From National to International Song: Sevdalinka in Transition

Abstract

With the disintegration of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the existence of different forms of Yugoslav identity, primarily cultural, as the most complex among them, ceased to exist, at least formally. The cause of this complexity should be sought in the intertwining of cultural identity with two other important collective identities, ethnic and national, whose already intricate nature is further complicated by their redefinition in the ex-Yugoslav space, both during the conflict (1991‒1995) and in the post-war era. The search for new collective identities – intended to provide the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, burdened with traumatic memories of the recent past and at the same time torn between the former ideology and emerging ones, with a sense of tranquility in newly created circumstances - is further complicated by their simultaneous efforts to cope with the sweeping changes in the world caused by the process of globalization. The states that emerged from the former Yugoslav republics are going through an uncertain period of transition in which they have to deal not only with numerous internal problems, but also to respond to numerous external demands. In spite of their fragmented political realities, these states remain closely connected, bound not only by a shared history but also by a common cultural heritage. A small yet significant part of this heritage is represented by sevdalinka, a song that embodies the intricate interplay of cultural, national and ethnic identities. These layers converge within sevdalinka, making it a distinctive reflection of the region's cultural complexity. Hence, in this paper sevdalinka will be presented during its ‒ from a historical point of view ‒ the shortest, but at the same time the most turbulent period of its long history, tracing all the transformations it has undergone over a little more than three decades while crossing the thorny path from a national to an international song, in order to be finally confirmed as a universal cultural and artistic creation.