When Seve met Bregović: folklore, turbofolk and the boundaries of Croatian musical identity

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Description/Abstract

Popular music in Croatia has consistently been a field where the boundaries of national cultural identity are set, contested and transgressed. The most contentious boundaries involve Serbian culture and the abstract “east”, to which essentialized nationalist concepts of Croatian culture denied any similarity. The Croatian singer Severina’s attempt to represent Croatia at the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest with her song Moja štikla (My stiletto) called these aspects into question with connotations which could be claimed as both Croatian and Serbian. Although the song was justified with reference to the (disputed) authenticity of Croatian folklore, it ultimately suggested that Croatian cultural space could not be separated from that of the other ex-Yugoslav states.