Through the methodological lens of transdisciplinary culture studies, this dissertation investigates how renegade theoreticians and practitioners of the arts in Serbia, in response to the maelstrom of social and political changes in October 2000 and thereafter, dismantle the neoliberal ideology of the state apparatus and propose new critical alliances between the creative economy and progressive politics, both in their choice of topics and in their methods of work. Serbian counterculture, which I define here as an antiestablishment cultural phenomenon, has embraced transnational registers of subjectivity and clung to a utopian demand for political and aesthetic autonomy from the mainstream. Crucially, these trailblazing nonconformist Serbian artists, curators, cultural managers, and scholars are considered as regionalizing actors. Their pioneering work reflects their concern over the role memory and memorialization have come to play in the reorganization of the Southeast European sociopolitical landscape in the wake of the violent breakup of Yugoslavia. Contemporary performing arts and cultural policy and management networking initiatives, such as the Nomad Dance Academy and Kooperativa–Regional Platform for Culture, demonstrate how Yugoslavia is re-membered, as it were, through cross-border public engagement and knowledge flow networks. My particular focus here is on collaborative approaches to practices of civic engagement and performing citizenship. Serbian cultural and creative professionals resist public funding cuts, insecure employment conditions, and labor inequalities through solidarity and cooperation. Founding new supporting infrastructures across shared borders, fostering solidarity, and providing the conditions for confronting precarious employment and labor exploitation in the arts and culture sector are common concerns among the cultural worker cooperatives discussed in this dissertation. I explore two main case studies: Walking Theory (Teorija koja Hoda) and DAH Theater. My discussion examines how their subversive and rebellious initiatives provide avenues for dealing with the contested past, precarious present, and uncertain future of the region of the former Yugoslavia outside of state channels. Ultimately, this dissertation hopes to contribute to existing scholarship on the transformative promise of critical cultural practice and creative dissensus in contemporary Serbia.
Date of Award | 14 Sept 2023 |
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Original language | English |
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Awarding Institution | - Universidade Católica Portuguesa
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Supervisor | Adriana Martins (Supervisor) & Laura Luise Schultz (Co-Supervisor) |
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- Serbia
- Civic engagement
- Cultural worker cooperatives
- Creative dissidence
- Post-Yugoslav imaginations
- Doutoramento em Estudos de Cultura
The importance of being otherwise: the politics and aesthetics of the Serbian cultural underground
Maihoub, A. (Student). 14 Sept 2023
Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis