Songs of love and hate

the role of the intelligentsia, music and poetry in forging serbian ethnic national identity

Robert Hudson

pp. 167-181

in: Joe Andrew, Malcolm Crook, Michael Waller (eds), Why Europe? problems of culture and identity I, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2000

Abstract

The Serbian ethnologist, Ivan Ĉolović commented in his recent publication, Bordel Ratnika⁴ (1994, p. 23) that: "Naša politika puna je folklorika …" ("Our politics is full of folklore"). Given the rise of ethnic nationalism during this last decade of the twentieth century, any conference, or edited collection of papers, engaging the question "Why Europe?" which focuses upon problems of culture and identity should, at some point, address the process, nature and impact of ethnic national identity upon the European scene. It is the aim of this chapter to explore further the link between politics and folklore with special reference to the music and poetry of Serbia in the formation and maintenance of ethnic national identity.