Pop-folk muzika: the paradoxical coexistence of ethnonationalism, globalization, and queerness in Serbian popular music

Abstract

This document investigates the prevalence of ethno-nationalist ideology in the Balkan neo-folk music genres Pop-folk and its predecessor, Turbo-folk, under influences of globalization and queer culture. Turbo-Folk and Pop-folk are deeply embedded in the socio-political and historical structures of the Balkan region. Religion, ethno-nationalism, gender politics, and globalization intertwine within every facet of the music production - music videography, lyrics and language, musical elements such as vocal techniques, instrumentation, melodic structures, and rhythms. Ultimately, Serbian ethno-nationalism is the backbone of both genres, even though it appears on the surface to have become a Pan-Balkan genre through the far-reaching appeal of Pop-folk. Serbian ethno-nationalist ideology uses elements of globalization and queer culture to assert modernity while retaining the socio-historical patriarchal matrices of power of the Serbian Nation-State through subliminal messages hidden in the music.