Instructor: Dr. Vlad Beronja [email protected] Office: BUR 464 Office Hours: MW noon-1PM & by appointment Meets: MW 10-11:30AM PAR 306 Course #: 43010

REES 325/ EUS 347/ WGS 345: Punks & Divas in Southeastern Europe: Popular Music and Cultural Identity in the Balkans

COURSE DESCRIPTION

“What kind of music do you listen to?” can be a loaded question. Based on your taste in music, others will invariably place you in a specific (sub)culture, class, lifestyle, and even speculate about your political commitments. Your taste in music can make or break a friendship, produce feelings of camaraderie as well as of repulsion. For some time now, scholars have viewed popular music as a dynamic cultural field, where various social meanings—attached to race, nationality, gender, and sexuality—are constantly being produced, contested, and negotiated among different communities of listeners. This insight into music as a crucial site of political struggle and collective identity formation will be the starting point in our analysis of popular music genres in the Balkans, a region of Europe that has undergone sweeping historical changes in the 20th and 21st centuries, including the fall of Communism and—in the case of former Yugoslavia—the formation of seven new nation-states through a series of bloody and brutal wars. We will begin the class by examining the emergence of western pop genres, such as punk and new wave rock, in late socialism (in the 1980s), which became associated with urban youth subcultures, sophisticated irony, and liberalization of the one-party state. From there, we will move to the analysis of “turbo-folk,” a curious mixture of contemporary electronic and traditional folk music that became extremely popular in the 1990s, when the conflict in Yugoslavia was at its peak. Featuring extravagant and scandalous Balkan divas, roughly equivalent to Rihanna and Lady Gaga in the U.S., turbo-folk was (and still is) connected with nationalism, the new mafia elite, and general cultural decline. We will watch videos, examine arguments for and against turbo-folk, and try to pin down its political functions, cultural meanings, and recent transformations. We will end the class by examining new trends in Balkan popular music, such hip-hop and Balkan brass, and their relationship to recent protest movements, minority politics, and claims of cultural (in)authenticity.

Learning Objectives:

By examining the changes in the production and reception of popular music in the Balkans, students will gain an understanding of larger historical shifts both in the region and on a more global scale. Additionally, students will refine their analytical and critical thinking skills by situating cultural objects in a dynamic historical and political context and by reflecting on the social effects and assumptions surrounding the consumption of popular music more generally. Our discussion of Balkan popular music will be guided by the following questions:

• How does popular music shape collective identities? • What is the role of popular music in large-scale social and political transformation? • How is popular music used as a medium of political mobilization by the state and civil actors? • How do musical tastes produce, reflect, and reinforce social differences and hierarchies? • Why are claims of cultural authenticity often attached to popular music? Who makes these claims and why? • How do different music genres function in different political and cultural contexts?

Grading:

10%-class participation and attendance* 10% map quiz of the Balkan countries/major historical events^ 25%-weekly discussion post (200-250 words)** 25%-take-home midterm exam (short essay format)$ 5%-outline/project proposal and bibliography for final essay/project 25%-research essay (2500 words, excluding bibliography) or multimedia project

*Regular attendance is absolutely crucial if you want to fully and dynamically engage in this seminar. Missing one meeting means missing a large chunk of the narrative about the development of Balkan popular music against the backdrop of large-scale political and social changes that we are attempting to collectively construct and critically examine in this class. More than three (3) unexcused absences will result in lowering of your total grade by 10% for each subsequent absence. Thus, if you have 4 unexcused absences 10% will be subtracted from your total grade, 20% for 5 unexcused absences etc.

^You will receive a short study guide prior to the quiz; any other information will be covered in class lectures.

**During this class I will post music videos and translations of lyrics taken from the class Tumblr blog. Your grade will be based on weekly comments on the Canvas Discussion Forum (minimum 200 words in length) related to the units we’re covering in class and referring either to the class readings, the media links posted on Canvas, or both.

$The take home exam will be in the form of four argumentative and/or analytical essay questions. It will be due on the last class session before spring break.

Grading Scale: Performance will be graded according to the following percentage standards:

A: 93-100% B: 83-86% C: 73-76% D: 63-66% A-: 90-92% B-: 80-82% C-: 70-72 F: 0-62% B+: 87-89 C+: 77-79 D+: 67-69

OTHER GENERAL INFORMATION

1) Any student with a documented disability who requires academic accommodations should contact Services for Students with Disabilities at 471-6259 (voice) or 1-866-329- 3986 (Video Phone) as soon as possible to request an official letter outlining authorized accommodations. 2) I expect all students to abide by the UT honor code. http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/spot_honorcode.php (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.) 3) In particular, I take plagiarism VERY seriously. Plagiarism is a serious violation of academic integrity. In simplest terms, this occurs if you represent as your own work any material that was obtained from another source, regardless how or where you acquired it. 4) Please notify me in advance about absences due to religious holidays. You will not be penalized for doing so, but you will still be required to make up the missed class as outlines above. * All guns must be concealed at all times in line with the Campus Concealed Carry legislation. If an/the instructor or student(s) sees any sign of a gun in class, the UT police will be called immediately per the UT implementation policy for the statute. * For responsibilities of concealed gun permit holders on campus, see UT’s information page: https://campuscarry.utexas.edu/students (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.) * Here is UT’s general information website about campus carry: https://campuscarry.utexas.edu/ (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)

* I have excluded guns from my office as UT implementation policy allows. The first day of class I will provide oral notification of this. If you are a licensed to carry permit holder and wish to come to my office hours, you must either store your gun in your car or at home before you come to my office as required by UT policy or you may arrange with me to use Skype during office hours.

Statement on Learning Success:

Your success in this class is important to me. We will all need accommodations because we all learn differently. If there are aspects of this course that prevent you from learning or exclude you, please let me know as soon as possible. Together we’ll develop strategies to meet both your needs and the requirements of the course. I also encourage you to reach out to the student resources available through UT. Many are listed on this syllabus, but I am happy to connect you with a person or Center if you would like.

Student Rights & Responsibilities

You have a right to a learning environment that supports mental and physical wellbeing You have a right to respect. You have a right to be assessed and graded fairly. You have a right to freedom of opinion and expression. You have a right to privacy and confidentiality. You have a right to meaningful and equal participation, You have a right to learn in an environment that is welcoming to all people

With these rights come responsibilities:

- You are responsible for taking care of yourself, managing your time, and communicating with the teaching team and with others if things start to feel out of control or overwhelming. - You are responsible for acting in a way that is worthy of respect and always respectful of others. - Your experience with this course is directly related to the quality of the energy that you bring to it, and your energy shapes the quality of your peers’ experiences. - You are responsible for creating an inclusive environment and for speaking up when someone is excluded. - You are responsible for holding yourself accountable to these standards, holding each other to these standards, and holding the teaching team accountable as well.

Personal Pronoun Preference

Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, culture, religion, politics, sexual orientation, gender, gender variance, and nationalities. Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student’s legal name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by a name different than what appears on the roster, and by the gender pronouns you use. Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so that I may make appropriate changes to my records.

University Policies

Q Drop Policy • If you want to drop a class after the 12th class day, you’ll need to execute a Q drop before the Q-drop deadline, which typically occurs near the middle of the semester. Under Texas law, you are only allowed six Q drops while you are in college at any public Texas institution. For more information, see: http://www.utexas.edu/ugs/csacc/academic/adddrop/qdrop (Links to an external site.)

Services for Students with Disabilities • This class respects and welcomes students of all backgrounds, identities, and abilities. If there are circumstances that make our learning environment and activities difficult, if you have medical information that you need to share with me, or if you need specific arrangements in case the building needs to be evacuated, please let me know. I am committed to creating an effective learning environment for all students, but I can only do so if you discuss your needs with me as early as possible. I promise to maintain the confidentiality of these discussions. If appropriate, also contact Services for Students with Disabilities, 512-471-6259 (voice) or 1-866-329- 3986 (video phone). http://ddce.utexas.edu/disability/about/ (Links to an external site.) • Counseling and Mental Health Center • Do your best to maintain a healthy lifestyle this semester by eating well, exercising, avoiding (or using in moderation) drugs and alcohol, getting enough sleep and taking some time to relax. This will help you achieve your goals and cope with stress. • All of us benefit from support. You are not alone. There are many helpful resources available on campus and an important part of the college experience is learning how to ask for help. Asking for support sooner rather than later is often helpful. If you or anyone you know experiences any academic stress, difficult life events, or feelings like anxiety or depression, we strongly encourage you to seek support. http://www.cmhc.utexas.edu/individualcounseling.html (Links to an external site.) • The Gender and Sexuality Center is also a good resource for students. Here is a link to the map for UT campus gender inclusive bathrooms from their webpage. • http://diversity.utexas.edu/genderandsexuality/gender-inclusive-restrooms/

SCHEDULE

WEEK 1

Jan 22: Introductions and Syllabus

WEEK 2

Jan 27: Theorizing Popular Music I: Sounds, Aesthetics, Technologies

1. Simon Firth, “Toward a Popular Aesthetic” in Performing Rites: On the Value of Popular Music (Harvard UP, 1998)

Jan 29: Theorizing Popular Music II: Genres, Tastes, Communities

1. Evan Kindley, “Love, Factionally” publicbooks.org

WEEK 3

Feb 3: Histories: What was Yugoslavia and what came after?

1. Catherine Baker, The Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, 7-39 (Palgrave, 2015)

Feb 5:

1. Catherine Baker, The Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, 40-56 (Palgrave, 2015)

WEEK 4

Feb 10:

1. Catherine Baker, The Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, 57-77 (Palgrave, 2015)

Feb 12:

1. Screening: Whose Is This Song? (dir. Adela Peeva, 2003)

WEEK 5:

Feb 17: Punk East and West

1. Raymond A. Patton, Punk Crisis (Oxford UP, 2018), 33-52 2. QUIZ

Feb 19:

1. Dejan Krsic, “Everybody Dance Now!” Album Cover Design 1979-1986” in Mirko Ilic: Fist to Face

WEEK 6

Feb 24: Punk in Yugoslavia

1. Nikolai Jeffs, “FV and the Third Scene”

Feb 26:

1. Patton, “Culture Wars” in Punk Crisis

WEEK 7

Mar 2: Turbo-Folk in the 1990s

1. Eric Gordy, “The Destruction of Musical Alternatives” in The Culture of Power in Serbia (2010), pp 103-165

TAKE HOME EXAM DISTRIBUTED

Mar 4:

1. Screening: Miroslav Sikavica, Louder Than Guns (1917)

WEEK 8

Mar 9: Turbo-Folk in the 2000s

1. Dijana Jelača, “Feminine Libidinal Entrepreneurship: Towards a Reparative Reading of sponzoruša in Turbo-Folk” in Feminist Media Studies, Vol 15, 2015

Mar 11: Select Music Videos

TAKE HOME EXAM DUE

March 16-21: SPRING BREAK

WEEK 9

Mar 23: Turbo-Folk in the 2000s

1. Dumančić, Marko, and Krešimir Krolo. “Dehexing Postwar West Balkan Masculinities: The Case of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia, 1998 to 2015.” Men and Masculinities, vol. 20, no. 2, June 2017, pp. 154–180

Mar 25:

1. Screening: Style Wars (1983)

WEEK 10

March 30: Hip Hop

1. Jasmin Mujanovic, Nothing Left to Lose: Hip Hop in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Hip Hop at Europe’s Edge (Indiana UP, 2017)

April 1:

2. Outline Workshop

WEEK 11 April 6: 1. Gentian Elezi and Elona Toska, “Rapping into Power: The Use of Hip Hop in Albanian Politics” (Indiana UP, 2017) 2. Guest Lecture: Dr. Chelsi West-Ohueri

April 8:

1. Irena Sentevska, “La haine et les autres crimes: Ghettocentric Imagery in Serbian Hip Hop Videos”

WEEK 12

April 13: Roma Music

1. Carol Silverman, “Romani Music as World Music” from Romani Routes: Cultural Politics and Balkan Music in Diaspora (Oxford UP, 2012)

April 15:

2. Artists: Boban Marković Orkestar, Taraf de Haïdouks, Goran Bregović, Beirut, New Cheers Brigade

WEEK 13

April 20:

1. Movie: Brasslands, 2013

April 22:

1. Branislava (Brana) Mijatović, “The Musical (Re)branding of Serbia: Sounds Global, Guca, and EXIT” in Branding Post-Communist Nations, 2012

WEEK 14

April 27: Writing Workshop

April 29: Writing Workshop

WEEK 15

May 4: Discussion/Snacks/Project Presentation

May 6: Discussion/Snacks/Project Presentation