doctoral thesis , University of London.

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Abstract

This item is not available from University Microfilms International. aThis thesis employs historical, literary and anthropological methods to show how narratives of identity have been expressed in Croatia since 1991 (when Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia) through popular music and through talking about popular music. Since the beginning of the war in Croatia (1991-95) when the state media stimulated the production of popular music conveying appropriate narratives of national identity, Croatian popular music has been a site for the articulation of explicit national narratives of identity. The practice has continued into the present day, reflecting political and social change in Croatia (e.g. the growth of the war veterans lobby and protests against the Hague Tribunal). The cultural boundaries of the nation were also subject to contestation and challenge according to symbolic value judgements of what was and was not considered 'Croatian'. Various aspects of popular music (e.g. instruments, vocal styles) were constructed as symbols of inclusion and exclusion in this discourse, and several attempts were made by professional interest groups to promote certain genres as a basis for a national style of popular music. The nationalisation of cultural space also entailed the marginalisation of music/musicians from other ex-Yugoslav republics (especially Serbia) with ethno-nationally ambiguous connotations. An examination of what have become transnational cultural flows shows the continued interdependence of the ex-Yugoslav states and markets. The thesis combines analysis of Croatian press sources and song lyrics themselves with ethnographic material drawn from 35 weeks of fieldwork in Zagreb and Slavonia. Interviews and participant observation of musical events are used to analyse the importance of music in narrating individual as well as collective identity.

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