58 Culture and Customs of Serbia and Montenegro

Culture and Customs
of Serbia and Montenegro

Macedonia
Serbia and Montenegro. Cartography by Bookcomp, Inc.

Culture and Customs
of Serbia and Montenegro
CHRISTOPHER DELISO
Culture and Customs of Europe
GREENWOOD PRESS
Westport, Connecticut r London
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Deliso, Christopher M., 1974–

Culture and customs of Serbia and Montenegro / Christopher Deliso.
p. cm. — (Culture and customs of Europe)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–313–34436–7 (alk. paper)
1. Serbia—Civilization. 2. Montenegro—Civilization. 3. Serbia—Social life and customs.
4. Montenegro—Social life and customs. I. Title.
DR1952.D45 2009
949.7103—dc22 2008032966
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.

Copyright
C 2009 by Christopher Deliso
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be

reproduced, by any process or technique, without the
express written consent of the publisher.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2008032966
ISBN: 978–0–313–34436–7
First published in 2009
Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881
An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
www.greenwood.com
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the

Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National
Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Series Foreword vii

Preface ix
Chronology xiii
1 Land, People, and History 1
2 Religion and Thought 29
3 Marriage, Gender, Family, and Education 45
4 Holidays, Customs, and Leisure Activities 61
5 Cuisine and Fashion 83
6 Literature 101
7 Media and Cinema 115
8 Performing Arts 135

vi CONTENTS
9 Art and Architecture 151
Selected Bibliography 171

Index 175
Series Foreword
The old world and the New World have maintained a fluid exchange of
people, ideas, innovations, and styles. Even though the United States became
the de facto world leader and economic superpower in the wake of a devastated
Europe in World War II, Europe has remained for many the standard bearer
of Western culture.
Millions of Americans can trace their ancestors to Europe. The United
States as we know it was built on waves of European immigration, starting
with the English who braved the seas to found the Jamestown Colony in 1607.
Bosnian and Albanian immigrants are some of the latest new Americans.
In the Gilded Age of one of our great expatriates, the novelist Henry James,
the Grand Tour of Europe was de rigueur for young American men of means,
to prepare them for a life of refinement and taste. In a more recent democratic
age, scores of American college students have Eurailed their way across Great
Britain and the Continent, sampling the fabled capitals and bergs in a mad,
great adventure, or have benefited from a semester abroad. For other American
vacationers and culture vultures, Europe is the prime destination.
What is the New Europe post–Cold War, post Berlin Wall in a new mil-
lennium? Even with the different languages, rhythms, and rituals, Europeans
have much in common: they are largely well educated, prosperous, and
worldly. They also have similar goals and face common threats and form
alliances. With the advent of the European Union, the open borders, and
the Euro and considering globalization and the prospect of a homogenized
Europe, an updated survey of the region is warranted.
viii SERIES FOREWORD
Culture and Customs of Europe features individual volumes on the coun-

tries most studied and for which fresh information is in demand from stu-
dents and other readers. The Series casts a wide net, inclusive of not only the
expected countries, such as Spain, France, England, and Germany, but also
countries such as Poland and Greece that lie outside Western Europe proper.
Each volume is written by a country specialist, with intimate knowledge of the
contemporary dynamics of a people and culture. Sustained narrative chapters
cover the land, people, and brief history; religion; social customs; gender roles,
family, and marriage; literature and media; performing arts and cinema; and
art and architecture. The national character and ongoing popular traditions of
each country are framed in an historical context and celebrated along with the
latest trends and major cultural figures. A country map, chronology, glossary,
and evocative photos enhance the text.
The historied and enlightened Europeans will continue to fascinate Ameri-
cans. Our futures are strongly linked politically, economically, and culturally.
Preface
There is no country in Europe today that has been more misunderstood

and misrepresented than Serbia. This is largely the result of how international
media and certain governments, including that of the United States, have
tended to depict the country since the violent disintegration of the federation
of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, a process that spawned three wars and cul-
minated with a NATO bombing campaign against Serbia for control of its
southwestern province, Kosovo, in 1999. According to all too many news re-
ports, government communiqués, and sensationalizing exposés to have come
out in recent years, the Serbs are to blame for all of those events: they are at
best irrational nationalists and genocidal monsters at worst. By 2008, this line
of thinking has become such an ingrained part of Western conventional wis-
dom that journalists and public officials rarely have to support any comment
denouncing Serbia and its people with facts.
The truth, of course, is less black and white. Owing to limitations of space,
however, this book cannot possibly get into all the details of Serbia’s recent
(and less recent) history, the dissolution of Yugoslavia, and Western diplo-
matic and military interventions in the region. In any case, some books taking
a more critical view of these complex events have started to appear.1 Never-
theless, few Americans are aware of the interesting facts that indicate the his-
torical affinity between their country and Serbia, such as that the largest airlift
of downed American pilots in history occurred when Serbian rebels and civil-
ians, at great danger to themselves, sheltered and helped evacuate some 500
American airmen shot down over Nazi-occupied Serbia during World War II.2
x PREFACE
The scope and size of this book, however, preclude any sustained discussion
of complex historical episodes. Instead, it seeks simply to give some intro-
duction to the unique aspects of daily life, history, art, and culture that make
Serbia one of Europe’s most distinctive and significant places. Serbs are warm-
hearted, hospitable people who keep their traditions close to their hearts and
delight in festivals, celebrations, and generally doing things “big.” Most for-
eign tourists who visit leave quite pleasantly surprised with their experience.
The same goes for Montenegro, which has been spared many of Serbia’s re-
cent troubles, using historically tried and tested diplomatic skills and a unique
geographical positioning to its advantage. Although Serbia’s smaller neighbor
has throughout history always been living in Serbia’s shadow—literally, under
some of Europe’s most sweeping mountain peaks—Montenegro is now com-
ing into its own. Even before it and Serbia decided to peacefully part ways
in May 2006, tourism had started to take off. In the past few years, foreign
investors have been snapping up property on Montenegro’s gorgeous Adriatic
coast, and the new influx of tourists is only increasing. Outsiders are always
eager to discover Europe’s “next big thing,” and Montenegro, with its beaches,
medieval castles, and mountain sports, is right up there. And Serbia too is re-
ceiving more and more visitors, with the capital, Belgrade, now recognized
as one of Europe’s most dynamic and fun cities, and music gatherings like
the Guča Trumpet Festival and EXIT Festival in Novi Sad attracting massive
audiences and increasing their international presence.
Of course, Serbia and Montenegro both have their flaws and problems, just
like anywhere in the world. However, day to day, outsiders will find that they
are among the safest places in Europe to travel. All things considered, now
seems to be the perfect time for the outside world to embrace these countries,
which, despite their very close historical and cultural ties, offer much variety
and much to see and do. Hopefully, in some small way this book offers an
introduction to some of the facets of life, culture, and history that will in-
spire readers to visit or at least learn more about two of the most unique and
unknown countries in Europe.
NOTES
1. A few examples of such works include veteran journalist Peter Brock’s Media
Cleansing, Dirty Reporting: Journalism and Tragedy in Yugoslavia (Los Angeles: GM
Books, 2005), an expert analysis of biased and fraudulent media coverage of the
recent wars in Yugoslavia; Canadian war reporter Scott Taylor’s on-the-ground tes-
timony from Serbia during the Kosovo bombardment, Inat: Images of Serbia and
the Kosovo Conflict (Ottawa: Esprit de Corps Books, 2000), British author John
PREFACE xi
Laughland’s Travesty: The Trial of Slobodan Milošević and the Corruption of Interna-
tional Justice (London: Pluto Press, 2007), on the politically motivated indiscretions
of The Hague tribunal for war crimes; former National Security Agency Balkans an-
alyst John Schindler’s Unholy Terror: Bosnia, Al-Qa’ida, and the Rise of Global Jihad
(St. Paul, MN: Zenith Press, 2007), on the close connections of the Bosnian Muslim
wartime government and Islamic terrorism; and Noam Chomsky’s The New Military
Humanism (London: Pluto Press, 1999).
2. Veteran American airmen thus saved went to their graves in recent years still
pleading with the U.S. government to recognize and commemorate the bravery of
these Serbs. For political reasons, they were unsuccessful. For the whole story, see
The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue
Mission of World War II (New York: NAL/Penguin Group, 2007).
This page intentionally left blank
Chronology
6th–1st centuries b.c. Turks, then Celts, and finally Romans settle today’s Serbia;
Illyrian tribes rule coastal Montenegro.
a.d. 6th–7th centuries Serb tribes are among the Slavic Great Migration to the
Balkans.
825–1120 Vlastimirović and Vojislavljiević dynasties create first Serb
states of Raška and Zeta/Duklja in present-day Montenegro
9th century Serbs converted to Orthodox Christianity following mission
of Byzantine monks Cyril and Methodius to Morava in 863.
1166 Stefan Nemanja founds Nemanjić dynasty and endows
churches.
1219 Serbian Orthodox Church becomes autocephalous from
Byzantium; Nemanja’s son, the monk Sava, becomes patri-
arch.
1331–1355 Reign of Stefan Dušan, creator of advanced legal code and
endower of churches; Serbia becomes an empire, controlling
much of the western Balkans.
1371 Prince Vukašin Mrnjavčević’s forces defeated by Turks at Bat-
tle of Maritsa in Bulgaria; Ottomans expand in Balkans.
1389 Battle of Kosovo between Serbs and Turks. Heavy casualties
on both sides; Prince Lazar and Sultan Murad I die in battle,
xiv CHRONOLOGY
and most Serbian nobles killed. Ottoman conquest acceler-

ates.
1429 The despot −Durad− Branković moves Serbian capital north to
the fortified city of Smederevo.
1459 Ottomans capture Smederevo and conquer all of Serbia soon
after.
1517 Vladika system (rule of bishop-prince) begins in semi-
independent Montenegro.
1679 Beginning of Montenegrin Petrović Njegos dynasty; will rule
until 1918.
1690 Mass migration northward of the Serbs during the
Austro-Turkish war; Turks spread Islam in Kosovo and
Raška/Sandžak.
1699 Treaty of Karlovci between Christian powers and Turkey
ends long war; Vojvodina incorporated into Austria; Srem-
ski Karlovci becomes revived Serbian center under Austrian
rule.
1737–1739 Ottomans raze Belgrade after third Austro-Turkish war; sec-
ond Great Migration of Serbs into Austrian territories.
1766 Under Greek influence, Ottoman sultan abolishes Serbian
patriarchate; Serbian church subjugated to Constantinople.
− −
1804 The first Serbian uprising, led by Karador de Petrović, breaks
out after Turkish atrocities against Serbs.
1815 The second Serbian uprising, led by Miloš Obrenović, drives
out Turkish forces; Serbia becomes autonomous principality.
1847 The Mountain Wreath, Montenegro’s greatest epic poem,
written by enlightened Vladika Petar II Petrović Njegos.
1852 Vladika system abolished in Montenegro in favor of secular
principality.
1868 Serbian government finalizes adoption of linguist Vuk
Stefanović Karadžić’s innovative language reforms.
1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War liberates Bulgaria; independent princi-
pality of Serbia formed with Treaty of Berlin.
1882 Kingdom of Serbia declared by Miloš Obrenović.
1885 After a border provocation, Bulgaria defeats Serbia in short
war; Great Powers forced to accept unification of Bulgaria.
CHRONOLOGY xv
− −
1903 Serbian King Petar Karador dević takes power in a coup
d’état.
1908 Austro-Hungarian Empire formerly annexes Bosnia-
Herzegovina, while Young Turk revolution forces Ottoman
Sultan Abdulhamid to reinstate Constitution of 1876;
Europe-wide diplomatic crisis.
1910 Montenegrin Prince Nikola I proclaims himself king.
1912 First Balkan war. Serbia, Montenegro, Greece, and Bulgaria
ally against Turkey; Serbia sweeps south to occupy half of
Macedonia.
1913 Second Balkan war; Bulgaria attacks Greece and Serbia, but
loses much of its recent gains.
1914 Austro-Hungarian successor to the throne, Archduke Franz
Ferdinand, assassinated by Bosnian Serb Gavrilo Princip in
Sarajevo on June 28.
Austro-Hungary declares war on Serbia on July 28, setting off
a chain reaction of war declarations; Serbia defeats first two
Austrian invasions.
1914–1915 Third Austro-Hungarian invasion overwhelms Serbia. Led by
the king, Serbian army marches through Albanian moun-
tains, in winter, to the sea, and rehabilitates on the Greek
island of Corfu.
1918 Allied breakthrough on Macedonian front in September;
Serbian and French armies sweep northward, liberating
Serbia.
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenians proclaimed in
Belgrade on December 1.
1928–1929 Montenegrin member of Parliament assassinates Croat politi-
cian Stjepan Radić; King Aleksandar I bans ethnic parties,
renaming the country Yugoslavia.
1934 King Aleksandar I assassinated in Marseilles by a Bulgarian-
Macedonian revolutionary group.
1941 Bombing of Belgrade by the Nazis on April 6 causes
widespread damage and kills up to seventeen thousand peo-
ple; Yugoslavia capitulates eleven days later; resistance groups
emerge.
1945 Yugoslavia fully liberated by Tito’s Partisan fighters; Commu-
nist Yugoslavia replaces royalist predecessor.
xvi CHRONOLOGY
1948 Tito breaks with Stalin, navigating a diplomatic course be-

tween Communism and the West.
1961 Tito hosts the first summit of Non-Aligned Countries in Bel-
grade; gains prominence as international statesman.
1974 New constitution allows more decentralization of powers;
ethnic separatism slowly begins.
1980 Josip Broz Tito dies on May 4; Communist system contin-
ues.
1991–1995 Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina
claim independence; savage fighting in Croatia and Bosnia.
1995 Dayton Agreement signed on December 14 by international
leaders and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević, Croat-
−
ian President Franjo Tudman, and Bosnian president Alija
Izetbegović, formally ending Bosnian War.
1999 Albanian separatist fighting in Kosovo leads NATO to begin
seventy-eight-day air campaign on March 24; many civilian
killed and refugee crisis develops.
Yugoslav troops evacuate Kosovo after NATO bombing;
Albanian ethnic cleansing of two hundred thousand Kosovo
Serbs begins.
2000 Yugoslav President Slobodan Milošević toppled after mass
street demonstrations on October 5.
−
2003 Prime Minister Zoran −Dindić assassinated by Belgrade gang-
sters on March 12.
2004 Anti-Serb pogrom by 50,000 Kosovo Albanians destroys
churches and homes, displacing 3,500 Kosovo Serbs.
2006 Slobodan Milošević dies during proceedings at The Hague
Tribunal on March 11.
Montenegro holds successful independence referendum on
June 6, becoming an independent state.
2008 Kosovo Albanians declare independence from Serbia on
February 17.
Serbia signs Stabilization and Association Agreement with
European Union on April 29, an important step towards E.U.
membership.
1
Land, People, and History
There is no race which has shown a more heroic desire for freedom than the
Serbs or achieved it with less aid from others or at more sacrifice to itself.
—Lord Temperley, British historian
SERBS AND MONTENEGRINS

Throughout history, the Serbs and Montenegrins, neighbors, allies, and
close ethnic kin, have undergone cyclical processes of self-estrangement and
unity. With the 2006 referendum by which Montenegro’s people voted to
dissolve the short-lived Serbia and Montenegro state union—itself the last it-
eration of the former Yugoslavia—Montenegrins recovered the independent
statelet they had last enjoyed almost a century before. However, the tightness
of the result (just more than 55 percent voted in favor, and claims of fraud
and illegal voting dogged the proceedings), and the fact that many Montene-
grins consider themselves Serbs, indicates that there is no great cultural schism
in the offing. A large majority in both countries consists of Orthodox Chris-
tians, and they speak essentially the same language. And here, as elsewhere in
Europe, religion and language are crucial in determining national identity.
Serbs and Montenegrins are closely related Balkan peoples, ultimately de-
scendents of Slavic, Celtic, and other tribes who settled the region starting in
the sixth century. Their heritage, national narrative, customs, and social rit-
uals derive largely from the heritage of the Serbian kingdoms of the twelfth
to fourteenth centuries, which expanded not only territory but also Slavic
2 CULTURE AND CUSTOMS OF SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
literacy and learning, as well as art and architecture, in the cultural milieu
of Byzantium. From that empire, based in Constantinople (modern-day Is-
tanbul, Turkey) the Serbs in the late ninth century also began to adopt the
Orthodox Christian religion, a decision that would have momentous conse-
quences for the future of the nation.
In the Serbian popular imagination, cultural production, and prevailing
national narrative, the story of the Serbian nation is that of a bitter, four-
hundred-year struggle to preserve Serbian Christian (and so Western) culture
against the attacks and abuses of the Muslim Ottoman Empire. While there
are no doubt many Serbs and Montenegrins who do not view their history in
such simplistic terms, it is certainly true that this national narrative has had,
and continues to have, a significant influence on everything from political
life to popular culture. For Westerners, the long and often bitter memories
of Serbs and Montenegrins may indeed seem baffling. However, appreciating
the past and present of these nations is enhanced by also considering their
historical legacy.
LANGUAGE
Although regional politics have made linguistic designations controversial,
it is safe to say that Serbs and Montenegrins speak essentially the same lan-
guage with regional variations. In Yugoslav times, the national language was
known as Serbo-Croatian, but with Croatia’s independence in the early 1990s,
a process of linguistic revision occurred by which Zagreb created or changed
numerous words to form a tongue of its own. The same process was repeated,
to a lesser extent, in Bosnia, though both Croatian and Bosnian remain very
similar to Serbian. Now that Montenegrin is an independent state, there are
attempts being made to create a national language (e.g., the constitution states
that Montenegrin is the official language of the land). However, standard Ser-
bian, Serbian regional dialects, and the language of the Montenegrins all re-
main variations on the same theme.
All of these languages (along with Slovenian, Macedonian, and Bulgarian)
belong to the South Slavic linguistic group. A major difference occurs with
orthography: Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia (i.e., Bosnian Muslims) use the
Latin script exclusively, whereas the other nations all use Cyrillic as well.
Matters are still more complicated, however: not only are slight differences
between the Cyrillic alphabet used in each country, even in Latin transliter-
ation, but also special diacritical marks are used that one needs to know to
understand pronunciation. In the absence of such marks, one must be aware
already of where they should go to know how to pronounce a word correctly—
something that, for foreigners at least, only comes with time and experience.
LAND, PEOPLE, AND HISTORY 3
The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet originally derives, as do other Cyrillic alpha-

bets, from the ninth-century Byzantine monks Cyril and Methodius. Their
labors saw the creation of a script, Glagolitic, that was later adapted by their
follower Saint Kliment of Ohrid, in Macedonia, who created the Cyrillic al-
phabet. The alphabet was based on Greek, adding extra letters to represent
sounds that do not exist in the Greek language, such as “ch,” “sh,” “dj,” and
so on. The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet contains thirty letters in all.
When written in the Latin alphabet, Serbian employs a few diacritical
marks, the correct understanding of which will greatly assist the reader in
pronouncing names mentioned throughout this book. Serbian Latin script is
read almost completely exactly as it appears to English speakers, save for the
letters c, pronounced like the “ts” in cats, and j, which is pronounced as a y.
The letter h when encountered in Latin script should be pronounced more
roughly, identical to the “ch” in the Scottish word loch.
Diacritical marks appear in seven cases, and always above, never below the
letters. The letter č is pronounced “ch” as in cheese. The letter š is pronounced
“sh” like sheep. The letter d− (upper case −D) has a “dy” sound, akin to the En-
glish word verdure. The letter ž is pronounced like the s in the English word
pleasure—however, the compound letter dž is pronounced as the j in just. Fi-
nally, the letter ć is pronounced as the “tch” sound in the word future.
Most of the regions of Serbia and Montenegro have their own local di-
alects, such as Vranski (the dialect of south Serbia, named after the town
of Vranje). There are relatively minor differences between standard Serbian
and Crnagorski (Montenegrin, or the adjective derived from the proper name
Crna Gora, or Montenegro), though it even seems to be essentially one of pro-
nunciation. This occurs according to a system. The Serbian word for where,
−
gde, becomes de when spoken by a Montenegrin. And a Serbian e as in the
word reka (river) becomes elongated by Montenegrin speakers, similar to the
case of Croatian/Bosnian, becoming rijeka, though this does not affect all
words equally (e.g., the word selo, or “village,” is pronounced identically by
Serbs and Montenegrins). However, the Montenegrin government since 2007
has been pushing for ways to make the language still more distinct—with the
discussion of adding three new letters to the Cyrillic alphabet being one of the
proposals. The idea was spearheaded by the late Professor Vojislav Nikčević,
a Montenegrin linguist who died in 2007 at the age of eighty-two. However,
the controversy will continue long after his passing, it seems.
THE LAND
Everyone agrees that Serbia borders on Macedonia to the south, Bulgaria
and Romania to the east, Hungary to the north, and Bosnia, Croatia, and
Montenegro to the west. Everyone also agrees that Montenegro borders on
In its very name—meaning “Black Mountain” in Italian (Serbian equivalent, Crna

Gora), Montenegro evokes its rugged geography. Mountains extend from its high-
land interior straight down into the Adriatic Sea, as shown here. Courtesy of Patrick
Horton.
Albania to the southeast, Serbia to the east, and Bosnia and Croatia to the
west. However, there is also the vexed issue of Kosovo, the nominally south-
western Serbian province inhabited primarily by ethnic Albanians that de-
clared independence on February 17, 2008. Both Serbia and Montenegro bor-
der Kosovo, though Serbs do not recognize the legitimacy of the new state (at
the time of this writing, the vast majority of world nations did not recognize
an independent Kosovo either).
Serbia and Montenegro boast some of the most spectacular terrain in
Europe, ranging from deep gorges and craggy peaks to forests, great fertile
plains, and rivers, most famous among the latter being the Danube. While
Montenegro’s Adriatic coast is relatively short, it is a stunning one, with
sandy beaches, olive groves, and cliffs.
For reasons of their geographic placement, Serbia and Montenegro also
enjoy a varied climate. In the northern sections, especially the plain of Vojvo-
dina, a Continental climate prevails; this involves hot, humid summers, cold
winters, and adequate rainfall. Further south, this climatic zone merges with
a sultrier Mediterranean one, with hot, dry summers. The Adriatic climate
along the Montenegrin coast keeps temperatures slightly more mild and the
air fresher than elsewhere. However, except for on the coast, snowfall can be
substantial in winter.
Serbia
Despite millennia of civilization, Serbia still retains its forests and is a lead-
ing world producer of fruits such as plums, raspberries, and strawberries. It
contains four national parks: Fruška Gora in the north, Kopaonik and Tara in
the west, and −Derdap in the east. There are several other nature reserves (amus-
ingly referred to as “nature parks” or “nature reservations”), which comprise
lakes, forests, and mountains.
Topographically, Serbia is essentially divided between the rich plains of its
breadbasket in the north, Vojvodina, and a mountainous center and south
bisected by a flat interior and south, the Pannonian Plain. This plain serves
as part of the main north-south transport corridor from Central Europe to
the Aegean, skirting the Morava River south to the Vardar River Valley, and
continuing into Macedonia and then Greece. East of this rise the limestone
ridges of the Stara Planina (Old Mountain), also known as the Balkan Moun-
tain, which continues on from southeastern Serbia into Bulgaria; this range
also boasts the highest peak in Serbia, Midžor (2,169 m). Swinging from the
northwest to southeast are the Dinaric Alps, location of some of Serbia’s most
famous mountains: Zlatibor (1,469 m) and Kopaonik (2,017 m), both of
which are popular ski resorts. And the southern Carpathian range emerges
from Romania in the northeast and stretches toward the Stara Planina in the
south.
Serbia also is known for its river systems, chief of all the great Danube,
which forms parts of its borders, beginning with Croatia in the west and then
veering straight across upper Serbia, dividing Vojvodina from Serbia proper
and meeting the River Sava in Belgrade. The Danube then continues east-
ward and runs a jagged course southward, forming the border with Romania;
it exits precisely at the point where Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria meet, con-
tinuing eastward toward the Black Sea and forming the entire border between
the latter two states. The entire length of the Serbian Danube is some 588 kilo-
meters. Some 92 percent of Serbian territory belongs to the Danube drainage
basin.
Another Serbian river forming a partial border is the Drina, which runs
along the western border with Bosnia. The Tisa in the north is another major
river, along with the aforementioned Sava and Morava, the last being the only
one contained almost entirely on Serbian territory. While Serbia has few major
lakes, it does have plenty of bubbling geothermal waters, which are used in
numerous health spas spread around the country.
With its identity shaped by its geographical placement along the Adriatic Sea,
Montenegro has always counted on fishing to enhance its sustenance. The picture
shows traditional Montenegrin fishermen at work in 1920. Courtesy of Library of
Congress.
Montenegro
As its name implies, Montenegro’s territory of 13,812 square kilometers
comprises almost all mountains, with an attractive 294-kilometer Adriatic
coastline forming the country’s western maritime border. This coastline runs
from Croatia to the north, through Montenegro, and into Albania in the
south. One of the most beautiful bays in the Mediterranean is at Montenegro’s
northern tip, at the winding Boka Kotorska Bay. This body of water penetrates
deep into the interior, shielding the towns of Kotor, Tivat, and Herceg-Novi.
Similarly aqueous is Montenegro’s southern border, near the sandy beach at
Ulcinj. Here the Skadarsko Jezero (Lake Skadar), the Balkans’ largest lake at
40 kilometers long, runs into the River Bojana, which empties into the sea.
Two-thirds of the lake belong to Montenegro and one-third to Albania.
Montenegro’s capital, Podgorica, and other major towns such as Cetinje,
Nikšić, and Bijelo Polje are located further inland. The Zeta Plain, near Lake
Skadar, the Zeta Valley, and the Nikšić Plain are lowland areas suitable for
growing crops. Indeed, a major reason for Montenegro’s historical poverty,
martial orientation, and clannishness owes to its geographical situation
Montenegro’s numerous waterways include the largest lake in the Balkans, Lake
Skadarksa, which forms the natural border with Albania in the south. Photograph
by Rafael Estefania.
between towering mountains and ravines. The most notable of these are the
steep Dinaric peaks of Orjen (1,894 m), Lovcen (1,749 m), and Rumija
(1,595 m), which rise majestically out of the sea at Kotor. Beyond this range
are the mountains of Durmitor (2,522 m), Komovi (2,487 m), and Sinjajev-
ina (2,277 m), predominantly composed of limestone. The highest peak in
Montenegro is Bobotov Kuk (2,522 m) in Durmitor in the west.
Montenegro’s mountains are cut sharply by gorges and fast-flowing rivers,
making it a favorite destination for kayaking and white-water rafting. The
most notable mountain rivers are the Ceotina, Morača, Tara, and Piva rivers.
The canyons gouged out of the mountains by the last three are up to 1,200
meters deep, making them among the world’s deepest gorges. Along with Lake
Skadar, Montenegro has a handful of elevated inland lakes, the biggest being
Lake Plav, a popular weekend destination.
POPULATION
According to the 2002 census, the population of Serbia (excluding Kosovo)
is 7,498,001 people. It is one of the most ethnically diverse countries in
Europe, especially considering its relatively small size. Ethnic Serbs, most
of them Orthodox Christian in religion, form the majority, at 82.9 per-
cent. The country’s Muslim minorities include Albanians, concentrated in the
southwestern Preševo Valley near Kosovo, and Bosniaks, largely settled in the
western district of Raška (also known by its Turkish name, Sandžak). This re-
gion is shared with Montenegro, and the Muslim population thus spills across
the border.
Serbia’s most multiethnic population is found in the northern province of
Vojvodina. This is the legacy of pre-Yugoslav days when the area was the prop-
erty of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and large settlements of Germans and
Hungarians arrived. Today, the Hungarian minority remains the largest, at
almost 4 percent. Smaller ethnic populations include Ukrainians, Ruthians,
Germans, Macedonians, Romanians, Slovaks, Bulgarians, and Croats. Inter-
estingly, some 80,721 people (1.08 percent of the population) declared them-
selves Yugoslavs in 2002, most of them nostalgic elders.
Montenegro’s population numbers about 620,000 people, according to the
2003 census. Here estimating identities is trickier; while Montenegrins have
always been a breed apart, and recognized thus, the recent politics of eth-
nic nationalism that accelerated independence in 2006 has been reflected in
censuses, with 43 percent declaring themselves Montenegrins and 32 per-
cent declaring themselves Serbs. Combining these totals, as is proper con-
sidering their shared Orthodox Christian culture, results in a 75 percent
Serb/Montenegrin population. Minorities include the Muslim Bosniaks of
Raška/Sandžak (7.8 percent of the population) and Albanians (5 percent),
mostly concentrated in the southeast near Albania and Kosovo. Other mi-
norities in Montenegro include Croats, Roma, a few hundred Macedonians,
Slovenians, Hungarians, Russians, Italians, and Germans. However, in sum-
mer, the huge influx of tourists brings a bigger international presence, and it is
not unlikely that within a few years Montenegro will have a notable Western
expatriate community.
Another minority in Serbia and Montenegro are the Roma, known to West-
erners as Gypsies. While the former name is considered politically correct, the
latter carries with it a certain evocative feeling and it is unlikely that popular
concepts like the Gypsy brass band or Gypsy wedding will ever be sacrificed
for cultural sensitivity. As elsewhere in the Balkans, the Roma live on the
margins of society, deliberately (though sometimes not) excluding themselves
from mainstream society. They tend to live in shantytown settlements and are
accustomed to a transient lifestyle sustained by frugality, begging, and odd
jobs. However, depending on where they live, Roma families can be more or
less integrated into society. In rural areas and the smaller towns, integration is
usually more successful.
HISTORY
Unlike most European countries, Serbs and Montenegrins are not quite
finished making history. After Communism, most former Soviet and former
The two small islands off of Perast, Sveti Giorgi and Gospa od Škrpjela (Our Lady of
the Rock), are both decorated with tiny chapels, commemorating legendary mirac-
ulous events. In Orthodox Christianity, special care is taken to build churches and
religious arts in sacred places, often with appreciation for the natural beauty of the
landscape. Photograph by Rafael Estefania.
Yugoslav states settled down into predictable patterns of political behavior

and embraced the joys of consumerism. Serbia and Montenegro only for-
mally split up after a Montenegrin referendum in 2006, thus extinguishing
the last flicker of the former Yugoslav flame. However, drama continues as
Serbia continues to protest, supported by stronger allies like Russia, against
the independence of its southwestern province, Kosovo. Although this book
cannot provide detailed coverage of Kosovo, the importance of what Serbs
consider their spiritual heartland is inescapable, and as such it appears often
in any discussion of Serbian history, religion, and thought.
Early History
Serbian tribes came to the Balkans with the Slavic migrations of the sixth
and seventh centuries. However, they had been around much longer. The
name Serboi (Serbs, in the Greek nominative plural case) is mentioned by
ancient writers Tacitus (around a.d. 50) and Pliny (around a.d. 70), referring
to a barbarian tribe located in Sarmatia on the Lower Volga River. The Serbs
and other Slavic tribes would migrate to the Balkans from this area, in what
is today southern Russia and Ukraine.
The Slavic tribes settled a Balkans devastated by previous barbarian invaders
and their battles with the Romans. They both intermingled with and replaced
preexisting populations, such as the Vlachs (descendents of Romanized Thra-
cians and Dacians and ancestors of modern Romanians), Illyrians, Greeks,
and Macedonians. The Serbs arrived in waves, from the early to mid-seventh
century, and they were similarly converted to Christianity in waves between
the seventh and ninth centuries. The recorded history of Serbs is therefore
intrinsically bound up with their experience of Christianity.
The crucial element for the formation of a Serbian national identity and
state, as with Bulgaria, was the Serbs’ eventual conversion to Orthodox
Christianity by the Byzantine Empire. With its capital in Constantinople,
Byzantium represented what had been the Eastern Roman Empire after
the empire split in the fourth century. During what is known as Western
Europe’s Dark Ages, the Byzantines (who referred to themselves as Romaioi,
The former Roman fortress of Kalemegdan sprawls across a sweeping bluff, overlook-
ing the convergence of the Sava and Danube rivers that divide Belgrade. It is a popular
spot for a stroll or a picnic, and has outdoor tennis courts and soccer fields used by
athletic Serbs. Photography by the author.
or Romans), played a vital role in preserving the literature, philosophy, and

sciences of ancient Greece and Rome. Despite the frequent struggles for
independence and challenges to Constantinople’s authority coming from the
Balkan Slavs, these peoples would be permanently drawn into the orbit of
Byzantine culture. Roman Catholicism, meanwhile, would eventually win
the battle for influence along the northern and western extremities of the
Balkans in Hungary, Slovenia, and Croatia.
The first Serbian states were Raška (also known as Rascia), under Časlav
Klonimirović in the mid-tenth century, and Zeta (also known as Duklja)
in Montenegro, under the Vojislavljević clan. With the rise of the powerful
commercial empire of Venice, Roman Catholicism acquired influence over
the Montenegrin Adriatic coast and, for a time, further inland. In fact, the
first Montenegrin king of Zeta, Mihailo, was crowned by the pope in 1077.
However, the constant threat of the Bulgarians in the south became the most
urgent problem, obliging the Serbs to seek protection from Byzantium, it-
self engaged in recurring wars of attrition with the Bulgarians throughout the
ninth and early tenth centuries.
The Height of Serbian Glory: From the Nemanjići to Tsar

Stefan Dušan
Serbia’s greatest period begins in 1166, when the young ruler Stefan
Nemanja beat his brothers for rule in Raška. Beginning what became known as
the Nemanjić dynasty, Stefan deftly allied with Byzantium while also fending
it off, simultaneously expanding Serbian territory. Holding the title of veliki
župan (“Grand Župan,” or prince), Stefan expanded to the east and south,
annexing Zeta and sections of the Adriatic coast.
By 1265, the Nemanjići emperors had created one of the most powerful
states in the Balkans. Marriage alliances with the Hungarian kingdom allowed
Serbs to expand to the north, in Bosnia, the region of Mačva, and Belgrade,
creating the Kingdom of Srem in 1282. The Serbian kingdom became a full-
fledged empire beginning in 1325, when the shrewd King Milutin made full
use of medieval diplomatic practices; one was dynastic marriages (he himself
was married five times, to Byzantine, Hungarian, and Bulgarian princesses).
Like Stefan Nemanja, Milutin was renowned for his religious endowments,
such as Kosovo’s magnificent Gračanica Monastery, the cathedral in Hilandar
Monastery on Greece’s Mount Athos, and even Jerusalem’s Saint Archangel
Church. Milutin would be proclaimed a saint for these works.
Milutin was succeeded by his son Stefan Dušan, whose reign proved the
high-water mark of medieval Serbian cultural and political life. Stefan ex-
panded Serbian territory to the east and south, conquering Niš, Macedonia,
and mainland Greece. Stefan’s lasting contribution to Serbian medieval archi-

tecture is the Visoki Dečani Monastery, in western Kosovo’s Metohia (literally,
church lands) region. This monumental structure, set amid wooded hills, ex-
emplifies the spirit of Serbian-Byzantine medieval Orthodox architecture and,
as one of the few Serbian shrines to escape destruction by Kosovo Albanians
since 1999, is all the more important today.
Tsar Stefan Dušan, an enlightened ruler, also created in 1349 a legal code
unique among contemporary European states, the Dušanov Zakonik (Dušan’s
Code). In 1346, Tsar Stefan was crowned emperor of the Serbs and Greeks
by the first Serbian patriarch in Constantinople; with the restored Byzantine
Empire besieged by Turks, he sought a more prominent role in defending
Christendom. In fact, before his sudden death, Stefan Dušan and the pope
were planning a new crusade against the Turks. However, in December 1355,
Serbia’s greatest ruler died at the age of forty-seven, probably from being poi-
soned.
The Ottoman Conquest

With Stefan’s death, power struggles among the nobility aided the fortunes
of the growing Ottoman Turks, who had emerged from Central Asia onto the
Anatolian plain in the late eleventh century and steadily spread across Byzan-
tine lands. Although Constantinople and various other Greek-populated ar-
eas would hold out for another century, the Balkans rapidly fell into Turkish
hands, owing to the disunity and mutual infighting of Christian leaders.
As an emergency situation built up, the two most powerful Serbian princes,
the brothers Mrnjavčević, led a large army through Bulgaria to take on Turk-
ish forces at Adrianople (modern-day Edirne, Turkey) in 1371. The Turks
launched an unexpected nighttime raid that destroyed the Serbian army near
the River Maritsa (the Battle of Maritsa). However, the Turks would be heav-
ily defeated at the 1386 Battle of Pločnik. Three years later, a definitive battle
unfolded when Serbian leader and Knight Miloš Obilić led his forces into
battle on Kosovo Polje (the Plain of Kosovo).
The 1389 Battle of Kosovo looms larger than any other in Serbian popular
history. Although Serbia was not completely subjugated for some time after
it, this battle is considered the turning point in the war against the Muslim
invaders, and so it has considerable symbolic significance. It also represents
the end of Serbian rule over Kosovo, the disputed province that contains (or
contained, until Kosovo Albanian destruction of approximately 150 churches
and other cultural sites dramatically changed the province beginning in 1999)
some of the most important artistic and architectural achievements in Serbian
history.
In the battle, the troops of Prince Lazar, Serbia’s strongest ruler, were allied
with other Serbian and Bosnian lords. The Serbs were heavily outnumbered,
Lazar died in the fighting, and they eventually had to retreat. However, for
the only time in history, an Ottoman sultan (Murad I) was killed in battle.
In revenge, Murad’s son Bayezid killed most of the captive Serbian nobles.
Later, popular legends and epics claimed that Vuk Branković, another Ser-
bian lord, betrayed the Serbs by retreating unexpectedly. However, there is
no evidence for this, and historians today believe that the legend was circu-
lated as anti-Branković propaganda by Lazar’s widow, Milica, and her son,
Stefan Lazarević, who defeated Branković for rule over Serbs by allying with
the Turks. Serbia became an Ottoman vassal state. Nevertheless, these murky
events have enhanced over time the mythological significance of the Battle of
Kosovo, introducing oft-referenced (and oft-repeated) themes of the hero and
traitor into the Serbian national narrative.
Faced with an increasingly bleak Turkish onslaught, Serbian populations
began moving northward out of Kosovo and southern Serbia. Under Stefan
Lazarević, the capital was relocated north to Smederevo, a purpose-built for-
tified town. Smederevo finally fell in 1459, though Zeta in Montenegrin held
out until 1499. Nevertheless, as Montenegrins like to point out, their moun-
tainous country was hardly controlled by the Turks. A restored Serbian prin-
cipality, existing as a Hungarian dependency, occupied parts of today’s Vojvo-
dina, northern Hungary, and Romania. This principality held out until 1540,
when it succumbed to the Turks.
Serbia and Montenegro under the Turks

Under Islamic law, Jews and Christians such as Serbs and Montenegrins
were considered protected people and not obliged to perform military service.
They were allowed to keep their religious and social customs. However, this
hardly meant that life was easy for the non-Muslim masses (the so-called
rayah), essentially second-class citizens. Along with onerous tax burdens,
non-Muslims also had no legal right to testify against Muslims. Further,
they were obliged to dismount from horseback when passing a Muslim, and
they could not construct churches higher than mosques; the biggest and best
churches were often turned into mosques. This institutionalized imbalance
lead to outrageous excesses and abuses by Muslims, especially brutal in
border areas (Serbia and Bosnia) and during times of uprisings. It is no
wonder that many Bosnian Serbs converted to Islam to improve their lot in
life.
Most resented was the blood tax. Turkish authorities would assemble the
healthiest and most able children of the local rayah and kidnap them for
the sultan’s pleasure, their parents powerless to defend them. Boys would be
converted to Islam and then trained to become Janissaries, the elite guard of
the sultan. Girls were sent to the harem. While a few such Janissaries were
noted for helping their home territories once in power, the majority of them
were known for their avarice and cruelty, terrorizing local populations and
becoming a law unto themselves; indeed, the Janissaries eventually become
such a threat to the sultans that the whole corps had to be purged in bloody
fashion. But not only did the Janissaries and officials persecute non-Muslims.
The new “winners” in society, Muslim converts from Bosnian Serbs and Al-
banians, took advantage of their privileged position in numerous violent and
humiliating ways. The Ottoman Empire could not have functioned without
input from all its constituent peoples, however, and the sultans recognized
talent where the saw it. They understood the native diplomatic skill of many
Serbs, and over the years a number of them became ministers and diplomats
in the sultan’s court.
Revolt and Relocation

Nevertheless, the institutionalized oppression of the Serbs and crushing
taxation inspired frequent rebellions. Popular frustrations and local leaders’
ambitions were often exploited by greater powers to serve their own conflicts
with the Ottomans. Hungarian kings encouraged Serb refugees to immigrate
into their territories, seeing them as a shield against the Turks. Serbs joined
Hungarian forces, unsuccessfully, in the 1526 Battle of Mohács. Hungary lost
its independence, and the Austrian kingdom assumed the burden of preserv-
ing Christian Europe. Serbs played crucial roles in Austria’s wars against the
Ottoman Empire. During the Austro-Turkish War of 1593–1606, Serbs in
Banat rebelled. Ottoman Sultan Murad III crushed the revolt and tragically
burned the sacred relics of Saint Sava. In a second rebellion, in Herzegovina,
the Serbs were again left to their fate once Turkey and Austria made
peace.
The momentous Great War of 1683–1690, pitting Turkey against the Holy
League (Austria, Poland, and Venice, supported by the pope), proved disas-
trous for the Serbs. With Serbs convinced that the Holy League might fi-
nally deliver their freedom, they rebelled against the Turks in Montenegro,
Dalmatia, Macedonia, Raška, and Kosovo. Nevertheless, the war ended with
Austrian withdrawal; faced with the choice of staying behind to suffer certain
Muslim revenge killings or evacuating to a Christian state, many Kosovo Serbs
fled with the Austrian army. Now known as the Great Migration of 1690, this
organized relocation saw the permanent exile of thousands of Serbs led by their
patriarch, Arsenije Čarnojević. This migration was arguably the single most
significant in Serbian population decline in Kosovo, and it has been captured

for posterity in a moving epic painting, the Seoba Srbalja (Migration of the
Serbs) by Paja Jovanović (see chapter 9, “Art and Architecture”).
The Serbian Uprisings and Establishment of an Independent State

By the late eighteenth century, Ottoman power was declining, something
that made Muslim treatment of Christians only more savage. This naturally
inspired more revolts, not only in Serbia but also in Greece, which fought
its War of Independence (1821–1829), and then in Bulgaria. However, the
Serbs beat them both: the first Serbian uprising occurred in 1804, led by the
− −
legendary character of Black George, or Karador de Petrović (1768–1817),
a brawny bear of a man whose deeds are commemorated in folk song. The
direct cause of the rebellion was a Janissary revolt against the sultan that in-
volved massacres of Serbs and mass executions of Serb leaders. The angered,
mostly peasant rebels succeeded in winning key battles, recovering Belgrade
− −
and nearby areas. Karador de joined Russia to make war against the Turks,
− −
but by 1812 Russia had made peace, and Serbian nobles like Karador de were
forced to flee to avoid Turkish counterattacks.
In 1815, the second Serbian uprising, led by another Serbian prince, Miloš
Obrenović, forced the Ottomans to recognize Serbia as an autonomous prin-
cipality within the empire. However, Obrenović also ordered the execution
− −
of the popular Karador de when returning from exile in 1817, allegedly on
Ottoman orders. Thus began the long decades of strife and enmity between
− −
the Karador dević and Obrenović dynasties, which would last until a palace
coup brought the former to power in 1903. Today, the heirs of Black George
continue to be recognized as the rightful royal family in Serbia.
This sudden independence inspired other Serbs to rebel. In 1848, Serbs liv-
ing in the southern Vojvodina region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire pro-
claimed an autonomous province. However, Vienna declared it a province
within the empire, the Vojvodina of Serbia and Tamiš Banat. This internal
fiefdom survived only eleven years, being abolished in 1860. Only in 1918,
with the destruction of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, would Vojvodina join
Serbia.
Although the Turks kept military control of Belgrade until 1867, their
influence gradually waned, except in the Raška/Sandžak area and Kosovo,
where Turkish and Albanian Muslim abuses of Christian Serbs continued
unchecked. In Serbia itself, the real struggle for control was between the
− −
Karador dević and Obrenović dynasties. A principality, or kneževina, after
1817, Serbia became a kingdom in 1882, following the 1878 Treaty of Berlin
that carved up the Balkans after the Russo-Turkish War. Naturally, the two
leading dynasties in Serbia sought to take power for themselves, frequently

feuding and intriguing with foreign powers in the process.
Montenegro’s Rise and the Balkan Wars

This situation was made more complicated by the improbable rise of little
Montenegro, whose prince, Nikola I, had grand ambitions for expanding his
tiny principality and becoming, however unlikely it seemed, a major player
in the Great Powers diplomacy of the time. From 1815 to 1852, Montene-
gro had been ruled by a Vladika, or metropolitan-prince; since such religious
leaders could not marry, the hereditary position passed from uncle to nephew.
Petar II Petrović Njegoš (1813–1851) the last vladika, was acknowledged as
a man of wisdom and strength, and he remains the country’s greatest poet
(see chapter 6, “Literature”). Under Njegoš, reforms in education and society
were undertaken, such as schooling for girls and an attempt to rein in the de-
structive blood feuding of the various Montenegrin clans, which had a very
long history.
Known as fierce warriors, and especially acclimated to fighting in their
harsh mountain homeland, the Montenegrins had for centuries kept a part
of Serbdom essentially free of the Turks. Their leaders thus aroused great ad-
miration among European observers sympathetic to the Christian cause. The
most clever, charismatic and successful of these leaders was Prince (and finally,
king) Nikola I (1860–1918), who in true Byzantine style managed to profit
from, and evade, the competing powers of Italy, Russia, Austria, and Serbia,
using marriage alliances and crafty diplomacy to make his little Balkan prin-
cipality the apple of desire in numerous powers’ strategic and economic as-
pirations. Above all, what he sought was the social validation of being a king
(and, if possible, king of Serbia as well) and to recover the large sections of the
Adriatic coast then in Austrian hands, including the strategic Bay of Kotor.
In 1912, the stage was set for a massive regional conflagration after an
unresolved, multisided guerrilla war in Macedonia inspired Greece, Bulgaria,
Serbia, and Montenegro to join forces to drive the Turks out of Europe.
As could be expected, the Montenegrins declared war first. The Serbian
− −
army of Petar Karador dević, who had recovered the throne from rival Milan
Obrenović in 1903, swept successfully across the plains of southern Serbia
and Macedonia, driving the Turks south. The Greek fleet, meanwhile, was
recovering Turkish-occupied islands. The Bulgarians fought ferociously in
Macedonia and Thrace, and the Turks were indeed being pushed out of Eu-
rope almost entirely. However, as the alarmed European Great Powers watched
the traditional balance of power shifting, the Balkan allies disputed rights to
Macedonia, leading to the Second Balkan War (1913), in which Bulgaria was
soundly beaten. In the end, Macedonia was partitioned between the Greeks,
Through clever politicking and creation of marriage alliances between his daugh-
ters and powerful European royal families, Montenegro’s King Nikola (1841–1921)
achieved a prominence, both personally and for his small country, entirely dispropor-
tionate to its size, guiding Montenegro through numerous crises and both the Balkan
Wars and World War I. King Nikola (seated right) with the royal family. Courtesy of
Library of Congress.
Bulgarians, and Serbs (the modern-day Republic of Macedonia comprises

the territory awarded to Serbia in 1913 and subsequently part of Yugoslavia).
World War I and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes

Austro-Hungary was especially concerned by Serbia’s great gains, fearing
that they would inspire Serbs in Habsburg-occupied Bosnia, Croatia, and
Montenegro to rebel. Although popular history has it that the outbreak of
the First World War can be attributed to the rash misdeed of a young Bosnian
Serb fanatic, Gavrilo Princip, the conflagration cannot be blamed simply on
any one man. Princip’s assassination of Austrian Crown Prince Franz Ferdi-
nand on June 28, 1914, did dramatically worsen relations between Austria
and Serbia; however, the former had clearly been seeking a way to negate any
possible Serbian threat for years before that.
When the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia on July
28, 1914, a chain of similar declarations erupted as the European alliance
system followed its fatal course. However, the first Austrian assaults at Cer in
Vojvodina were repelled vigorously by the spirited Serb defenders, temporar-
ily making the better-equipped and larger Austrian army the laughingstock
of Europe. The infuriated Austrians, this time with stout assistance from the
Germans, invaded Serbia again. Then the opportunistic Bulgarians invaded
from the south. Yet the Serbian kingdom did not surrender. Rather, King Petar
won great respect when he personally led his ragged troops across the moun-
tains of Albania in winter 1915. Reaching the Adriatic coast, the king, his
family, and the surviving soldiers were evacuated by ship to the Greek island
of Corfu. After recuperating, they reached Thessaloniki in Northern Greece,
where they were united with their British and French allies. The combined
troops held a line against the opposing Bulgarian, Austrian, and German
ranks on what is essentially the border between Greece and Macedonia and
Bulgaria today.
Finally, the Serbian and French troops broke enemy lines in September
1918 and moved swiftly through the Macedonian territory they had so re-
cently won from the Turks. Within two months, all of the occupied Serbian
territories had been liberated. The Austro-Hungarian Empire did not survive
the war, and the restored Serbian monarchy joined the newly freed territories
of Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia to create the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and
Slovenes, a parliamentary monarchy.
The almost six years of fighting had devastated Serbia. Not to mention the
losses sustained in the Balkan Wars, Serbia suffered in World War I alone
some 1,264,000 casualties—more than half of the male population. Whole
villages and towns had been destroyed. At the same time, the newly incor-
porated territories were too much to administer; not all Slovenes and Croats
The retreat of the Serbian army through the mountains of Albania to the sea in winter
1915–1916 ranks as one of the most heroic feats of endurance in modern European
history. Despite thousands falling to starvation, the elements, injuries, and Albanian
bands, the army survived to fight another day, led in person by 71-year-old King Petar.
Courtesy of Library of Congress.
were keen on joining a Belgrade-centered monarchy, having just been freed

from Austrian domination. The same went for the Bosnian Muslims and Al-
banian Muslims in Kosovo, horrified at the thought of losing their previously
guaranteed Ottoman institutional privileges. However, the monarchy by and
large dealt with the Muslims cautiously, not wishing to agitate them.
The new state expressed a concept—Yugoslavism—that had captivated in-
tellectuals since the mid-nineteenth century. It was predicated on the shared
cultures, but most fundamentally on the similar languages, of the three main
component nations. A union of South Slavs had never before been possi-
ble, and few had a realistic understanding of its potential. Unfortunately, the
economic disparities between north and south (a wealthy Slovenia and poor
Kosovo and Macedonia), plus the Catholic-Orthodox divide between people
in close proximity, such as Croats and Serbs in Croatia, worked against the
new state. And the Serbian leadership also tended to centralize power, abet-
ting rival ethnic nationalists. The 1920s government of Prime Minister Nikola
Pašić was considered heavy-handed, intimidating ethnic minority parties and
seizing opposition pamphlets. Pašić was a capable leader; however, he also
alienated many. During the 1920s, ethnic tensions simmered, in Croatia es-
pecially, where an anti-Semitic, far-right political movement was challenging
the more popular Croat Peasant’s Party of socialist-populist leader Stjepan
Radić. In his party alone were Croatian Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats
starting to cooperate. However, in June 1928, Montenegrin parliamentary
deputy Puniša Račić shot and fatally wounded Radić during a parliamentary
session, thus ending any Serb-Croat rapprochement and promoting the rise
of the Croatian right wing.
World War II and Ascendancy of the Partisans

− −
After the assassination of Stjepan Radić, King Aleksandar I Karador dević
banned nationalist parties to try and subdue tensions. However, as Great
Power intrigue returned to the Balkans, Hitler’s Germany, Italy, and the Soviet
Union all jostled for power. Yugoslavia was a coveted prize for them, and
ethnic separatists were ready to act as well. In 1934, the king was assassinated
in Marseille, France, by Bulgarian nationalists aided by the up-and-coming
Ustaša, a Croatian fascist group. In the run-up to war, Serbian Prince-Regent
Paul followed Bulgaria, Romania, and Hungary in signing a treaty with Hitler.
However, Serbs protested vociferously, and Paul was exiled; his nephew King
Peter II took his place. A furious Hitler decided to invade. His forces were able
to occupy Serbia with far less difficulty than had their ancestors in 1914; the
difference was air power. In the April 1941 bombing of Belgrade, still com-
memorated every year, some seventeen thousand civilians were killed and un-
told damage was done to the city’s great architecture and civil infrastructure.
Yugoslavia soon surrendered. King Peter II and the royal family fled to
London, where he was treated as a hero for daring to oppose Hitler. The king
led a Yugoslav government-in-exile for the rest of the war from Britain.
The Axis Powers quickly carved up Yugoslavia into zones of occupation.
Serbia was occupied by the Germans. In Bosnia and Kosovo, Serbs were con-
trolled by Mussolini’s troops. Hungarians allied with Nazi-controlled Vojvo-
dina, beginning an occupation of terror that involved hanging Serbian civilians
from light posts. Serbian-held Macedonia was occupied by both Bulgaria and
Italy in its western, Albanian-populated areas. Italy also controlled Albania
and much of Montenegro. Slovenia was divided between Germany and Italy.
The Nazi occupation of Serbia was grim. In Serbia, the Nazis set up several
concentration camps, such as Banjica and Sajmište near Belgrade, in which
some forty thousand Jews (90 percent of the Serbian Jewish population) were
murdered, as well as resistance fighters such as the Communist Partisans. In
the infamous Kragujevac massacre (October 20, 1941), which occurred in
the central Serbian town of the same name, the Germans killed fifty Serbs for
every one German who had been killed by Serbian rebels.1 Meanwhile, the
Germans and Italians provided support for the fascist Ustaša regime, which
set up the independent state of Croatia. Under Ustaša rule, Serbs, Jews, Gyp-
sies, and other non-Croats were subjected to treatment that can objectively
be described as genocide. At Croat-run death camps such as the one at Jasen-
ovac (located in today’s Croatia), hundreds of thousands were tortured and
exterminated in ways that shocked even Hitler’s lieutenants.2
The Ustaša official policy toward the Serbs—“kill a third, deport a third,
and convert a third”—was notably supported by the Catholic Church, and
after the war some of the most important Croat war criminals were evacuated
to South America through the same infamous Vatican “ratlines” used to save
Nazi leaders responsible for the Jewish Holocaust.3 The Albanian ultranation-
alist groups who briefly annexed Kosovo to Albania, under the encouragement
of Italy and the Nazis, also participated in the Holocaust and the extermina-
tion of Kosovo Serbs, so that by war’s end the latter became a minority in their
historic heartland.
The major resistance groups that emerged to fight the Nazis and their al-
lies were the Serbian Četniks under Draža Mihajlović, who remained loyal
to King Aleksandar, and the Communist Partisans of Josip Broz Tito, whose
members came from all ethnicities in Yugoslavia. Some were ideologues, but
many were just bewildered, forcibly conscripted villagers. The eventual victory
of Tito’s forces might have seemed sure, considering that the various ethnic
nationalist movements would cancel one another out, but for much of the war
this was not the case. Many allied governments, especially the British, were
sympathetic to the royalists, and the Serbian king made a constant case for his
cause while in London throughout the war.
The Četniks also won the gratitude of the Americans when Mihailović’s
men performed the single largest airlift of downed Allied fighters, some five
hundred American airmen who had been shot down over Serbia by German
gunners while attempting to bomb oil fields in Nazi-allied Romania. At con-
siderable risk to themselves, Četniks fighters and ordinary Serbian villagers
took in the American soldiers, protecting them from the Germans until the
U.S. Air Force could organize secret flights to evacuate the troops. Some of
the veterans of this operation lobbied the U.S. government for decades to ac-
knowledge Mihajlović’s great deed. However, foreign policy always seemed to
dictate against such an acknowledgment.4
The Allies, however, eventually switched their support to the Partisans for
primarily pragmatic reasons: they simply saw that Tito’s forces had a better
chance of winning than did the Četniks. In addition, key advisers in the
British Foreign Office had strong sympathies for Communism in theory and
deliberately, if quietly pushed a policy favorable to Tito’s cause.5
As 1944 finished, the Red Army liberated Serbia, and by May of the next
year Allied forces and Partisan ones were united in Hungary, Austria, and
Italy. The Germans were finally expelled at the Battle of Srem, with the help
of Soviet airpower, and the Partisans hunted down the last of the Ustaša in
the aftermath of the fighting. As in World War I, Yugoslavia’s human and
economic losses were among the greatest of all European countries. Some 1.7
million people lost their lives in the conflict, a figure that equaled almost 11
percent of the total population, while economic and infrastructure damages
were estimated at $9.1 billion.
Serbia and Montenegro during Tito’s Yugoslavia

World War II in Yugoslavia ended with the victory of the Partisans and their
wily and charismatic leader, Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), an ethnic Croat
who was determined to restore the fractious country along ideological rather
than nationalist lines. However, Tito was even more of a centralist than either
Pašić or King Aleksandar I had been. His reign—a lifetime one, as it turned
out—involved cultivating a robust cult of personality. Dissent was banned,
and the Communists shot many who disagreed with their ideology and im-
prisoned others without trials. Several thousand Yugoslavs, many Serbs, were
killed following the war. Any possible threats to the new order were elimi-
nated, such as General Draža Mihailović, the Četnik resistance hero who was
hung by the Communists in on July 17, 1946.
Tito changed the structure of the country as well as its name, which became
the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia. Belgrade was still the capital,
but six constituent republics were created: Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montene-
gro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Macedonia. Two autonomous provinces were
also created, Kosovo and Vojvodina, both in Serbia. Since other autonomous
provinces could have been created in several instances in other republics, crit-
ics considered Tito’s action against Serbia as part of an acknowledged pol-
icy that stated “a weak Serbia makes for a strong Yugoslavia.” Nevertheless,
Serbia’s indisputable leading role as the largest Yugoslav republic meant that
Serbian Communists would wield significant power.
The upheaval of war and the imposition of a new political structure radi-
cally affected the old order, especially as far as religion and property ownership
were concerned. The Catholic Church, Orthodox Church, and Islamic com-
munities in the various republics were kept in check, and, though religion
was not banned, it lost its former hold on life. Meanwhile, the agricultural re-
forms conducted after the war resulted in the wholesale theft of land from the
Yugoslav peasantry, who were forced into collective agriculture or relocated
to drab new apartment blocks in the cities. However, Communism had some
benefits, such as increased education and equality for women.
Despite the postwar division of the world’s powers into capitalist and Com-
munist camps, Tito’s Yugoslavia was considered more or less a pro-Western
country. Ever since the comrade in chief’s 1948 break with Stalin, it had
steered a careful course between East and West, largely due to the acumen and
charm of Tito himself. The motto according to which he ruled Yugoslavia was
one of brotherhood and unity, the ideal being a system of self-management
as distinct from both hard-core Communism and rampant capitalism. Tito’s
unique Socialist system combined just enough of a market economy with just
enough of a state-owned system so as to ensure a continuous stream of gener-
ous loans from both the West and the Soviets, thus keeping the Yugoslav boat
afloat for decades. However, what really stood out for admirers of Tito’s coun-
try was that its foreign policy provided a model as an alternative to the har-
rowing mutually assured destructiveness of the Cold War. The championing
of a so-called non-aligned movement brought Tito many allies from the de-
veloping world and allowed him to portray himself as a bona-fide statesman
on the world stage. Unlike the hardline Communist countries and the NATO
states, Yugoslavia had no overt enemies.
However, internal ethnic unrest materialized in protests in 1968 and 1974,
when a new constitution was introduced. It allowed for more decentralization
in both the republics and in Serbia’s autonomous provinces, a result that en-
couraged separatist movements supported by strong diaspora groups in West-
ern countries, and even by the secret services of the United States, Germany,
and other Western allies. Only in the case of Bosnia, where future president
Alija Izetbegović was agitating for an independent Muslim state based on the
models of Pakistan and Iran, were political goals being sought through a rival
ideology alone.
In the end, Yugoslavia became a victim of its own apparent success. When
Tito died in 1980, guaranteed leadership died with him, though his cult
of personality would linger on in the increasingly meaningless slogans that
schoolchildren were told to recite, such as Za Domovinu, s Titom, napred (For
the country, with Tito, forward!) and i po Titu, Tito (And after Tito . . . Tito!).
The latter bit of wishful thinking illustrated the inescapable problem of con-
tinuing a confederation previously held together by easy loans from abroad
and the iron fist of one leader.
Post-Tito Yugoslavia created a new rotating presidency between the re-
publics, though the one-party system remained intact. Nevertheless, signif-
icant changes began to occur. The more developed and Western-oriented
republics of Slovenia and Croatia went toward market-based reforms, while
Serbia and Montenegro clung to their state-owned system. In Kosovo, mean-
while, Albanian separatists took to increasingly violent protests, resulting in
new police crackdowns. Wealthy Slovenes decried the fact that their tax money
was being hemorrhaged in Belgrade’s unsuccessful efforts to bring Kosovo into
the twentieth century. Rival ethnic groups in Bosnia eyed one another un-
easily. Inflation soared as foreign creditors began to call on their loans. The
stage was set for a showdown, though most people could not imagine it, even
up until the end.
Serbia during the Wars of Yugoslav Secession

Ethnic nationalism also began to assert itself in Yugoslavia, though this was
complicated: whereas Slovenians, Croats, Macedonians, Bosnian Muslims,
and Kosovo Albanians all wanted independence, most Serbs and Montene-
grins in Serbia and other republics wanted to remain part of Yugoslavia. And
so an up-and-coming politician from Yugoslavia’s Socialist Party, Slobodan
Milošević (1941–2006), maneuvered his way into the Yugoslav presidency
and became associated in the (especially Western) imagination with Serbian
nationalism. However, Milošević and his allies were more interested in per-
sonal enrichment, and they cynically manipulated national fervor for their
own ends. Under Milošević’s tenure, Yugoslavia, especially Serbia, became in-
ternationally isolated. Yugoslavia was strapped for a few years by a United
Nations–enforced economic embargo, and economic mismanagement added
to the woes of the average Serb. During the “transition” decade of the 1990s,
an authoritarian government in Belgrade stifled dissent, and Serb paramili-
taries and politicians were accused of committing or condoning war crimes in
the wars in Croatia and especially Bosnia. A new gangster culture sprang up,
sustained by popular culture, which glamorized violence and organized crime.
In 1995, Milošević reached the apex of his international stature as a diplo-
mat when Western leaders praised him for his role in influencing the Bosnian
Serbs to sign a peace treaty with their Muslim rivals, overseen by U.S. officials
in Dayton, Ohio. The Dayton Agreement authorized a federal state consisting
of two main entities, the Republika Srpska (Serb Republic) and the Muslim-
Croat federation. The Yugoslav civil wars had been especially brutal, contra-
dictory, and complex. All sides committed atrocities against the others, and
ostensible enemies secretly collaborated when they thought they could make
a profit. Much of the wars were characterized by subterfuge, hidden assassins,
and civilian massacres. However, while Serbia was never an active participant
in these wars, it was increasingly singled out by Western media and govern-
ments as the primary supporter of them. In actual fact, it was a very selective
image, as the Croats and Bosnian Muslims had long before hired American
public relations coverage to push their side of the story. The Serbs did not pay
this modern war tax, and they paid the price for it.
And so, by the time the war finally came to Serbia, with NATO’s seventy-
eight-day bombing campaign in the spring of 1999, President Milošević was
being depicted in the media practically as another Hitler. Since 1997, an eth-
nic Albanian paramilitary group financed primarily by narcotics and diaspora
remittances, the Kosovo Liberation Army, had been fighting a guerilla war
with the Yugoslav army in several villages in western Kosovo. The Clinton
administration decided to turn this localized conflict into a major global is-
sue, opening a Pandora’s box that is having, and will have, repercussions well
into the future in other separatist areas of the world. After NATO started
bombing, hundreds of thousands of Albanians fled to Montenegro, Albania,
Macedonia, and indeed, to Serbia proper. NATO perversely justified its hu-
manitarian intervention on a crisis that it had created itself.
Serbia suffered tremendously during the NATO bombardment, which tar-
geted factories, schools, markets, television stations, bridges, and even the
Chinese embassy in Belgrade. NATO proved inept at defeating the Yugoslav
military, destroying a measly thirteen tanks at a cost of approximately $13
billion. Critics mocked the all-powerful alliance’s failure to defeat a small,
economically crippled country, and U.S. administration hawks called for a
ground campaign that NATO was deeply afraid to undertake.6 In the end,
the alliance forced Milošević to capitulate only by causing unbearable civil-
ian suffering and threatening to destroy Belgrade completely. NATO and the
United Nations took over in Kosovo, where returning Albanians undertook a
wave of revenge attacks on the helpless Serb minority. Since then, more than
150,000 Serbs have left Kosovo, while a similar number lives on in enclaves
protected by international troops. Although the Kumanovo Agreement that
ended the NATO bombing stipulated the return of Serbian police to Kosovo
and no independence for the province, Western governments have failed to
honor any of their promises.
Serbia and Montenegro after Milošević

On October 5, 2000, recent presidential election winner Slobodan
Milošević was toppled following massive public demonstrations. The pub-
lic anger was the expression of popular frustration with Milošević’s rule, and
it had been organized and shaped by a Western-backed youth group, Otpor.
Milošević’s election opponent, the lawyer Vojislav Koštunica, was brought to
power, promising to set Serbia and Montenegro on a pro-Western course.
Parliamentary elections, held in December, were won by a coalition led by re-
−
former Zoran −Dindić, a longtime critic of the Milošević regime. In April 2001,
− −
Dindić had an important role in getting Milošević shipped off to The Hague
Tribunal in the Netherlands to stand trial for war crimes in the recent wars.
−
Many believed that −Dindić had had to call on the “heavies” among Serbia’s
criminal underworld to obtain this result, and that he had in any case links
with organized crime bosses whom he subsequently pledged to rid the coun-
−
try of. It was thus not a surprise when, on March 12, 2003, −Dindić became
the latest in a long line of political assassinations, murdered on the steps of
the parliament by a member of Milorad Ulemek’s Zemun Clan crime syndi-
cate. The reach of this powerful mafia boss, nicknamed “Legija,” was long,
and in the resulting massive police sweep numerous high-profile individuals
were arrested. Finally, it seemed that Serbia was taking steps to reign in an un-
derworld that had been linked to several political assassinations in the years
−
leading up to the killing of −Dindić.
The year 2003 also saw a transformation in relations between the final two
Yugoslav republics, which were repackaged as an entity called the State Union
of Serbia and Montenegro. This arrangement, dubbed dysfunctional from the
start by the Western media, survived until May 21, 2006, when Montenegro
held a successful referendum for independence. However, ties between the two
countries remain strong, owing to their cultural, social, and geographic close-
ness. The situation with Kosovo is, however, more turbulent. On February
17, 2008, Kosovo’s Albanian government declared its independence, sparking
protests from Serbia. Kosovo’s minorities, especially Serbs, do not feel secure
to live in (or return to, in many cases) an Albanian-run independent Kosovo,
and Serbia has continuously refused to give up its historic heartland. Although
Serbia was powerless to stop the declaration, it (and powerful supporters like
Russia) has sworn to block Kosovo’s entrance into key international institu-
tions. By the summer of 2008, only around forty countries had recognized
Kosovo. While Kosovo will not be returned to Serbia, it also will not easily
function as a normal sovereign state. The result is likely to be continued insta-
bility and the increasing role of organized crime in Kosovo Albanian politics
and society.
Serbia proper, on the other hand, seems to be improving. Despite chronic

Western concerns over the views of its main politicians and continued charges
that Serbia has not complied fully with the Hague Tribunal, this has not scared
off major foreign investors from both the West and Russia. They realize that
all politics aside, Serbia will remain the motor of the Balkans, with a relatively
large and well-educated population standing astride the major trade and trans-
port route from Central Europe to the Aegean.
Montenegro, meanwhile, is finding its way through tourism. Even before
its independence referendum, foreigners had been snapping up property on
its gorgeous Adriatic coast. Since then, it appears, the coast is almost entirely
in foreign hands, first and foremost Russian ones. However, this reliance on
tourism could have unwanted effects. Some observers believe that the overde-
velopment of the coast will reduce its long-term attractiveness and ecological
condition. At the same time, the clear imbalance in wealth between the coast
and the mountainous north seems to only be increasing. The mountain areas
have a lot to offer in the tourism field as well, but so far they have grown at a
more modest rate.
Ulcinj, a coastal town in the southwest of Montenegro, is one of the country’s best-
known holiday destinations, and one of relatively few places here to boast a long,
sandy beach. Its old town features a castle overlooking the water from a high bluff.
Photograph by Rafael Estefania.
NOTES
1. Carl Savich, “The Kragujevac Massacre,” July 12, 2004, http://www
.balkanalysis.com.
2. Numerous books and articles have been published about Jasenovac. Probably
the most comprehensive collection of Web resources are found at the Web site of the
Jasenovac Research Institute, http://www.jasenovac.org/.
3. See Vladimir Dedijer, The Yugoslav Auschwitz and the Vatican (New York:
Prometheus Books, 1992).
4. See Gregory A. Freeman, The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who
Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II (New York: NAL Publishing,
2007).
5. See Sebastian Ritchie, Our Man in Yugoslavia: The Story of a Secret Service Op-
erative (New York: Routledge, 2004).
6. See John Norris, Collision Course: NATO, Russia and Kosovo (Westport, CT:
Praeger, 2005).
2
Religion and Thought
Only unity saves the Serbs.

—Serbian national motto
I won’t tell you my nationality, otherwise you will call me a Serb nationalist.
—Aleksandar Baljak, Serbian aphorist
My father was an atheist and he always described himself as a Serb. OK, maybe
we were Muslim for 250 years, but we were Orthodox before that and deep
down we were always Serbs, religion cannot change that. We only became Mus-
lims to survive the Turks.
—Emir Kusturica, film director1
The Serbs and Montenegrins are a very spiritual people, though it may not
seem so at first or may not always manifest as expected. The first key to under-
standing this is to gain an understanding of Orthodox Christianity, which to
many American Catholics and Protestants might sound like a somewhat exotic
sect. Truth be told, some 250 million people worldwide consider themselves
part of the greater Orthodox family, in which distinct churches exist, gener-
ally according to nationalities or nation-states. For now, at least, the Serbian
Orthodox Church has authority over the flock in Serbia and Montenegro, as
well as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. Although the Serbian Orthodox
Church has attempted to establish a presence in neighboring Macedonia
by controlling a handful of opportunist priests, the Macedonian Orthodox
Church and the Macedonian people have resisted this strongly.
Orthodox worship differs markedly from Catholic or Protestant worship.

Masses are led by priests, usually bearded, who swing censers full of pungent
incense while singing out prayers in the style of Byzantine chant. In most
churches, worshippers stand in the open center of the building or along the
walls in high chairs that can support the arms but are too high and narrow for
sitting. The whole experience is much more free-form and arguably more fo-
cused on individual spirituality than the organized Catholic or Protestant style
of service. And of course, there are the artistic differences: whereas the latter
churches can seem aesthetically bleak and even empty, Orthodox churches are
full of vividly painted icons, frescoes, and elaborate wood-carved iconostases
behind the altar. The total effect of an Orthodox ceremony thus becomes a
very vivid and sensual experience.
Fundamental to understanding the differences between Orthodoxy and
other Christian churches is the central role of icons. These painted images
of Jesus, Mary, and the saints, the unique gift of the Byzantine tradition,
are understood as a channel to the divine. According to Orthodox dogma,
praying before an icon allows the worshipper to make an intimate and direct
connection with God. The artistic features of iconography—one-dimensional
figures with haunting eyes that seem to follow the observer, no matter where
he or she observes from—make this form unique. Today, icon painters in Ser-
bia and other Orthodox countries carry on a tradition almost two millennia
old.
FROM PAGANISM TO A PATRIARCHY

The momentous division of the Roman Empire into eastern and western
halves and the creation of the eastern capital of Constantinople by Emperor
Constantine the Great in a.d. 330 institutionalized the progress of a church
that was divergent in several respects from the Roman Church. The latter used
Latin, whereas the former increasingly used Greek. The Roman Church was
more logical, Scholastic, and concerned with law, such as in the writings of St.
Augustine. The Eastern Church, on the other hand, nurtured doctrines more
mystical and stemming ultimately from the Platonic and neo-Platonic philo-
sophical movements of the Hellenistic world. The Eastern Church also took
a decentralized approach to ecclesiastical power, stressing the equal nature of
the various patriarchs (in those early days, there were many in Anatolian and
Near Eastern cities, though they would not survive the Turks), whereas the
bishop of Rome—that is, the pope—was championed as the single leader of
Christendom in subsequent centuries in the Latin West. These differences,
which essentially involved minute doctrinal differences and the issue of pa-
pal supremacy, eventually led to the ostracism of the two halves of the greater
Christian church.
RELIGION AND THOUGHT 31
The domes of St Mark’s Church in Belgrade. Built from 1931 to 1940, it is one of the
holiest places in Serbia. It was built in a neo-Byzantine style and contains the remains
of legendary fourteenth-century ruler Emperor Stefan Dušan. Photography by the
author.
The Serbian and other Slavic tribes that migrated to the Balkans in the early
Byzantine period were pagans, and a number of pre-Christian practices seem
to have survived in religious and other festivals and ceremonies, not only after
their conversions to Christianity but also right up until the present day (for
more information, see chapter 4). Christian missionaries baptized the Serbs
and Montenegrins, who became Orthodox Christians under the spiritual tute-
lage of Byzantium (despite that some of their early rulers were crowned by the
pope). The missions of the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius in the ninth
century laid the foundations for a written Slavic language (known today as
Old Church Slavonic). The possibility to instruct the flock in their own lan-
guage consolidated the power of the new churches in Bulgaria, Russia, and
Serbia and helped them resist Roman efforts to win them over to Catholicism
and Latin instruction.
Like Byzantium, medieval Serbia and Montenegro were military theoc-
racies, and though they are today democratic, parliamentary states, the role
of the church in politics and in fostering a sometimes militant nationalism
remains strong. The great thirteenth-century ruler of Raška, Stefan Nemanja,
oversaw the endowment and creation of numerous monasteries, a Byzantine

practice that conferred great prestige upon the benefactor. Among these
lasting endowments were monasteries that today rank among the most
−
important in Orthodox lands: the −Durdevi Stupovi Monastery, Studenica
Monastery, and Hilandar Monastery on the monastic peninsula of Mount
Athos in today’s Greece. To be allowed to create a monastery on the holy
mountain, the most sacred monastic community of all, was a mark of prestige
that indicated the growing importance of the Serbs in the Orthodox world.
To this day, Serbian monks inhabit Hilandar and maintain the traditions
of Stefan Nemanja’s time along with Greek, Bulgarian, Russian, and other
monasteries.
The prominence of Raška in the Orthodox world was elevated further by
the successes of Stefan Nemanja’s youngest son, Rastko. After becoming a
monk and taking the name of Sava, he became determined to spread Chris-
tianity among the Serbs. Sava’s brother Stefan Prvovenčani was crowned king
by Pope Honorius III in 1217, some thirteen years after the Crusaders’ sack of
Constantinople and imposition of Latin rule. For his part, Sava succeeded in
winning autocephalous status for the Serbian Orthodox Church, becoming its
first archbishop in 1219. Byzantium’s misfortune was Serbia’s gain, although
significantly Serbian religion, art, and culture remained within the Byzantine
Orthodox sphere.
Under Tsar Stefan Dušan (ruled 1331–1355), Serbia’s place in the
Orthodox hierarchy became more prestigious still when the archbishopric of
Peć was raised to the rank of patriarchate. However, the church’s power ebbed
following the Turkish invasion, with the result that a successor to Patriarch
Arsenije II (d. 1463) was not elected. Thus de facto abolished, the Serbian
Orthodox Church became subservient to the (Greek-controlled) ecumeni-
cal patriarchate in Constantinople. However, the Serbian patriarchate was re-
stored by the greatest of Ottoman leaders, Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent,
in 1557. At that time, the Serb Mehmed Paša Sokolović was actually grand
vizier (prime minister) of the Ottoman Empire, and his brother Makarije was
elected to resume patriarchal duties in Peć. However, later Serbian uprisings
backed by the church led the Turks to once again abolish the patriarchate in
1766. It passed again under the control of Constantinople, which was heavily
influenced by Greek moguls—the so-called Phanariots. The Greek patriarch
was allowed to begin proselytizing to the Slavs, sending Greek priests into
the villages of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Serbia, a custom that was greatly re-
sented by locals. The Serbian church’s autocephalous status was only restored
in 1879, the year after Serbia’s recognition as an independent state. The Peć
patriarchate was finally reestablished in 1920, following the expulsion of the
Ottomans.
FROM WORLD WAR II TO THE LOSS OF KOSOVO

The empowerment of the fascist and stridently anti-Orthodox Ustaša
revolutionary movement in Croatia during World War II, and the similar
control of Islamist fascists in Bosnia and Kosovo, had ill results for Serbs and
their church. Numerous bishops and priests were killed, while hundreds of
churches were destroyed or desecrated. The Ustaša’s Vatican-supported policy
of “kill a third, deport a third, convert a third” was carried out, and forced
conversions of Serbs to Catholicism did occur. Under Tito’s Communist
Yugoslavia, religion was restricted or heavily managed, and as the most
powerful group, the Serbs were singled out for the worst abuses. Church
property was confiscated, religious teaching was prohibited in schools, and
priests were persecuted in various ways. On the other hand, Tito built more
mosques for Bosnian Muslims than had existed previously, a tactic designed
in part to win approval among his new “non-aligned” Arab allies.
With the end of Yugoslavia, the Serbian Orthodox Church was able to
reassert itself aggressively in public life, just as Catholicism and Islam were
doing in other Yugoslav republics. The increasingly prominent political role
of the church alarmed both local and foreign observers, however, who saw
it as another weapon of warlike nationalists. To a great extent, the Serbian
opposition to giving up the overwhelmingly Albanian-populated province
of Kosovo has owed to religious sensibilities: the patriarchate of Peć, Visoki
Dečani Monastery, Gračanica Monastery, and other of the Nemanja rulers’
greatest endowments are located in Kosovo. Moreover, since 1999, Albani-
ans have damaged or destroyed approximately 150 Serbian churches and holy
places, some dating back to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Usu-
ally, former church sites are used as garbage dumps or paved over to con-
ceal any trace of former Serbian presence. This fact has added more fuel to
the fire and convinced Serbs that Albanians are intent on perpetrating a total
cultural genocide in the very place of greatest spiritual significance to them,
Kosovo.
It is often hard for outsiders to understand the meaning of Kosovo to the
Serbs; to do so would first require an understanding of the place of religion
in society, in terms of both individual experience and as a tool of collective
social organization. So much of Serbian identity is bound up with religious
experience and religious history that an attack on a piece of architecture can be
considered an attack on an individual or group. This often seems to come in
spite of, not because of, their spiritual leaders. Serbs and Montenegrins remain
well aware of the politicking and sometimes even profiting that church figures
have regularly been accused of and tend to look at the church as an institution
at arm’s length.
RELIGIOUS PRACTICE TODAY

Religious practice in the newly independent Serbia and Montenegro has
generally seen a revival of the forms of religion present before Communism,
and specifically in the same ethnic groups where they had traditionally ex-
isted. Thus, while more than three-quarters of Serbs and Montenegrins are
Orthodox Christians, the Bosniak and Albanian minorities are generally
Muslim. Most of the Roman Catholic population is made up of Hungarians
in Vojvodina (4 percent of the population), with small numbers of ethnic
Albanians in Montenegro and Croats in Vojvodina and Montenegro also pro-
fessing Catholicism. Only about 1 percent of the population is Protestant,
but numerous different denominations are represented. The few survivors of
the local Jewish population, descendents of Sephardic Jews forced to emigrate
from Spain during the Inquisition in 1492, live largely in Belgrade.
One issue that has been frequently brought up by human rights crusaders
and unrepresented religious groups is the difficulty with which new sects
can operate. Montenegro’s 2003 constitution, for example, stipulated the
Orthodox Church, the Islamic Community, and the Roman Catholic Church
by name as traditional religious groups. The religious leaders of Serbia’s and
Montenegro’s traditional creeds naturally take a dim view on the idea of shar-
ing the flock with newcomers, and thus legal difficulties have been established
for other groups—most of them different Evangelical groups or sects—that
would like to proselytize to the Serbs.
The issue has been complicated by sporadic violence perpetrated against
newer faiths, usually by nationalist youth, sometimes recruited from the sports
hooligan groups of the major cities. A small number even belong to neo-Nazi
groups. Attacks, often in response to a provocative event or inflammatory
newspaper articles, have occurred most often in Vojvodina, where nationalists
have attacked Protestant groups as well as churches and cemeteries belonging
to Croat and Hungarian Catholics. In the aftermath of the March 17–19,
2004, riots in Kosovo, in which fifty thousand Albanians targeted Serb ar-
eas and burned thirty-five churches, the main mosques in Belgrade and Niš
were attacked as a form of symbolic revenge, though both the government
and Orthodox Church leaders condemned it. Nevertheless, while relations
between the different religious groups are usually cordial, the severe political
and economic pressures that Serbia and Montenegro have recently endured
have created an atmosphere in which extremists can express their fear of the
other through violence.
Extremists of a different sort have made headlines in the shared Sandžak
region of Serbia and Montenegro. Here, as in neighboring Bosnia, Bosniaks
radicalized by foreign Islamist ideologies have been active in promoting the
Saudi Arabian Wahhabi version of Islam, an archaic and puritanical practice

at odds with the traditional Ottoman-style Islam of the Balkans. This chal-
lenge, funded from outside and typically attracting the poor and uneducated,
has caused regular incidents within the Islamic community as Wahhabis chal-
lenge the official leadership for control. So far, the extremists have not been
able to appeal in great-enough numbers to affect society at large, but several
high-profile incidents, like the Serbian police raid in April 2007 that discov-
ered a mountainside terrorist-training camp near the Sandžak city of Novi
Pazar, indicate that Islamic extremism still remains a danger.
For visitors to Serbia and Montenegro, understanding etiquette in relation
to church, monastery, or mosque is useful. When entering a mosque, one
must take off his or her shoes, usually placing them on a rack off to the side
built for the purpose. Taking photographs inside is usually allowed, though it
is considered polite to wait until prayer time has finished before entering and
snapping away. In Orthodox churches and monasteries, on the other hand,
taking photos or video inside is most often prohibited, though it is allowed
outside the church or within the monastic grounds. It is also frowned on to
enter a church in “immodest” clothing, and the larger churches do indeed
offer frocks or long pants for visitors who are dressed too skimpily.
When entering a church, Serbs and Montenegrins cross themselves, and do
so again when leaving, and they always make sure to exit the doorway walking
backward, so as to not turn their back on the inside of the church. Inside the
church, guests usually make the rounds to various icons set on display and
along the walls and altar. The practice is generally to cross oneself and kiss
the icon before or after praying. Some people also leave a few coins or small
notes on the icon as a gift to the church. In most churches there is a person
at a booth or table near the front (usually an elderly woman) selling candles,
icons, crosses, and other paraphernalia. Serbs and Montenegrins usually light
a candle for their loved ones, and often for their whole family. The lit candles
are placed together with other ones in tall racks, either having metal holes for
placement, or sand. It is important to know that lit candles on the lower tray
section of the racks are for people who have died, whereas the upper trays are
reserved for the living.
THOUGHT
It almost goes without saying that Serbian philosophical thought is rooted
in the church and in Scripture. The retarding influence of the Ottoman Em-
pire, which kept Serbia and Montenegro cut off from the West for well more
than four hundred years, partially accounts for the failure of Serbs and Mon-
tenegrins to participate in the same intellectual processes that occurred in
Western Europe from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. Serbian thought

has developed unique characteristics as a result of this historical experience and
the social abreactions it brought on.
Over the long and difficult centuries for Serbia and Montenegro, there have
been certain maxims and ways of acting that have been constantly invoked.
Invariably these are nationalistic or patriotic in character. The most famous
(and formulaic) is the phrase Samo sloga Srbina spasava (Only unity saves the
Serbs), which is a national motto that is overtly a patriotic call to unity and
covertly a lament over the Serbs’ chronic inability to make a united front
against their enemies, whether politically or militarily.
Here, historical wrongs and perceived wrongs play a big part in keeping
the tradition. The potency of such slogans comes partially from images like
the 1389 Battle of Kosovo, when internal division among the Serbs allowed
for an Ottoman victory. However, it seems that the power of the saying is
all too often invoked as a lament: all too often discord and disunity have
characterized the Serbian position or actions. Reminding the Serbian people
that only through unity will they succeed in their goals tacitly implies that
this unity does not exist.
The saying, however, is not a saying per se, as people do not speak it to one
another aloud—that would seem silly. The only case in which they would do
so would be as a wry, ironic statement when faced with a situation of obvious
disunity or discord. Rather, it is a pictorial representation that presents the
concept. The way that the slogan is traditionally depicted merges the concept
seamlessly with religion: the symbol of Samo sloga Srbina spasava is a Serbian
cross with four large C letters (S in Cyrillic) in each of the quarters of the
cross, all opening outward.
This form is called an ocila, and it has an interesting history. While
the twelfth-century Saint Sava is sometimes given the credit for inventing
the slogan, it is likely that, at least as a visual symbol, it derives from the
Byzantine coat of arms, which featured a similar cross filled out with the Greek
letter B, representing the imperial motto Basileus Basileon Basileuon Basileusin
(King of kings, ruling over kings). The Samo sloga Srbina spasava phrase is al-
most never written out as such, but the cross-and-letters symbol is widely seen,
often as graffiti, in Serbia and in other Serb-populated areas of the Balkans.
SATIRE AND APHORISM

A more irreverent means of surviving hard times for the Serbs has been
through black humor. As elsewhere in the Balkans and Central Europe, Serbs
enjoy collective commiseration without losing their cool through satire and
witty aphorisms. These aphorisms are typically deadpan one-liners that have a
double meaning or complex association of not only language but also termi-
nology alluding to historical or current events. The aphorism has been a part
of Serbian literary thought and social criticism for decades. The forerunners
of today’s Serbian social critics took aim at numerous aspects of society that
seemed ridiculous or dehumanizing. In the beginning, the main target was
the so-called better life promised by the Communists. By quietly mocking
the empty ideals of their rulers, the Yugoslav people could, to some small
extent, restore their sense of individuality, dignity, and sanity.
As in other countries that were swallowed up by Communism after World
War II, organized sarcasm became a self-defense mechanism against the point-
less rhetoric and irrational policies of the government. However, ironically,
the very possibility of some amount of aphoristic resistance could take place
only in environments that were relatively relaxed, such as Poland and espe-
cially Yugoslavia. In the 1960s an informal movement sprang up and became
known as the Belgrade Aphoristic Circle. Originally based on the example of
a few dissident writers, the group became a genuine grassroots phenomenon,
with hundreds of amateur aphorists soon taking part. The need to avoid the
ever-vigilant government censors influenced the format of expressed thought,
requiring trenchant social critiques to be made indirectly, allusively, and sub-
tly.
The death of Tito in 1980 provided fertile ground for satire, though the
machine of state repression also became weaker and increasingly incapable
of withstanding the numerous challenges rising up against its authority from
all sides. And in those days, it was almost as if the system had devoured, or
had been devoured by, the satirical establishment. Indeed, some of the “real”
government policy slogans—such as i po Titu, Tito (And after Tito . . . Tito!)—
sounded almost like something a clever aphorist might have come up with to
mock the uncertainty and shadow puppetry at work in the country during the
1980s. But they were not made in jest. Such statements expressed the crisis
of confidence that was gripping the country after the passing of its lifelong
leader.
After the 1980s, Serbian aphorisms had to rise to the new challenges posed
by nationalism, war and sanctions, the ever-elusive civil societies, mafia rule,
peacekeeping missions, economic transition, and the wonders of democracy.
These all became very rich feeding grounds for aphorists who had been starv-
ing from the stupidity and brigandage of the Milošević years. For these people,
even being able to make clever quips was a form of empowerment, and it be-
came an especially important social self-defense mechanism. However, in the
1990s, Serbs simply were no longer in a position of criticizing their govern-
ment; now, with the media-propagated images of Serbs as enemies of the West,
the challenge was even more complicated. Yet we should not say that Serbian
aphorism has reached its apogee; indeed, as Aleksandar Baljak, considered

one of Serbia’s best aphorists, memorably quipped: “Our best aphorisms were
created in difficult times, but for our modern satire—better days lie ahead.”
Boris Mitić, a Serbian aphorist and documentary filmmaker on the subject
(his film is called Aphocalypse Now!), has much to say about aphorism—and
not only pure aphorisms but also some of the logic behind them. Explains
Mitić:
An aphorism, as defined and practiced in Serbia, is a short, sharp, linguistically ef-

fective sentence or two, which imperatively contains an unexpected twist and which
describes in a most striking, clairvoyant way the hidden truth of some common so-
cial matters or states of mind. What makes Serbian aphorisms different from classic
proverbs is their multilayered, open-ended nature, their surprisingly creative word-
plays, their unpretentious individualism and their killer dose of black humor, satire
and merciless sarcasm that still conveys a strong humanistic message. In a time when
the human rights industry has become nothing more than a big fundraising competi-
tion which benefits only the most shameless hustlers and whiners, our frail civilization
deserves to have empowering tools that are freely available to all. . . .
I myself have systematically collected aphorisms for the last ten years. Whenever I
wonder why I am still living in this crazy country after years of civil wars, domestic
repression and international satanization, I turn to my collection of aphorisms for
reassuring consolation and a 100%-proof optimism fix. . . . All of a sudden, a wasted
childhood becomes an asset; terminal living in Serbia—a privilege. From this perspec-
tive, Serbia stops being a traumatized, post-war country lost in transition, and turns
into a stylish crossroads full of off-beat characters trying to contribute to a better
understanding of this world by making up great lines.2
The younger generation of satirists today has special respect for elder states-
men of the genre who, like Rastko Zakić, faced persecution and censorship
from the Communists back when it was dangerous to speak freely. Zakić
was the most censored satirical writer in Communist Yugoslavia—seven of
his books were actually banned. After being hauled into court because of his
aphorisms, Zakić was told by the secret police that he could be cleared of all
charges if he would spy on his fellow aphorists. The police were very surprised
when he agreed—on condition, of course, that they give him a special police
uniform. Recalled Zakić, “I didn’t refrain from answering their madness with
greater madness.”3
Typical fodder for aphorisms has always been politics, war, corruption, and
any notion of progress, whether in Communist or Democratic society. There
are numerous examples in each category that have been thought up by mem-
bers of the Belgrade Aphoristic Circle including Baljak, Mitić, Zakić, and
more. These aphorisms reflect the perception of contemporary realities. For

example, the feeling that Serbia is constantly threatened by the West to give
up territory (Kosovo), individuals (alleged war criminals to The Hague Tri-
bunal), and policies has sparked aphorisms such as “I can’t work any longer
for Serbian diplomacy—my knees hurt,” by Belgrade psychiatrist Slobodan
Simić.
The Kosovo situation is summed up in an admirably complex aphorism by
Aleksandar Baljak, who alludes to two long-discussed concepts in one breath.
The first is the argument that giving Kosovo independence for its Albanian
majority is like “letting the genie out of the bottle,” or something that will
spark other secessionist movements elsewhere in the world. The second is
the United Nations’ and NATO’s promises that they can guarantee freedom
of movement to the Serbian minority in Kosovo—something that has been
manifestly and demonstrably proved false over the past few years, as Serbs
there have frequently come under attack and intimidation by Albanians. Bal-
jak aphorizes thusly: “We are calling on the ghost to return inside the lamp.
His freedom of movement will be guaranteed.”
Government and governmental corruption are two other favorite topics
of Belgrade satirists. Zoran Rankić has a memorably succinct line: “The best
government is always the one that has yet to come, provided that it never
comes.” And on the other theme, Momčilo Mihajlović quips, “The Minister
was astonished when he found out that he was receiving a triple salary. He
immediately drew up a budget to start an investigation.” And then there are
the aphorisms that seem to sum up the whole Serbian experience of an uncer-
tain and potentially disastrous “transition” period in one uproarious moment.
This is the case with Božo Marić, who cracks, “Finally, a light at the end of
the tunnel. And not one, but two!”
Serbian aphorisms and black humor are almost always funny when read in
translation, though they are usually better in the original. Most often, this is
because there is some linguistic value (e.g., rhyme, idiom) or because of an
innate allusion to another literary object. Often these types of things emerge
from slogans. An example was the popular take on the Serbian nationalist
slogan of the 1990s, Srbija do Tokija, which means “Serbia (continues until)
Tokyo.” With the severing of the other Yugoslav republics, the secession of
Montenegro in 2006, and then the independence of Kosovo in 2008, the
allusive, almost-rhyming old phrase Srbjia kao Nokia seems more appropriate.
The phrase means “Serbia (is) like Nokia”—just like the phones produced
by the Finnish company, Serbia comes in a newer and smaller model every
year.
Cutting Serbian aphorism does not work everywhere, however. Some peo-
ple just don’t get it. When Aleksandar Čotrić, a former politician and prolific
aphorist, recently published a book of aphorisms in Sweden, it failed to stir

any interest—because, he quips, “Everyone there is too happy.”
YUGOSLAV PHILOSOPHY: THE PRAXIS MOVEMENT

Despite its often repressive and dogmatic nature, the Communist
Yugoslavia of Josip Broz Tito also created an opportunity for innovative
thinkers and succeeded in putting Yugoslavia on the map of international phi-
losophy. This occurred during the 1960s and 1970s, with a movement linked
mainly to academics in the universities of Belgrade and Zagreb in Croatia,
the Praxis school, which sought to bridge the gap between theory and prac-
tice in Marxism—a line of inquiry that often got its leaders into trouble with
the authorities.
The major figures in the movement included Serbian professor and philoso-
pher Mihailo Marković, and Croatian colleagues such as Gajo Petrović and
Milan Kangrga. From 1964 to 1974, the informal group of eight founders
published the Marxist journal Praxis, at the time considered one of the world’s
leading sources of thought for Marxist theory. The journal was published both
for an internal Yugoslav edition and an international one, and famous philoso-
phers from Western universities contributed to it and attended the group’s
popular Korčula Summer School, held each year on the beautiful Croatian
Adriatic island of the same name. Some of the eminent outsiders included
Jürgen Habermas, Richard Bernstein, Ernst Bloch, Eugen Fink, and Erich
Fromm. The Yugoslav thinkers drew their inspiration from these luminaries
as well as from the German critical theorists of a generation before and, of
course, from Marx.
For the Western thinkers involved, Yugoslavia represented an intriguing
mix of two worlds, somewhere between the capitalist West and Communist
East, and as such, its philosophers seemed worth hearing out. Tito’s author-
ities were not as happy to do so, however, as the Praxis thinkers consistently
criticized what they considered the Tito regime’s “modified” brand of
Marxism-Leninism as put into practice by the League of Communists of
Yugoslavia. The topics covered by Praxis theorists were impressive—typically
ranging from aesthetics and civil society to history, to creativity, technology,
and existentialism—but they were all based on, or revolved around, a premise
that Communist rulers in Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union found hard to
swallow: that Leninist and Stalinist theory had been a bad-faith interpretation
of original Marxist theory, suited for political pragmatist use and not imper-
vious to criticism. It was thus no surprise when the League of Communists
of Croatia organized to close the summer school in 1966 (it resumed the
next year) and that the authorities finally stopped Praxis magazine in 1975,
one year after the passage of the controversial new Yugoslav constitution.
A new condition of repression for intellectuals soon set in. In January

1975, Mihailo Marković and seven colleagues (Ljubomir Tadić, Zagorka
Golubović, Svetozar Stojanović, Miladin Životić, Dragoljub Mićunović,
−
Nebojša Popov, and Trivo Indić) were expelled from Belgrade’s Faculty of Phi-
losophy following a decision of the Serbian Assembly. The Praxis thinkers
were considered enemies of self-managing socialism and professional anti-
Communists by an increasingly paranoid Titoist regime. The Praxis members
tried but failed to relaunch their magazine and reopen the Korčula Summer
School, and it would not be until 1981 when the magazine would finally
reappear—this time published abroad, at Oxford University in England. The
first co-editors of the relaunched magazine, now called Praxis International,
were Richard Bernstein and Mihailo Marković.
In his work, Professor Marković upheld the school’s essential critiques of
Leninism, Stalinism, and Yugoslav Communism for failing to honor Marx’s
original philosophy. In his many books, Marković often was concerned with
the themes of human alienation and dynamism. He also referred often to
the need to return to the source (i.e., the writings of Marx himself ). One
could thus point out Marx’s demand for social critique and how this naturally
implied the necessity for greater freedom of speech. Marković spells out his
ideas in the important text From Affluence to Praxis, the preface of which was
penned by the eminent philosopher Erich Fromm. According to Fromm, the
Praxis school’s main concern was to “return to the real Marx as against the
Marx equally distorted by right wing social democrats and Stalinists.”4
Although Yugoslavia is long gone, the influence of the Praxis school
remains today, especially in the work of critical theorists and Western
Marxists. Praxis International, the second coming of the original Praxis,
continued to be produced until 1994, when it was given a new name,
Constellations: An International Journal of Critical and Democratic Theory.
However, the magazine still functions at a high level, attracting important
figures from left-wing academic philosophy to read and write in its pages.
The efforts of those Serbian and Croatian theorists in the 1960s, many of
whom traveled and taught subsequently in Europe and the United States,
significantly helped to restore the study of Marx and to keep alive some of the
most interesting lines of thought of the World War II–era critical theorists,
combining dialectical and humanist approaches with a political and social
context that was, for its time, considered advanced and ever so experimental.
MODERN SERBIAN PHILOSOPHY

Many of Serbia’s most eminent modern philosophers, like Mihailo
Marković (b. 1926), participated in the Praxis movement or in similar initia-
tives. The larger political context proved impossible to escape. After earning
The Serbian parliament building in Belgrade is one of the most distinctive and
tradition-laden structures in the city. It is the focal point of Serbian political life, where
ideas are debated and legislation is passed. Photography by the author.
a Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Belgrade, Marković continued his

studies at University College London, where he studied logic under the great
British philosopher A. J. Ayer. After Marković became a professor of philos-
ophy back at the University of Belgrade, he would make waves with his first
book, Revision of the Philosophical Bases of Marxism in the USSR (1952). It was
the first major critique of Stalinist ideology in Yugoslavia, coming in reaction
to the Informbiro’s resolution condemning the Yugoslav Communist regime.
Marković, who took part in the partisan war effort to liberate Yugoslavia
during World War II, has remained close to the political fray throughout
his life. Most recently, in the 1980s and 1990s, he was a prominent sup-
porter of the late Slobodan Milošević, serving as vice president of his So-
cialist Party of Serbia until 1995, when he became more critical of the
party.
Along with his works on logic and critique of Stalinism, Mihailo Marković
produced ten other major works between 1957 and 1997. An eight-volume
anthology of selected works was released in 1994. A contemporary of Mihailo
Marković, Milan Damnjanović (1924–1994) was a philosopher specializing
in aesthetics. He spent his career as a professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts of
Belgrade University, and he founded or was active in academic societies for

aesthetics in Serbia, Greece, the United States, and various European coun-
tries. Damnjanović wrote nine major works, ranging from the 1970s Aesthetics
and Disappointment to the 1990s Dealing with Multiplicity.
One of the most original and well-known modern Serbian philosophers
is Mihailo −Durić (b. 1925), a former professor at Belgrade University’s law
faculty. −Durić took a more classical focus in his study, rooting his inquiry
in ancient Greek culture, philosophy, and law. Like the Praxis philosophers,
−
Durić also fell afoul of the Yugoslav authorities in the early 1970s, but for a
different reason. In 1972, he was expelled from the university and sentenced
to nine months in prison for criticizing the constitutional amendments of
1971 and for opposing the demolition of a chapel dedicated to Montenegrin
national hero Petar Petrović Njegoš on Mount Lovćen. His removal from the
law faculty in 1973 ended a twenty-year tenure there. After being released
from prison, the philosopher was employed by Belgrade’s Institute of Social
Sciences, returning to Belgrade University only in 1989. In the interim, he
also served as a visiting professor at several German universities, and this ex-
perience helped direct −Durić’s work over the second half of his career, which
was concerned with the German philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Martin
Heidegger.
−
Durić wrote several books in both German and Serbian that considerably
improved the understanding of these thinkers in Serbia. He also stressed the
common areas between them. In 1984, −Durić released his Niče i metafizika
(Nietzsche and Metaphysics), followed two years later by Izazov nihilizma
(The Challenge of Nihilism), again focusing mainly on Nietzsche and his
philosophy. However, in his 1999 study O potrebi filozofije danas: Filozofija
−
izmedu Istoka i Zapada (On the Need of Philosophy Today: Philosophy be-
tween East and West), −Durić considers Nietzsche through the lens of Heideg-
ger, creatively expanding on his interpretation of Heideggerian epistemology
and his reading of Nietzsche. Most recently, −Durić has gone back to some of
the Greek themes that marked his work in the 1950s and 1960s with his Krhko
ljudsko dobro: Aktuelnost Aristotelove praktičke filozofije (The Fragile Human
Good: The Contemporary Importance of Aristotle’s Practical Philosophy), re-
leased in 2002.
NOTES
1. Quoted in Fiachra Gibbons, “I Will Not Cut My Film,” Guardian, March 4,
2005.
2. For Boris Mitić’s thoughts and his film on Serbian aphorisms, see his Web
site, http://www.dribblingpictures.com. He is also the creative director of the Kosovo
Compromise Web site, http://www.kosovocompromise.com, which has provided
rational discussions of the entirety of the Kosovo problem and arguments for and
against its independence. The aphorisms mentioned in this chapter, and many more,
can be found on these Web sites.
3. Dan Bilefsky, “Dark One-Liners Shine a Light on the Mood of Serbs,” New York
Times, December 2, 2007.
4. Erich Fromm, foreword to From Affluence to Praxis, by Mihailo Marković (Ann
Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1974), vii.
3
Marriage, Gender, Family, and Education
The teacher in Yugoslavia is often a hero and fanatic as well as a servant of the
mind; but as they walked along the Belgrade streets it could easily be seen that
none of them had quite enough to eat or warm enough clothing or handsome
lodgings or all the books they needed.
—Rebecca West, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon
Serbia and Montenegro, especially the latter, are family-oriented, tight-

knit societies. While urbanization and modernization have naturally lessened
historic clannishness, as did the experience of Communism, it can still be said
that they are, like other Balkan countries, much more focused on maintain-
ing familial relations, ceremonies, and frequent visits to extended family than
people are in the West. In part because of the revived prominence of religion
in daily life—the factor that accounts for most of the ceremonies and holi-
days that bring people together—Serb and Montenegrin family members see
much more of one another than do the typical American family’s members
and kin.
Part of this, however, is economic; young people in Serbia and Montenegro
are often forced to live with their parents and even relatives because of the
poor economic conditions. (There is, it should be noted, no real stigma or
pressure associated with doing so, unlike in the United States.) Still, the
strain of war and especially the crippling economic sanctions of the 1990s
have wreaked havoc over society, affecting everything from outward migra-
tion (the well-known brain-drain syndrome) to fewer marriages, high divorce
rates, and fewer children being born—sadly, Serbia has one of Europe’s highest
abortion rates. And, though there has been little research carried out on the
topic so far, the promotion of a gangster culture during the 1990s, with the
help of wartime nationalism and vapid, scantily clad Turbo-folk singers, seems
to have further affected traditional societal values in a negative way. As in
Russia, the Orthodox Church even has started to offer financial incentives
to encourage women to have more children, with little result so far. While
things are definitely improving in the absence of war or sanctions, it will be
some time before Serbia recovers fully.
Things are better when it comes to education. During Communism, the en-
forced participation of women in not only schooling but also skilled labor dra-
matically improved the status of women in society, particularly in once-tribal
Montenegro. Serbs, who count the legendary Croatian-born Serb Nikola Tesla
as one of their own, have shown marked aptitude for economics and the sci-
ences, and foreign firms offering high-tech, high-finance, and skilled industry
positions in Serbia today frequently point to the availability of a skilled labor
pool to justify their investment decisions. While Serbia and Montenegro con-
tinue with their education reform programs to bring education in line with
European Union accession requirements, they are confident that the “raw ma-
terials,” or the students themselves, have the native capabilities that so often
come to the surface in countries where success (and even survival) is not some-
thing to be taken for granted.
MARRIAGE AND POPULAR CULTURE

A Serbian or Montenegrin wedding is a legendary event, involving copi-
ous amounts of feasting, drinking, and dancing, usually accompanied by a
traditional music group and freewheeling Gypsy brass band. However, the
1995 wedding of Turbo-folk singer Svetlana Veličković, nicknamed “Ceca,”
and paramilitary leader Željko Ražnatović, nicknamed “Arkan,” seemed to
many to represent the debasement of the institution and all that was wrong
with Serbia in the 1990s. The lusty, busty queen of a genre known for its
shallow lyrics belted out to exotic, pseudo-traditional riffs while marrying the
embodiment of armed Serbian nationalism—it was not just a wedding, but
a statement about the values that were being wedded, at least in the mind of
tabloid popular culture. Indeed, many were fascinated with the spectacle, and
while some met it with revulsion, others met it with admiration. When the
wedding footage was subsequently released on videotape, it sold one hundred
thousand copies—a record for Serbia. Today, you can still find DVD copies of
the celebrity wedding for sale among street vendors in Serbia and throughout
the Balkans. However, Ceca’s marriage was cut short in January 2000 by an
assassin’s bullet that ended the short and violent life of her husband.
MARRIAGE, GENDER, FAMILY, AND EDUCATION 47
The weddings and marriages of most Serbs and Montenegrins, however, are
altogether less dramatic than that of Arkan and Ceca. For the most part, Ser-
bia and Montenegro remain traditional societies in the sense that men do little
housework and are expected to be the breadwinners of the family. However,
social scientists have commented on the effect of the wars and impoverish-
ment of the 1990s as causing a kind of emasculation, whereby men began to
lose confidence in their traditional roles and responsibilities because of their
inability to fulfill them. This may have something to do with the unfortunate
continuing trends toward domestic violence.
While there is no consistent short-term trend up or down, statistics re-
garding marriage and divorce point to a long-term decrease in the number of
marriages performed in Serbia each year and a rise in the number of divorces.
In 1991, there were some 45,145 weddings conducted and requests for 8,018
divorces. By 2001, there were 41,406 weddings and 7,835 registered divorces.
While the number of marriages in 2006 (39,756) marked a slight gain over
the previous year (38,846), it is still far below the numbers from when Serbia
was more prosperous in the pre-sanctions period. The number of divorces in
2006 also increased over those of 2005, from 7,661 to 8,204.1
The rise of Turbo-folk culture has had an impact on the way women per-
ceive themselves and their role in society, though this is hard to calibrate.
Branislav Dimitrijević, the Serbian cultural analyst at Belgrade’s Museum of
Contemporary Art, believes that Turbo-folk culture “is one of the most inter-
esting phenomena in Serbia.” Dimitrijević believes that Turbo-folk represents
a way of coping with hard times and presents an idealized image of women,
as well as the expensive luxuries an ideal woman can enjoy:
Turbo-folk has been usually associated with Serbian nationalism—and not even na-
tionalism, but war-mongering ideology. You have war in Bosnia, you have economic
sanctions, and then you have Turbo-folk, with these nice girls, with these big cars,
and with this kind of glamorization of reality that never existed, in a sense. But the
thing is that this iconography, in a very vulnerable society, really is very dangerous for
this society.2
Fortunately, at present there seems to be a move away from the licentious-

ness and vapidity that has characterized the genre in recent years. A sign of a
change in thinking occurred in 2008, when Belgrade’s Pink Television, long
the standard-bearer of Turbo-folk culture and one of the major exhibitors
of videos and concerts featuring its singers, requested female performers to
“dress up” a bit, ruling out the most scantily clad costumes. This, observers
say, is part of the station’s attempt to become a serious news provider, un-
der the direction, reportedly, of a Washington public relations firm. Never-
theless, a notable segment of the population still enjoys singing along with
Turbo-folk songs, and television stations and producers continue the phe-
nomenon of “creating” stars out of thin air, taking any attractive young woman
or man and putting him or her in front of the cameras to sing. They seem to
have ultimate power to decide who will “make it” in the business (though
most careers are notably short).
CLAN, FEUDS, AND THE CONCEPT OF INAT
Things have improved somewhat for Montenegrin women since 1875,

when the British traveler James Creigh noted in horror how “wild Montene-
grins, carrying long guns, and wearing knives and clumsy pistols, drive their
heavily-laden women up and down, as if they were pack mules.”3 The Black
Mountain’s ancient martial tradition indeed made life especially difficult for
women, who were not only burdened with the family but also expected to
work the fields and carry heavy loads; for the men, fighting or resting in the
rare moments when they were not fighting was sufficient. A famous image
captured in books and engravings shows a Montenegrin man riding a horse
up a steep mountain path while his wife trudges along in front, pulling the
horse by a rope.
Montenegrin traditional society was historically organized according to a
clan structure, ultimately led by a ruler known as the vladika (metropolitan),
who had both spiritual power as the bishop and political power. The leaders
of the various clans elected the vladika, whose dual responsibilities were,
historians believe, a direct result of the Ottoman stipulation that only
religious, not political, leaders could lead subject peoples.4 Since bishops
could not marry, the hereditary title would pass from uncle to nephew.
This system of government lasted from 1516 to 1852, when the country
became a secular principality. This sort of society, dominated by male-led
clans and a childless male ruler, obviously limited the input and value of
women.
The colorful—and to many outsiders, incomprehensible—trait that
marked Montenegrin life under the clans was an honor system in which blood
vendettas were often carried out against perceived offenders (this system sur-
vives today only in northern Albania). Although deplored for its apparently
senseless and wanton violence, the blood feud system actually equipped them
to live without submitting to outside forces, with tightly controlled freedom
in a system that had clear and recognizable rules governing individual behav-
ior and relations with the other clans. As the foremost expert on the subject,
Christopher Boehm has noted, “When political and military unity became
crucial to biological or political survival . . . they were able to join forces and
to fight effectively together their enemies, the Turks.”5
Instead of organizing as simple nuclear families, as in the West, traditional

Montenegrin and Serb kin were organized into extended family groups in
which all relatives lived under the same roof—and, especially in poor rural
areas, on the same floor. Unsurprisingly, throughout the nineteenth century,
families’ uncommon bathing and close proximity to livestock created condi-
tions for illnesses, and the lack of modern medical facilities or access to doctors
meant that they had to rely on folk medicine and herbal remedies. Traditional
Serb and Montenegrin families were therefore characterized by many children
and many deaths.6
The Serbian equivalent of the Montenegrin familial structure was the
zadruga (“compound” or “community”), which typically was set on farmlands
and housed many family members. Since the menfolk were often away, do-
ing hired labor or conscripted into one of the country’s endless wars, women
had to take over the work of the husband as well, making for a very difficult
life for Serbian women. However, the proximity to many relatives also meant
that any individual encountering a financial problem or illness could count on
an extended support network. Even today, things like retirement homes are
rare in Serbia and Montenegro, where people are brought up with the idea
of caring for their parents and grandparents into old age. The modern-day
version of the zadruga, therefore, has become a multilevel home that houses
various generations of the same family on different levels, structures that are
large enough to require labor and funds to build them over a period of several
years. This practice continues, however, more or less only in rural areas.
While clans and blood feuds are now things of the past, some of the old
spirit remains in Serbian and Montenegrin families today, something that
affects everything from everyday life to politics. When working abroad,
Montenegrins especially are known to be close-knit; they gravitate toward
one another outside the country and provide mutual assistance. Political
clannishness remains as well. Serbs in Kosovo, in probably the most extreme
example, are told how to vote and which party to support according to where
they live or the most eminent political personality in charge. Even prominent
politicians in Belgrade are often referred to in public as belonging to a clan or
tribe; the same goes for organized crime syndicates, which have their own rules
and codes of honor. While there are no blood vendettas anymore, in Serbia,
Montenegro, and elsewhere in the Balkans, a spirit of begrudgery, gossip,
and jealousy, tend to underlie social perceptions, with the result that people
sometimes would rather see their neighbor fail than succeed themselves.
This tendency has something to do with the famous Serbian concept of
inat, a word with complex meaning that can be translated as a combination of
stubbornness, spite, defiance, and devil-may-care, whatever-the-consequences
disdain. Serbs consider having inat a good thing, a mark of strength in the face
of overwhelming odds. The concept probably arose as a form of psycholog-

ical defense to Turkish oppression. In recent times, the NATO bombing of
1999 provided a perfect opportunity for Serbs to show off their inat, as when
Belgrade residents responded to the attacks by holding rock concerts and
wearing shirts displaying target symbols on their backs. When defying black-
out orders and leaving the lights on at night, thereby increasing the chances of
being bombed, Serbs responded, “How else could the NATO pilots see us giv-
ing them the finger?”7 Sometimes this inat merged seamlessly with the famous
Serbian concept of black humor (see chapter 2, “Religion and Thought”), as
when the residents of the town of Zrenjanin learned that theirs was the only
town of any importance to have been left off NATO’s bombing list. They
promptly put up a billboard reading, “NATO, why don’t you hit us? We are
not contagious.”8
WOMEN, WORK, AND FAMILY

While Tito’s Communist regime unquestionably improved the ability of
women in Serbia and Montenegro to work meaningful jobs and advance in
their careers, it also meant an added burden, as Communist legislation did
not extend into the home, where men continued to escape from chores and
housework. Women thus became not only mothers and housewives but re-
sponsible for their professional activities as well.
Today, women make up 42 percent of Serbia’s overall workforce and hold
25 percent of senior management positions, according to government figures.
Women are roughly equally employed in both the private and the public sec-
tors. In 2002, women constituted some 37.8 percent of total employed people
in Serbia, while in Montenegro the number was even higher, at 39.9 percent.9
Serbia’s 2001 labor law prohibits discrimination against job seekers on the
basis of gender. It also mandates 365 days of maternity leave. Montenegro also
passed a labor law in 2003 guaranteeing more fairness in the workplace for
women. The government of Montenegro also has a Gender Equality Office, as
does the autonomous Serbian province of Vojvodina; both are involved with
formulating government policy and advising on gender issues.
Women still face numerous obstacles in workplace advancement, which is
preventing more women from assuming more senior decision-making roles.
In addition to women’s family responsibilities, experts also report continued
wage discrimination in favor of men, negative stereotypes from men, lack
of sufficient child-care facilities, and psychological barriers such as a lack of
self-confidence, assertiveness, and ambition or motivation among women.10
However, in Serbia and especially in the much smaller Montenegro, where the
population is slightly more than six hundred thousand, having “connections”
is often vital for getting a good job, which means that one cannot be sure of
success based on merit or skills alone.
The post-Communist transition period, characterized by war and economic
and political torpor, has had a marked influence on family structures and
childbearing in Serbia and Montenegro. As elsewhere in Eastern Europe,
many young people continue to emigrate, if possible—especially the most
skilled or educated who can find good work abroad. Others become discour-
aged from getting married and having children because it seems just too ex-
pensive. The Milošević years brought great strain and uncertainty, fostering
pessimism amongst Serbs that has yet to wear off, though Montenegrins on
the coast at least are starting to see greater wealth and optimism as a result of
the tourism boom of the past few years.
From 1990 to 1998, the Serbian birthrate had declined by 15 percent, mak-
ing it the lowest since the end of World War II. Along with the economic ruin
brought by sanctions and hyperinflation, fears of conscription encouraged up
to three hundred thousand young men to leave the country during the 1990s.
Although Yugoslavia once had the highest living standard of any Eastern Eu-
ropean country, the reversals of that decade influenced young women to not
have babies. Also, rumors spread that NATO’s bombing of fuel facilities and
chemical factories had created toxic radiation in the air and water supply,
convincing many young women not to have children or to have an abortion.
Although the government claimed the danger was false, speculation had its
effect.11
Along with the deliberate decrease in reproduction, Serbia has also wit-
nessed a sharp increase in abortions, which are available cheaply and easily.
Abortion laws in Yugoslavia were liberalized in the 1970s, a result of the high
number of deaths caused by illegal abortions. In 1977, a law was passed stating
that a woman’s right to choose was in fact a human right. Today, the decision
to terminate a pregnancy is often influenced by economic fears as well as the
concern that a couple or family cannot provide well enough for a child. As one
Belgrade obstetrician told the New York Times, “In this culture, if you cannot
pamper your children, it is better not to have them.”12 Today, it is believed
that approximately 150,000 pregnancies are terminated annually in Serbia,
placing the country near the top among European nations.13
More alarming, however, is that local experts claim that young women con-
sider abortion an acceptable and normal form of contraception. Recent statis-
tics indicate that between six thousand and seven thousand pregnancies are
terminated annually; this number accounts only for underage girls (fifteen to
nineteen years of age). In Serbia, the same studies show, only 5 percent of
women use contraceptives, making abortion an option to avoid pregnancy.
These figures show that “young people obviously do not understand abortion
as a serious surgery.”14 It has been documented that serious complications

arise in every tenth abortion in Vojvodina, every fifth in Belgrade, and every
third in Central Serbia. Interestingly, research has shown that Serbian women,
regardless of age, education, profession, or marital status, turn to abortion
more often than contraception.
The decision of women in Serbia not to use modern contraception has
numerous causes. According to the social scientist Mirjana Rašević, these in-
clude “insufficient knowledge of contraception and abortion, a belief that
modern contraceptive methods are harmful to health, and a number of psy-
chological barriers, also those arising from relationships with partners. Addi-
tionally, the liberalization of the abortion law occurred at a time of decreasing
birth rate and a very modest presence of modern contraceptive methods. Also,
there are few organized efforts to promote sex education, as well as limitations
in the family planning programme.”15
EDUCATION
The roots of education in Serbia and Montenegro lie in the efforts of the
church, first during the medieval kingdoms and then under Ottoman rule.
Especially during the latter period, schools organized secretly during periods
of Muslim oppression were vital to maintaining learning and literacy in rural
areas. As elsewhere in medieval Europe, manuscript copying and the study
of the Gospels and theology constituted much of higher learning in Serbian
lands, though the nobility and their families were given increasing chances to
travel and study abroad. The first universities in Serbia were the Catholic ones
at Titel and Bač in Vojvodina, starting in the twelfth century. As the Serbian
kingdom of Raška grew in power in the thirteenth century, Orthodox priests
began to operate schools of higher learning in monasteries endowed by great
kings, such as Sopoćani, Studenica, and the patriarchate in Peć (Kosovo). In
1869, in Montenegro’s provincial capital of Cetinje, a Russian-backed school
for girls was opened—one of the first such schools in the Balkans. The old-
est modern university in Serbia was set up at Sombor, in Vojvodina, by the
region’s Austro-Hungarian rulers in 1788. Then, in 1808, Serbs in Belgrade
established the first university in that city. Called at first the Great Academy,
it would form the basis for the present-day University of Belgrade.
Educational Structure
The educational system in Serbia and Montenegro has been modified
several times since the end of Communism and is undergoing still more
change to bring it in line with European Union standards. It runs from vrtić
(kindergarten) through osnovna škola (primary school), a choice of three kinds

of secondary school, and univerzitet (university). The first is not compulsory,
and since it is open to children as young as two years old, it functions more
like day care for working parents than like school, especially for very young
children. Still, in a country where family ties are the norm, this exposure to
other children from an early age and on a regular basis further assists the so-
cialization process. Primary school (for children aged seven to fifteen) is com-
pulsory, and is followed by secondary education, which lasts for three or four
years, depending on the subject. The curricula in Serbia and Montenegro are
adopted by the ministers of education, with the consent of each country’s
national education councils.
Something that American students might find unusual about elementary
and high school in Serbia and Montenegro (as in other former Yugoslav coun-
tries) is the “shift” system. Because of the lack of sufficient space in the schools
of larger towns and cities, students inevitably have to study in shifts—a first
group occupies the school from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., with a second taking its place
from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.
High school in Serbia is divided into three categories. The equivalent of an
American high school is the gimnazija, which teaches a variety of different
subjects. The second, stručna škola (professional secondary school), offers a
combination of a specialization in a certain subject (say, economics) and vari-
ous other subjects. Both of these last for four years. Third is the zanatska škola
(vocational school), which is for three years and does not offer the chance to
continue into higher education. The pressure is on from a very early age, as
the students’ final elementary school exams determine which of these three
schools they can attend: while theoretically, students have freedom to choose
which kind of school they will attend, only those with the highest marks can
attend gimnazija or stručna škola, whereas those with the lowest results are
usually forced into zanatska škola.
In comparison to American public schools, those in Serbia and Montene-
gro force students to learn a huge array of subjects, for better or for worse.
Students learn foreign languages from elementary school, and physics, chem-
istry, and trigonometry starting at the age of fourteen. The typical gimnazija
general education includes approximately ten to thirteen different subjects on
a regular basis, including French, Latin, English, philosophy, and psychology.
Students have complained that the workload is both too strenuous and too
superficial, leading to apathy and preventing in-depth knowledge in many
areas.
The opposite of this course of studies is the zanatska škola. While the
vocational education program does not make the students particularly well
rounded, it does produce an individual with a bankable skill, a benefit for
someone looking for work in states with high unemployment. Finally, another
interesting facet of this system, and one rarely studied, is the tendency toward
gender inequality in different courses of study, both at the high school and
the university levels; whereas the hands-on vocational subjects attract mostly
boys, girls predominantly undertake subjects like language and literature.
Higher education in Serbia includes university higher education (arts and
sciences faculties). In the old days of Communist Yugoslavia, only state uni-
versities were allowed to operate. After the end of Communism, in the 1990s,
private universities were allowed to open for the first time. Among the lo-
cal business moguls to open a university were the Karić brothers, two of the
wealthiest businessmen and owners of BK Television. They also ran the Karić
Foundation and were active in politics.
For students who do not want to do an entire university degree, there is
the option to attend viša škola (something like junior college in the United
States), a two-year faculty. For example, while one can be a nurse with only
a high school degree, to become a head nurse requires at least a viša škola
degree. Thus, this option appeals to those who are set on a certain career path
and want to do the minimum amount of study to start working more quickly.
The program usually runs for two to three years, finishing with a diploma
višeg obrazovanja (diploma of higher education, or bachelor’s degree), accom-
panied by a professional title (e.g., senior nurse, senior medical technician,
senior designer). Nevertheless, most young people who elect to continue
their education beyond secondary school will choose to go to univerzitet
(university), where classes begin in October and end in June or July.
Within the univerzitet, students are associated with a specific fakultet (fac-
ulty). The meaning of this word is not the same as in English, in which it refers
to the group of professors teaching; rather, it is more like the English word de-
partment. For artists and graphic designers, there are also umetnicke akademije
(art academies). The diplomas offered for higher education degrees in Serbia
include the diploma visokog obrazovanja, the degree of magistar nauka (mas-
ter’s degree), and finally, the doktor nauka (Ph.D.). For aspiring lawyers in
Serbia, the first degree to be earned is the diploma pravnih nauka.
The foremost university in Serbia is, of course, the University of Belgrade,
established in 1808, which has thirty-one different faculties and approxi-
mately ninety thousand students. Other major public universities in Serbia
include those at Niš, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, and Novi Pazar. Following the
NATO bombardment of Kosovo and the expulsion of the Serbian adminis-
tration from there, the existing University of Priština has been relocated to the
northern, Serb-inhabited side of the northern Kosovo city of Mitrovica. De-
grees earned by students there are recognized throughout Serbia. The Albanian
leadership in Kosovo has since opened its own rival University of Priština.
Belgrade also hosts specialized public universities, such as the Univer-

sity for the Arts and the Academy of Criminal and Police Studies. Private
universities in the Serbian capital opened in recent years include Megatrend
University, Singidunum University, and University Braća Karić, led by the
megarich businessman, politician, and media mogul Bogoljub Karić (the
name of the university means “Brothers Karić”).
Novi Sad in Vojvodina also hosts a large number of private universities
today, including the Economics Academy, Union University, and European
University. Novi Pazar in the Raška/Sandžak region of western Serbia is home
to the International University. Private faculties that do not belong to any of
these universities include the Information Technology Faculty in Belgrade, as
well as the Faculty for Management, the Faculty of Sport and Tourism, Faculty
for European Law and Political Studies, and Faculty for Law and Business
Studies. These last four are all located in Novi Sad.
All told, some 58 percent of all university graduates in Serbia today are fe-
male. In 1990, 8,123 of all Serbian graduate students were female; in 2006,
however, that number reached 17,702, more than double, though the total
number of graduate students in the country increased only 48 percent dur-
ing the same period. This may indicate that women recognize the value of
continuing their education more than men do.
Montenegro’s national university is located across fives campuses, with the
largest one in the capital, Podgorica. The others are in Cetinje, Nikšić, Kotor,
and Herceg Novi. Altogether, the campuses offer studies in fourteen facul-
ties. Some 10,600 students were enrolled at the University of Montenegro as
of 2005. A new Montenegrin private university that opened in 2006 is the
Mediterranean University, with faculties located in Podgorica and the coastal
town of Bar. The subjects of study are business, language, information tech-
nology, visual arts, hotel management, and tourism.
In addition to studying at home, a large number of Serbian students are also
electing to go abroad to study, some in Western Europe but many in Greece,
a historic friend and ally. The port city of Thessaloniki, an eight-hour drive
from Belgrade, hosts numerous private colleges. An increasing number offer
affiliate degrees with (especially British) universities in Europe offer degrees
with their own prestigious name on it, but all studies are undertaken at the
university in Greece—a handy way for the mostly Western European colleges
to make money.
PROBLEMS IN THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

The Serbian educational system is one of the largest in the entire public sec-
tor. In 2001, it comprised more then 1,400,000 students and about 120,000
teachers and other employees, meaning that more than 20 percent of the
population was involved with it directly.16 Owing to Serbia’s recent history of
international isolation, economic impoverishment, and war, the educational
sector has suffered heavily. This turbulent recent history has meant serious
problems for an overstressed system and an undermaintained educational in-
frastructure. Problems also include the demoralization of teachers by political
interference and low earnings, and the alienation of students by stagnant cur-
ricula and indifferent teaching methods. It is also to be remembered that,
during the 1990s, Serbia was forced to take in almost 700,000 refugees from
Bosnia and another 250,000 from Kosovo. Incredibly enough, the NATO
bombing in 1999 also targeted schools.
Some of the longer-term imbalances in the Serbian system are population
disparities between the fairly densely populated central and northern regions
and the more sparsely populated south and southeast. As a result, more than
50 percent of primary schools cater to fewer than fifty students each. In gen-
eral, only 7.6 percent of students use more than half of all schools, whereas
91.5 percent of students use the other 48.5 percent of schools. In addition,
more than 12 percent of primary schools in Serbia have only a single teacher
to take care of all four grades; these same schools have an average of eleven
students per school. On the other hand, in the large cities, such as Belgrade,
Novi Sad, and Niš, it is not uncommon to find schools with two thousand to
three thousand students.17
Further problems involve dilapidated infrastructure. More than 25 percent
of Serbian schools lack a sewage system or have problems with their heating,
and more than 50 percent lack proper water supply or telephone lines. All of
these conditions make it difficult for children to pay attention to their studies.
The salaries of teachers and other staff are, on average, low in both absolute and
relative terms. In October 2000, net salaries of educational sector employees
in Serbia were US$33 per month, or US$365 per year, for a 71 percent decline
since 1989.18 Because of these oppressive conditions, many teachers are forced
to work a second job to make ends meet.
The need to integrate with European Union practices has set Serbia and
Montenegro on a further reform course, known as the Bologna process.19
Named for the Italian city where the accord was signed in 1999, this reform
process aims to create a European higher education area, standardizing aca-
demic degree requirements standards and ensuring that quality standards are
compatible throughout Europe. In Serbia, implementation of the reforms be-
gan in 2005. The objective is to transform the existing academic degree into a
baccalaureate while also shortening the programs of study from four years to
three. The Serbian version of a master’s degree (magistratura) is achieved after
an additional two years of study (medical studies still require five or six years).
The Ph.D. (doktorat) remains unchanged.
The major innovation of the Bologna reforms was to add a new, credit-
based system (European Credit Transfer System, or ECTS) to guarantee that
students who achieved successful results in their education could apply their
credits toward further studies in other European universities. A more imme-
diate benefit of this system is that it rewards attendance and activity in class;
under the old system in the state universities, students had to pass only a spe-
cific number of exams to graduate. Adding the facts that rote memorization
played a large part in teaching, and the ill-paid professors were disinterested
or demagogic, it is not hard to see how students’ attendance and participation
faltered.
While implementation of the new system should be a welcome reform,
students have protested rising tuition costs that seem to be accompanying
it. Further, Serbia’s nonparticipation as of yet in the ERASMUS program
(a system of university exchanges throughout Europe) means that Serbian stu-
dents have limited ability to transfer to European universities, thus limiting
the usefulness of whatever ECTS credits they accumulate.
GAY RIGHTS
Gays and lesbians in Serbia and Montenegro do not stand out. There are
still widespread stereotypes and phobias about “alternative” lifestyles, and
right-wing nationalist youth groups, some associated behind the scenes with
religious bodies, have been known to threaten or even attack gay-themed
gatherings. However, major cities like Belgrade and Novi Sad do have gay or
gay-friendly bars and cafés, and the average Serb or Montenegrin is no more
disturbed or outraged by homosexuality than is the average American.
The struggle to gain rights for gays and lesbians has been patchy, and
changes have occurred more quickly in some places than in others. In the
Serbian autonomous province of Vojvodina, homosexuality was legalized in
1980, some fourteen years earlier than in the rest of Serbia. The age of con-
sent was set at fourteen in 2006. The church, of course, has constantly opposed
such decisions. However, there still seem to be firm limits to the amount of lib-
eralization the Serbian state can handle. For example, the Serbian constitution
passed in November 2006 bans same-sex marriages and civil unions. Gays are
not permitted in the army, though it seems that in practice, a “don’t ask, don’t
tell” policy similar to the American one is in operation. However, gays are still
harassed, which has even included beatings by right-wing youth groups. The
European Commission has also recently criticized Serbia for discrimination
against people of different sexual orientation. While Serbian legislation pro-

tects the rights of gays and lesbians in labor circumstances, it does not provide
protection against hate speech or sexual orientation–based abuses.
In May 2008, an anti-homosexual extremist group in Serbia vowed to at-
tack gays and lesbians arriving for the EuroVision Song Contest, hosted in
Belgrade that year. Thousands of gays and lesbians from around Europe, me-
dia reports claimed, were planning to arrive in Serbia’s capital for the annual
display of kitsch and silliness that transfixes 300 million European television
viewers each spring. Although the threat failed to materialize, it did reveal be-
fore a large international audience that Serbia has a long way to go in terms
of enforcing charitable behavior for all.
The situation for gays and lesbians in Montenegro is even more difficult.
Although the country decriminalized homosexuality back in 1977, long be-
fore Serbia did, there is no recognition of same-sex couples. A traditionally
“macho” culture, Montenegro does not have much tolerance for openly gay
behavior, meaning that groups have made less progress than in Serbia and
tend to operate much more quietly. Gays and lesbians continue to face ha-
rassment, have even been targeted by the police (though mostly in the past),
and have encountered negative stereotyping. The gay scene in Montenegro
remains small and discreet.
NOTES
1. Figures courtesy of Serbian State Statistics Office (http://www.webrzs.statserb.
sr.gov.yu).
2. Matt Prodger, “Serbs Rally to Turbofolk Music,” BBC, January 11, 2005.
3. James Creagh, Over the Borders of Christendom and Eslamiah: A Journey through
Hungary, Slavonia, Servia, Bosnia, Hercegovina, Dalmatia, and Montenegro, to the
North of Albania, in the Summer of 1875 (1876; Chestnut Hill, MA: Adamant Media
Corporation, 2005), 246.
4. Elizabeth Roberts, Realm of the Black Mountain: A History of Montenegro
(Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2007), 115.
5. Christopher Boehm, Blood Revenge: The Enactment and Management of Conflict
in Montenegro and Other Tribal Societies (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 1984), 245.
6. Dejan Ćirić, “Spells, Herbs and Surgery: Medical Care in Provincial Balkan
Town in the 19th Century,” January 9, 2008, http://www.balkanalysis.com.
7. Scott Taylor, Inat: Images of Serbia and the Kosovo Conflict (Ottawa: Esprit de
Corps Books, 2000), 69. This firsthand journalistic account of the experience of being
inside Serbia during the bombing provides numerous examples of inat in action and
offers a unique and informed view of the conflict in general.
8. Michael Dobbs, “Serbs’ Bulls-eyes Defy, Mock NATO—Targets Express Com-

mon Will,” Washington Post, April 9, 1999.
9. Statistics compiled from the International Labour Organization (http://www.
ilo.org).
10. Jelena Smiljanic, “Obstacles Women Face in Trying to Advance at Work in
Serbia,” University of Belgrade Seminar Paper, 2005.
11. Blaine Harden, “Crisis in the Balkans: Population; Stresses of Milošević’s Rule
Blamed for Decline in Births,” New York Times, July 5, 1999.
12. Ibid.
13. “U Srbiji godišnje oko 150.000 abortusa,” Beta, September 25, 2007.
14. Ibid.
15. Mirjana Rašević, “Abortion Problem in Serbia,” Institute of Social Sciences,
Demographic Research Center (Belgrade), 2006.
16. Jasna Aleksić, “Development of Education National Report of the Fed-
eral Republic of Yugoslavia-Serbia,” International Bureau for Education, UNESCO
(Belgrade), 2007.
17. Ibid.
18. Ibid.
19. See the official Web site of the European Union for more information
(http://europa.eu.int).
4
Holidays, Customs, and

Leisure Activities
I just wanted to hit it as hard as I could. My father said I should try to keep it
inside the lines, but I wasn’t interested in that for a while.
—Ana Ivanović, Serbian tennis champion1
No matter where you may be, for Christmas Eve you should be home.
—Traditional Serbian saying
We express our joy and sadness with the trumpet, we are born with the sounds
of the trumpet, and also buried with sounds of the trumpet. . . . Those that can’t
understand and love Guča, can’t understand Serbia.
—Vojislav Koštunica, former Serbian president and prime minister2
Serbs and Montenegrins must be among the world’s most athletic

nations—not incidentally, they are also among the tallest. Dating back to the
days of Yugoslavia, Serbs and Montenegrins have been a major force in inter-
national sports such as basketball, tennis, and water polo, playing at high lev-
els in European leagues; numerous Serbian basketball players have also made
careers in the American National Basketball Association.
The continuing nature of this sporting success may be considered all the
more remarkable considering the experience of harsh economic sanctions
during the 1990s and the effects of war, all of which have taken a toll on
infrastructure, athletes’ salaries, and the ability to undergo training at levels
equal to those in more developed countries. On the other hand, perhaps these
Belgrade’s central pedestrian thoroughfare, Knez Mihailova, runs from the Hotel
Moskva down to Kalemegdan fortress. Lined with stylish shops and trendy cafés, the
street is buzzing with life day and night. Photography by the author.
existential traumas have also given the Serbs more tenacity and grit than ath-
letes not raised in the pressure cooker of modern Balkan life.
At the same time, Serbs and Montenegrins also love to relax, usually over
coffee with friends or by partaking in the nightlife of major cities such as
Belgrade, Niš, and Novi Sad or at Montenegro’s coastal holiday resorts. At
least among fellow people of the Balkans, Montenegrins enjoy the dubious
honor of being the world’s laziest people. As elsewhere in the Balkans and
Mediterranean Europe, friends can sit over a beer or coffee for hours, enjoying
life at a relaxed Old World pace no longer found in the more hectic societies
of Western Europe and America.
You will also encounter (mostly) old men whiling away the afternoons
over games of chess in places like Belgrade’s Kalemegdan Fortress park.
During leisure time, families and couples can often be found making the
time-honored evening stroll along the riverbanks, through parks, and on
the (usually historical) pedestrian central streets of major towns and cities.
During summertime in Belgrade, locals flock to the Danube River beach
(Ada Ciganlija) for sunbathing and swimming, while riverboat bars and
HOLIDAYS, CUSTOMS, AND LEISURE ACTIVITIES 63
Originally a humble fishing village in the fifteenth century, Sveti Stefan since the
1960s has become Montenegro’s most exclusive resort, a place where the rich and
famous can enjoy pampered seclusion within magnificent stone walls and houses on
the sea. Courtesy of Patrick Horton.
restaurants are also popular. And the Adriatic coast of Montenegro is now
squarely on the international tourist map, with Serb and Montenegrin
vacationers being joined by increasingly posh foreign visitors in the country’s
chic new hotels and resorts.
Serbs and Montenegrins are also a very festive people, and their yearly cal-
endar is chock-full of religious and other holidays, each accompanied by its
own unique tradition and customs. These holidays have interesting regional
and local variations that maintain unusual traditions. The majority of Serbs
and Montenegrins are Orthodox Christians, meaning that holidays follow the
Orthodox calendar, though there are other Christian groups, Muslims, and
small Jewish populations as well, each with its own traditional festivities.
HOLIDAYS
Along with Russia, Belarus, and Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro still
retain the pre-Gregorian Julian calendar for marking religious holidays, which
puts Christmas thirteen days after Christmas in the United States and means
that there are two New Year’s holidays to be celebrated—December 31 and

the old calendar’s New Year’s Eve thirteen days later.
Owing to the strong role of tradition and the Serbian Orthodox Church,
it is not surprising that most holidays in Serbia and Montenegro are based on
the religious calendar. The major holidays, as in other Christian countries, are
Easter and Christmas. Personalized holidays, the “name days” associated with
the individual saint for which one is named, are also common and akin to a
second birthday. When a name day is associated with a patron saint of a village,
town, or the nation, it becomes a feast day with a much wider celebration. The
feast day of a specific family is called a slava and is widely celebrated.
Both name days and feast days fall in the category of the slava. In diffi-
cult premodern times, when most of the population survived via farming and
lived in chronic poverty, these holidays marked the few regularly scheduled
festive occasions—no doubt part of the reason why Serbs and Montenegrins
celebrate them so vivaciously.
Christmas
Christmas in Serbia and Montenegro is refreshingly noncommercial, as
the exchange of presents is not a major part of tradition. However, as it is
associated with Saint Nicholas, who is for Serbs the patron saint of children,
children may receive some small gifts. The humorous name for Santa Claus
here, as in other Slavic countries, is Deda Mraz (Grandpa Frost). Christmas
is more of a holiday to bring family together and enjoy copious amounts of
eating and drinking. Decoratively, while some now place a small Christmas
tree in the house or a wreath on the door, the real Christmas tradition for
Serbs and Montenegrins is to place a sprig of oak leaves above the door of the
home.
In the old days, on Christmas Eve, the head of the household would go
to a forest to cut the badnjak (oak). The tree would be taken to the church
and ritually blessed, then taken home, where the branches would be cut off.
The tree, with a bit of wheat and other grains thrown in, would then be
burned in the fireplace. This ritual undoubtedly derives from pagan times
and is considered a sacrifice to God, a request for good luck in the coming
year. Nowadays, people no longer go to the trouble of cutting down a tree,
as they would rather take down a bit of oak leaves from a nearby tree (or
even buy such sprigs from street vendors where no trees are readily available).
On Christmas Eve, people go to church in the afternoon. The priest burns
a branch of an oak tree in keeping with tradition. After the ceremony, wor-
shippers go home for a special dinner. The meal is always made without meat,
eggs, or dairy products, usually consisting of fish, beans, and different kinds
of bread.
The main tradition during this Christmas Eve dinner involves a special loaf
of flat baked bread, the česnica, prepared by the matriarch of the house. Baked
inside the bread is one small coin, which everyone hopes to get in his or her
piece. The oldest person in the house breaks off the pieces by hand, dispensing
them according to a tradition: the first piece is always for God, the second for
the house, and then the people in the family from oldest to youngest. (In
villages, a piece is also reserved for the household’s livestock.) The person who
finds the coin in his or her piece is, tradition maintains, blessed with luck for
the whole year to come. But before that, the oldest person stands and blesses
the house (the blessing is called zdravica). In the most traditional and rural
version, the toastmaster can go on for a long time indeed.
Christmas (Božić, or God’s Day), falls on January 7. A wonderful tradi-
tion in Serbia and Montenegro involves children. Very early in the morning
on Christmas Day, the children of the village, neighborhood, or apartment
building go door-to-door waking everyone up by singing songs and banging
on the doors. They sing funny carols, and the fairly groggy people inside give
them nuts, candies, and a little money.
After that, worshippers may go for a morning mass. People salute each other
with the greeting Hristos se rodi (Christ is born), to which one answers, Vajstina
se rodi (Truly he is born). After that, a special afternoon lunch is held, usu-
ally with roast suckling pig, plenty of wine, and sarma (cabbage stuffed with
ground meat and rice). Plenty of sweets like baklava, small cakes, and candies
also line the table. Another snack is koljivo, a sweet cake made of wheat with
spiritual, ritualistic value (one crosses oneself before eating it). The two days
after Christmas are also celebrated with almost the same intensity as Christ-
mas. More of the same eating and drinking follows.
Easter
Easter (Uskrs, or Ascension Day) is the major religious holiday in Serbia and
Montenegro. The beginning of Lent, forty days before Easter, is called Pročka,
or the Day of Forgiveness. On this day, families hold a special dinner in which
the younger people ask their elders for forgiveness. It is something seen as
particularly fitting in the case of young sons-in-law with their new “parents”;
though this act was probably once a heartfelt and significant gesture, it is
largely a symbolic one today.
Fasting for all of Lent is not as widely practiced as it used to be, though
many still manage to do without meat, eggs, and dairy products during the
final week before Easter. This week is well structured and full of events. On
Palm Sunday (Cvetnice), people go to church and begin the real preparations
for Easter. During Easter Week, the churches are frequented continuously by
a stream of worshippers who come to light candles and pray.
A tradition that still endures, mostly in rural areas, takes place four days
after Palm Sunday. Very early in the morning on Holy Thursday (Veliki
Četvrtak), the woman of the house wakes up early in the morning to paint
hard-boiled eggs. It must be done before sunrise, the tradition goes, to prevent
the sun from seeing the eggs. While in the past all of the eggs were supposed
to be red, nowadays a more liberal and creative style is followed along with
making the red ones, with a blend of colors used to make beautiful designs.
The next day, Good Friday (Veliki Petak), is a solemn affair in which people
attend church, accompanied by much priestly chanting and incense. In the
middle of the church a table stands with a red cloth draped over it; children go
under the table and make a special wish. Despite the general solemnity of the
day, people are kept busy preparing for Easter by making candies and getting
the food prepared for the coming days.
Holy Saturday (Velika Subota), the day before Easter, provides a second
opportunity for errant egg painters to finish the job. People also come and
go from church during the day, with the real ceremony starting after 11 p.m.
Before midnight, the priests come out of the church and, with the assembled
worshippers, circle the church three times. At midnight, the church bells start
ringing loudly and everyone cheers the victory of Christ over death. People
hug and greet one another with the phrase Hristos vaskrese (Christ has risen).
The response is Vajstina vaskrese (Truly he has risen). The same greeting is used
throughout the day on Sunday.
With midnight marking the arrival of Easter Day, people can begin crack-
ing eggs. This is one of the most entertaining aspects of Orthodox Easter.
Challengers face off to see whose egg is stronger, cupping each firmly in their
fist with only the top or bottom sticking out. Each gets a chance to crack
down on the other’s egg, and the person with the egg that doesn’t crack is
the winner. There are no Easter-egg hunts as in the United States, and the
sweets are refreshingly homemade. Serbs and Montenegrins generally do not
give presents, as Americans have begun to, for Easter.
The best part of Easter is the great feast, usually centered around copious
portions of roast lamb. Also, people visit one another’s houses, ensuring a great
series of eating and drinking. The day after Easter is likewise Holy Monday.
The days from Good Friday to the second day of Easter are not workdays.
New Year’s Eve

Serbians enjoy the New Year’s holiday (Nova Godina) in much the same
way as do Westerners, with fireworks displays and gregarious drinking, feast-
ing, and dancing. An increasing number, however, now go on trips abroad to
sunnier locales or to one of Serbia’s ski resorts to enjoy a romantic getaway
from the usual.
An interesting twist to the New Year’s holiday is that it repeats, thanks to the
enduring Julian calendar, on January 13 with the so-called Srpska Nova Godina
(Serbian New Year, also known as Stara Nova Godina, or Old New Year’s, in
some regions). The date may have originally derived from pagan tradition, as
small villages here (and elsewhere in the Balkans) still hold colorful costumed
carnivals, accompanied by much feasting and music, on and around this date.
In pre-Christian times, the carnival would have represented an annual winter
cleansing, to drive away evil spirits and warm up the bleak winter.
Name Days and Feast Days

The Orthodox calendar is full of dates associated with saints. Since most
people are given fairly traditional names by their parents, almost everyone has
a second birthday to look forward to when the time on the calendar comes,
though not everyone celebrates. While an individual’s name day might be
celebrated by a small group of family and friends, larger celebrations, feast
days, are held on the name days of a select few saints. Most every village, town,
or city has its patron saint, and Serbia and Montenegro themselves have major
patron saints. The unique Serbian custom of the slava refers to the celebration
of a family’s own special protector saint; this saint is inherited from father to
son, and celebrating it is one of the main annual events that brings all of the
family together.
On a national level, the events accompanying saints’ feasts are similar to
those of name days, though on a much grander scale. The most important such
feast day for Serbs takes place on January 27 with Saint Sava’s Day (Savindan).
It commemorates Saint Sava, the founder of the Serbian Orthodox Church,
and as such is widely celebrated. Another major religious holiday that reveals
the close ties between spirituality and nationhood is that of Saint Vitus’s Day,
or the Day of the Fallen (Vidovdan), which commemorates the defeat of the
medieval Serbian kingdom with the 1389 Battle of Kosovo against the Ot-
toman Turks. Taking place annually on June 28, Vidovdan is commemorated
with church services.
National Holidays and Other Commemorative Anniversaries

Serbia has numerous national holidays that inevitably mean a day off from
work or school. On February 15, Statehood Day (Dan državnosti—Sretenje)
is celebrated. Curiously perhaps for Americans, May Day or Labor Day (Dan
rada) is an important spring holiday in Serbia and Montenegro and elsewhere
in the Balkans as well. Maybe it has something to do with the countries’ re-
cent Communist past, but Prvi Maj (May 1) is a holiday that people spend
a bit of time preparing for, usually trying to plan long weekends around it.
There is no particular way to celebrate, though generally, as an expression of
the unequivocal start of spring, it is not surprising that most people try to be
outdoors—whether enjoying the nature around their town or village or head-
ing to the coast for a bit of relaxation. Eight days later, on May 9, is Victory
Day (Dan pobede), another holiday but a workday.
FESTIVALS
Serbs and Montenegrins hold festivals for all kinds of things, from beer
and sausages to music and dance. The intensity of their enjoyment is com-
plemented by the offbeat contests, side events, and general merrymaking that
ensue.
Music Festivals
Since the 1990s, Serbia has begun to come into its own in terms of popular
music festivals, and Montenegro, flush with money from foreign investors in
the tourism sector, now hosts high-profile summer concerts featuring well-
known foreign and Balkan singers. The major Serbian popular music festival
is EXIT, held at Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad each July (see the festival’s
official Web site at http://www.exitfest.org). It was originally organized by
three university students as a form of protest against the Milošević regime in
1999, but since then has gone comfortably mainstream. The festival, now the
biggest in Southeast Europe, draws huge crowds from the Balkans (and further
afield) in Europe for six days of partying and music on several stages. Some of
the major acts to have played the EXIT Festival in recent years include Franz
Ferdinand, Billy Idol, the Pet Shop Boys, the White Stripes, Lauryn Hill, and
the Beastie Boys. In 2007, EXIT was named the Best European Festival at the
U.K. Festival Awards, and it is now written into every informed media body’s
calendar listing of annual music festivals on the continent.
Novi Sad also features another, though smaller and more discerning, music
festival held annually: the Novi Sad Jazz Festival (the jazz festival’s Web site
is http://jazzns.eunet.yu/index.htm). It has been held since 1999, when the
local cultural center was big enough to host it, but the festival has grown
substantially in recent years, with first-rate international jazz musicians like
Jimmy Cobb, Al Di Meola, Keith Copeland, and Kenny Garrett gracing the
stage along with Serbian and other European jazz ensembles.
Another much more traditional kind of annual musical gathering is the
famous Guča Trumpet Festival, held each August in the village of Guča,
near the small city of Čačak in west-central Serbia (the Guča Trumpet Festi-
val’s official Web site is http://saborguca.com). Also known as the Dragačevo
Assembly, this truly extraordinary happening involves three days and dozens
of freewheeling brass bands. The first festival in Guča—under the grandiose

full name Dragačevo Assembly of Trumpet Players—was held on October
16, 1961, in the village churchyard. Today it is a riotous event of barbeques,
beer, and cacophonous music, in which the bands ramble aimlessly through
the village, all playing at the same time, for whatever donations the increas-
ingly intoxicated festivalgoers thrust into their trumpets and tubas. Attending
the Guča Trumpet Festival is certainly one of the most unique and extraordi-
nary experiences one can have in Serbia. A somewhat dazed British observer
described the experience like this: “A man is hanging from a tree pouring
beer over a brass band beneath him, and a chef is carrying the carcass of a
pig across a makeshift dance floor. . . . As entire pigs and sheep rotate on spits
above open fires, the bands target the customers, swooping on tables and blast-
ing the diners with a cacophony of sound. The audience shows its apprecia-
tion by plastering Serbian dinar notes on the sweat-streaked foreheads of the
musicians. It goes on late into the night, and starts again first thing in the
morning.”3
The Guča festival has grown wildly in popularity in recent years, leading
some veterans to grumble that modern organizers have failed to “keep it real.”
Some 300,000 visitors, an ever-increasing number from abroad, bear down on
this otherwise sleepy town of 2,000 people for the festival, where more than
three tons of bread are consumed, 250,000 servings of meat are eaten, and
more than 700,000 pints of beer are drunk. The official festival begins with
an opening concert on Friday, followed by Saturday-night celebrations, and,
finally, Sunday’s competition. The prize for winning is the coveted golden
trumpet, “an award that more often than not will lead to a recording contract
and enough wedding bookings to keep the winning band busy for months.”4
Trumpet music is embedded deep in the Serbian consciousness, deriving
first from the military brass bands that arose in the nineteenth century (Prince
Miloš Obrenović, leader of the second Serbian uprising of 1815, ordered the
formation of the first military band in 1831). Brass bands, and specifically
trumpet music, traditionally accompany every major event in a Serbian per-
son’s life, from births, baptisms, and slavas to weddings, festivals, and funerals.
It is considered a great honor for brass bands to be invited to the festival,
and there are indeed competitive heats held during the year to separate the
pretenders from the contenders. To date, the trumpeter to have met with the
greatest success—so great, in fact, that he stopped competing out of mercy—
was Boban Marković, a Serbian Roma (Gypsy) from the unassuming southern
town of Vladičin Han. In 2001, he became the first musician ever to receive
the highest mark from every jury member at the festival. The man who put
Serbian brass band music on the map internationally, Goran Bregović, has
also appeared at the festival in recent years. Most of the approximately 1,500
musicians are Roma—a traditionally musical people who perform impromptu
and organized brass concerts around the Balkans, particularly popular at wed-
dings.
Other Festivals
Serbia has several more impassioned and offbeat festivals. For example, the
country is well known for its meat festivals. The annual kobasicijada (sausage
festival), held for almost thirty years in the last week of February in the north-
ern village of Turija, made headlines in 2004 when organizers claimed to have
created the world’s longest sausage.5 According to a contemporary news re-
port, “Twelve butchers used the meat of 28 pigs, 40 kilos of paprika, 50
kilos of salt, two kilograms of pepper and five kilograms of garlic to make
a sausage 2,020 meters long.”6 Although the chefs had been preparing the
sausage for four days in eager anticipation of some outside acknowledgement,
it was drolly noted that “unfortunately, the representatives of the Guinness
Book of World Records did not come to register the new world record for the
longest sausage.” Among other larger-than-life festivities, the event features
contests for long jumping, fastest sausage eating, and a contest to crown the
fattest visitor to the festival. Of course, lots of music, dancing, and beer round
things out.
Another major meat festival held since 1988 is the Kačarevo Bacon Festival
in the town of the same name. Considered by locals as a sort of Olympics of
bacon eating, it is indeed an event that would have Homer Simpson salivat-
ing. The origins of the festival are quite humorous: one winter’s eve in January
1988, local farmers got into an argument over the best way to smoke meat and
make good bacon. When they could not solve their differences verbally, the
men invited friends and neighbors to come to taste their specialties in hopes
of winning the debate. The very popular Kačarevo festival has seen its share
of oddities over the year, none perhaps more so than local Rača Vulanović’s
artwork—the world’s first bacon sculpture. Five tons of bacon went into the
sculpture, which towered twelve meters (thirty-six feet) high. Everyone knew
Serbs were prone to doing things big, but even this was something special!
More food and drink festivals occur in Belgrade, where the annual Beer Fes-
tival has attracted considerable attention since 2003 (see chapter 5, “Cuisine
and Fashion”), as well as the roštiljijada (barbecue week) held every September
in the central Serbian town of Leskovac. This town is famous for its grilled
meats both in and beyond Serbia. During the event, the main boulevard is
closed, becoming a pedestrian-only zone replete with grill stands and tented,
temporary restaurants. Visitors come from far and wide, and of course there
are the contests and feats of strength—such as the contest to make the biggest
pljeskavica (a Serbian hamburger).
LEISURE ACTIVITIES AND SOCIAL CUSTOMS

Serbs and Montenegrins spend a lot of time enjoying—passively by whiling
away the hours in a café or enjoying nightlife—as well as actively through
recreational sports. Reading is popular in Serbia, and especially in Belgrade,
known regionally for its annual book fair. This pastime has historic roots;
some of the best bookshops in the old Yugoslavia were in Belgrade. Until
recently, when they started to be “discovered,” Belgrade featured a number
of “secret” bars, hidden away in the basements of buildings or flats, with no
visible markings, where groups of friends in the know would congregate for
private drinking sessions.
Greetings in Serbia, as in other Orthodox countries, are accomplished with
a handshake and kissing three times on alternating cheeks—a reference to
The Ruski Tsar, one of Belgrade’s most historic cafés, cultivates an old-world ambience
and is a great place for an espresso and people-watching just off the pedestrian Knez
Mihailova Street. Photography by the author.
the Holy Trinity. The same follows upon departures. Serbs say Drago mi je
(Nice to meet you) to new acquaintances, and when sitting in a house or
public place and others enter, those seated customarily rise to greet those who
are entering. Since you will frequently find yourself eating and drinking with
Serbian hosts, it is worth remembering that you must look a person in the eyes
when saying Živeli (cheers). The full explanation for this custom is: kad se kuca
u oči se gleda, radi običaja i radi reda, which can be translated as, “When you
clink (your glass), you should look the other person in the eyes, because of the
tradition and order.” The host or hostess will ensure that your glass is topped
off when you have finished it, so to gulp it down too fast could be considered
bad manners; at the same time, not drinking enough might be seen as lacking
in conviviality.
Serbia and Montenegro’s warmhearted people are known for their hospital-
ity; as elsewhere in Southeast Europe, guests are usually offered far more than
they can eat or drink, even if the hosts themselves are poor and go without.
Traditional hospitality is especially strong in rural areas, and these are one of
the last places in Europe where locals will invite you into their homes when a
village lacks accommodation for visitors.
When invited into a Serbian or Montenegrin home, one can expect to be
immediately given a cup of Turkish coffee (Turska Kafa), also called Crna
(black) Kafa or even Srpska (Serbian) Kafa. A full spread of cheeses, smoked
meats, and perhaps vegetable dips will be placed before you, often with
sweets such as baklava, cakes, or slatko (sweet fruit preserves). Of course, a
shot of rakija is always on hand, usually in the (often homemade) form of
šlivovica, Serbian plum brandy. Guests visiting one another’s homes usually
bring a small gift such as a box of chocolates or bottle of wine.
If the visit involves a slava (the celebration of a family or individual’s saint
day), along with a small gift, the special greeting is Srećna slava (happy slava).
When entering the house, guests are offered pšenica, a ceremonial sweet of
wheat, honey, and nuts. After making the sign of the cross, the recipient takes
a spoonful of the sweet and dips it in a glass of water before eating.
SPORTS
The Serbs and Montenegrins are on average some of the tallest people in
Europe, and this, together with their natural athleticism, has helped them
win European and world championships in several sports, in both the previ-
ous Yugoslav system and more recently as independent states. For a nation of
only 7.5 million people, Serbia has produced a disproportionately large
amount of sportsmen and sportswomen, and it continues to do so. With
This oštrač (knife sharpener) shown here working for customers in the Central Ser-
bian city of Nis typifies Serbia and Montenegro’s enduring tradition of artisans and
craftsmen, who can still be found on the street corners and shops of these Balkan
countries. Photography by the author.
the conflicts of the 1990s now far beyond, attention has turned to improving
the infrastructure that will sustain training of world-class athletes.
Basketball
The Serbs are especially passionate about basketball and have been very suc-
cessful at it over the years. As is generally the case in Europe, Serbian teams
play with a more pass-oriented, team-first style of play and less razzle-dazzle
than is usually the case today in the United States. The International Basket-
ball Federation (FIBA), the world body governing international competitions,
considers Serbia’s national team the rightful descendent of the national teams
of Yugoslavia and, subsequently, the short-lived Serbia and Montenegro state
union.
This combined legacy is a very accomplished one. Yugoslav national teams
won FIBA world championships in 1970, 1978, 1990, 1998, and 2002, also
achieving second-place finishes in 1963, 1967, and 1974. Yugoslavia won
its only Olympic gold medal in 1980, but it picked up numerous silvers
at the games in 1968, 1976, 1988, and 1996, as well as a bronze in 1984.
Yugoslav teams have been especially successful at the European Basketball
Championships, winning it all in 1973, 1975, 1977, 1989, 1991, 1995, 1997,
and 2001. Of course, all of this success has not been just the result of Serbian
players (Croats, former Yugoslav partners, are also passionate about the game),
but it does indicate a long standard of excellence.
In Serbia and Montenegro, the very competitive national leagues offer a
high standard of play and are frequently watched by scouts from U.S. and
other European clubs, with a result that Serbs and Montenegrins are repre-
sented on professional rosters far and wide. The major powerhouses on the
Serbian scene are Belgrade’s KK Partizan and Crvena Zvezda (Red Star), both
formed in 1945. These teams have won numerous titles both nationwide and
in European competitions, and American players attracted to European clubs
sometimes wind up in Belgrade. Serbia and Montenegro’s long basketball tra-
dition has been marked by earlier generations of players. Sarajevo-born Alek-
sandar Nikolić (1924–2000) was one of the very first Serbian basketball stars,
excelling both as a player and as a coach. He is considered so important to the
development of basketball in Yugoslavia that he has won the name “Father of
Yugoslav basketball.” After moving to Serbia at a young age, Nikolić grew up,
studied, and turned to basketball, playing professionally for Belgrade’s greatest
clubs right from the early days of their inception. He played for both Parti-
zan Belgrade and Crvena Zvezda, as well as for Železničar Čačak and BSK
Belgrade, winning the Yugoslav league title in 1947, 1948, and 1949. Nikolić
also played for the Yugoslav national basketball team during the late 1940s.
However, it was as a coach that Nikolić had the greatest success, coach-
ing the Yugoslav national team between 1951 and 1965, and again between
1977 and 1978. Under his tenure, Yugoslavia won numerous medals in inter-
national competitions, including golds at the 1977 European Championship
and 1978 World Championships. One of Nikolić’s contemporaries, Borislav
Stanković (b. 1925) also played at a high level and is noted today for his
forward-thinking ideas that Europeans should aspire to play in the American
NBA. He has remained active as an administrator and organizer long after his
retirement.
Among the second-generation Serbian standouts was Bosnian-born Dražen
Dalipagić, one of Europe’s biggest stars during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
He led the Yugoslav national team to gold medals in both the Olympics and
the World Basketball Championships, as well as three European titles. He
remains one of the most celebrated athletes from former Yugoslav times. To-
day, the tradition remains strong, with Serbia’s youth teams recently winning
European and World titles, ensuring an ever-growing crop of young stars.
Serbian players have indeed made a big impact worldwide, with many
playing for major clubs in Europe. Further, a number of Serbs have had, and
continue to have, success in the American NBA. The most famous of these
Serbian stars is unquestionably Vlade Divac. Born in 1968 in the town of
Prijepolje, the 7 1 center Divac was one of the dominant big men of the
1990s, but he was also known for his passing skills and outside shooting.
While a player with Partizan Belgrade in 1989, he was drafted by the Los An-
geles Lakers with the twenty-sixth overall pick. Mentored by legendary team-
mates Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Divac became accustomed
to the American style of play quickly and was named to the All-Rookie Team
that year, his ebullient and easygoing personality also winning him friends
despite the fact that he could not speak English at first.
Although a star, Divac was traded away to the Charlotte Hornets in 1996 for
the draft rights to Kobe Bryant. After two seasons playing in Charlotte, Divac
signed as a free agent with the Sacramento Kings, turning the Californian
team into a perennial powerhouse over the next few years. Together with Chris
−
Webber and fellow countryman Peda Stojaković, the Kings proved serious
challengers for the NBA title—losing twice in the semifinals to Bryant’s Lak-
ers. In 2004, when the Lakers had traded away star center Shaquille O’Neal
in a desire to rebuild the franchise, Divac returned to his original team. How-
ever, injuries plagued Divac, and in 2005 he announced his retirement after
sixteen years in the league. He remains one of only three players (along with
Hakeem Olajuwon and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) to amass 13,000 points, 9,000
rebounds, 3,000 assists, and 1,500 blocked shots in his career.
During and after his playing days, the affable and entertaining Divac has
made frequent appearances in the media, films, and advertisements and is
considered something of a national hero by most Serbs. He showed dedication
to his native country by attempting to invest in various businesses, including
his old basketball team in Belgrade, yet time and time again he was stymied by
bureaucracy and suspected interference from protective government interests.
Nevertheless, Divac continues to be active as a businessman and especially
as a humanitarian figure in Serbia, with the opening of a foundation to help
children in need. He has also given generously to supporting war refugees in
Serbia. Like many Serb athletes, the war in Kosovo affected him deeply: in
addition to having two sons, he and his wife adopted a girl whose parents
were murdered by Albanian snipers.7
Serbia’s second best-known basketball star in America, Predrag (nicknamed
−
“Peda”) Stojaković, arrived a generation after Divac, drafted with the four-
teenth pick by the Sacramento Kings in 1996. Although quite tall at 6 11 ,
he plays forward and is legendary for his three-point and free-throw-shooting
percentage. After trades to the New Orleans Hornets and Indiana Pacers in
2006, Stojaković began to suffer injuries that have affected his productivity.
However, his shooting touch and speed made a return in an exciting 2008
−
playoff run, a reminder of Peda in his heyday.
Among the many other famous Serbian players to have made careers in
the NBA are center Nenad Krstić (New Jersey Nets), power forward Darko
Miličić (Memphis Grizzlies), Marko Jarić (Minnesota Timberwolves) and the
relative newcomer, hulking 7 2 Kosta Perović, who was drafted in 2006
by the Golden State Warriors. Another talented Serb, Vladimir Radmanović,
currently plays for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Montenegro has offered fewer NBA players, and these have tended to iden-
tify themselves as ethnically Serbian. Former Montenegrin NBA players in-
−
clude Predrag “Peda” Drobnjak and Žarko Čabarkapa. The native Montene-
grin star Aleksandar “Sasha” Pavlović, who plays alongside LeBron James on
the Cleveland Cavaliers, continues the Serbian tradition of dead-on outside
shooting.
Soccer
As everywhere else in Europe, soccer commands a loyal following in Serbia
and Montenegro. The major towns and cities all have their own clubs, with
the most famous soccer teams being Belgrade’s Partizan and Crvena Zvezda.
Soccer is a major sport in Serbia and Montenegro and, like everywhere else in
Europe, attracts its share of hooligan fans. Partizan’s fans are known as grobari
(the gravediggers) and Crvena Zvezda’s as delije (the heroes, or strong ones).
Although these names and associations have become part of Belgrade pop
culture, it should be noted that, despite the occasional confrontation, Serbian
soccer fans are much less violent than English or Scottish ones.
Dozens of Serbian and Montenegrin soccer players have distinguished
themselves over the years. A recent star and later coach and administrator,
Dragan Stojković was known in Serbia by his nickname, “the Pixie.” He
played for the Belgrade club Crvena Zvezda and several European clubs be-
fore injuries led him to move to Japan, where a street is now named after him.
Dejan Savićević was another star of the 1980s and 1990s to play for Crvena
Zvezda. When he moved on to Italian powerhouse AC Milan, the Montene-
grin star known for his poise and control won the admiration of club owner
and future Italian president Silvio Berlusconi, who dubbed him “Il Genio”
(the Genius). Savićević led AC Milan to three straight European Cup finals;
in the club’s 1993 victory, Savićević made one of the greatest plays of the
year—a thirty-five-yard half-volley goal.
Water Polo
Along with basketball and soccer, the sport in which Serbs and Mon-
tenegrins have been traditionally most distinguished is water polo. Since the
downfall of Yugoslavia, Serbia has had a fierce rivalry especially with Hungary
and former Yugoslav teammates Croatia. Unlike in the United States, water
polo is a widely televised sport in Serbia and Montenegro.
The sport was invented in the late nineteenth century for American and
British private schools, meaning that these countries tended to win all of the
early championships. However, once water polo became popular on the Con-
tinent, the balance of power shifted eastward. While Hungary has the longest
and most distinguished record of success on the international stage, Yugoslavia
and its two most accomplished sporting successor states, Serbia and Croatia,
have done quite well also. The early roots of the game in Yugoslavia began
in royalist times and included the annual event of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Water Polo Championship, held from 1921 to 1940. Following World War II,
the sport was revived, and Communist Yugoslavia excelled, winning Olympic
gold medals in 1968, 1984, and 1988, along with the silver in 1952, 1956,
1964, and 1980.
Water polo is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation
(FINA), the international swimming federation, and the very first FINA men’s
world water polo championship was indeed held in Belgrade in 1973, when
Yugoslavia won the bronze. In 1978 and 1998, the country again took the
bronze. In 1986 and 1991, Yugoslavia was world champion. Most recently,
Serbia and Montenegro took the silver in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.
The country also took the bronze in the FINA 2003 world championships and
the gold in 2005.
The man considered by many to be the best water polo player of all time,
Igor Milanović (b. 1965), comes from Belgrade. In 349 games for the Yugoslav
national team, he scored an impressive 540 goals. Milanović led Yugoslav
teams that twice won the Olympic gold medal, the World Championships,
the European Championships, and the FINA Cup. He played the greatest
part of his professional career for Belgrade’s VK Partizan (1975–1988), later
playing for several other Serbian and international teams until his retirement
in 1996. Ten years later, he was inducted into the Water Polo Hall of Fame in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Among the many notable current Serbian players is Aleksandar Šapić
(b. 1978 in Belgrade), considered by many the best offensive player in the
world. After making his debut at only thirteen years of age, Šapić went
through several clubs and helped the Serbia and Montenegro national team
win gold at the World Aquatic Championships in Montreal, as well as the
silver medal at the 2004 Olympics and a bronze at the 2000 Olympic Games.
At the European Championships in 2006, held in Belgrade, Šapić won gold
with the home team.
Šapić is known for playing with tenacity and fiery determination, which
has sometimes led to altercations and fines. Šapić became the world’s most
sought-after player in 2005, when Russian water polo club Sturm gave him a
record contract of $300,000 per season, making him the world’s highest-paid
player. This financial acknowledgment of the Serbian player’s skill is borne out
by his prolific and sustained scoring ability: every year since 1995, Šapić has
been the league’s leading scorer in whichever team or league he was playing
in at the time.
Other currently active players who have helped Serbia achieve great results
on the world stage, and who continue to excite fans in the Serbian and other
European water polo leagues, include Aleksandar Ćirić, Danilo Ikodinović,
Nikola Kuljača, Vanja Udovičić, and Vladimir Vujasinović.
Tennis
While Serbia, and Yugoslavia before it, have always contributed world-class
tennis players, only recently have Serbs become well known on the world
stage. The greatest Serbian-born player to date, Monica Seleš, is an ethnic
Hungarian from Vojovodina. However, she developed her early skills before
−
emigrating to America from then-Yugoslavia with a Serbian musician, −Dorde
Balašević, who even built a court for her to practice on in his backyard. Seleš
was dominant in the women’s game during the late 1980s and early 1990s,
and several times played for the former Yugoslavia in international matches.
She has proved an inspiration for Serbia’s younger generations of aspiring ten-
nis players.
At the same time as Seleš, Serbian men’s tennis came alive with Slobodan
Živojinović, who represented Yugoslavia internationally and won two career
singles titles, in 1986 and 1988, peaking at No. 19 on the international rank-
ings and memorably defeating John McEnroe in the 1985 Australian Open.
At the same time, Živojinović was famous for being married to Serbian Turbo-
folk singer Lepa Brena. He was more successful in doubles than in singles play,
and in 1986 he was ranked the top doubles player in the world. Živojinović is
now active in initiatives to improve training facilities for coming generations
of Serbian tennis players.
Most recently, Serbian tennis has returned to world attention, with young
Serbs, both men and women, challenging for major titles. The most accom-
plished current Serbian men’s player is Novak −Doković, born in 1987 in Bel-
grade. Noted for his powerful serve, strong forehand, and slice backhand,
−
Doković achieved a remarkable victory in the Australian Open in January
2008. At just twenty years of age, he knocked off the legendary Roger Federer
in the semifinals before winning the tournament, becoming the first player
representing Serbia (as an independent state) ever to win a Grand Slam sin-
gles title. −Doković is also the youngest player (in the open era) to have reached
all four Grand Slam semifinals. At the 2007 U.S. Open, he was runner-up
and won four of the five Masters Series finals he reached. −Doković was also a
semifinalist at the French Open in 2007 and 2008 and at Wimbledon in 2007.
During 2008, he was ranked second in the world.
−
Doković, whose family is originally from Kosovo, has also been associated
with Serbian politics. After Kosovo Albanians’ unilateral declaration of inde-
pendence on February 17, 2008, −Doković spoke out against the decision, and
two months later visited Serbs in the northern Mitrovica enclave of Kosovo
to rapturous applause.8 A second young Serbian player, Janko Tipsarević, was
ranked No. 33 in the world in May 2008 at the age of twenty-four. He had
won nine tournaments by that time and has represented Serbia in Serbia’s
Davis Cup play every year since 2000.
Serbia’s modern female tennis stars have commanded even more attention,
as with the Russian Anna Kournikova, both for their game and for their looks.
Jelena Janković, a tenacious, hard-hitting player equally comfortable on all
surfaces, reached the position of No. 3 in the world ranking after making it to
the semifinals of the 2007 French Open. Notably, in 2007 she played more
matches than any other player and still maintained her third-place ranking.
Another Serbian female star, Ana Ivanović, has done even better, in June 2008
moving up to No. 1 in the world. She reached her first Grand Slam singles
final in the 2007 French Open but lost to Justine Henin, later admitting that
she was overwhelmed by the moment. However, on June 7, 2008, Ivanović
had another opportunity; this time she won it all in Paris, defeating Russian
Dinara Safina to win the French Open for her first major tournament victory.
The ecstatic twenty-year-old described it as “a dream come true” but has in-
dicated that she plans to keep her feet on the ground and not let the fame
“change her.” She views her success as a sign that young Serbian players will
have something to strive for.9 Like Jelena Janković, Ivanović is a hard-hitting
player with excellent depth and a strong two-handed backhand. She is espe-
cially known for her astonishingly powerful 128-mile-per-hour serve.10 Inter-
estingly, she was inspired to play tennis after seeing countrywoman Monica
Seleš on television—at the age of five.
With tennis now identified as a promising national sport, the
government—and politicians eager to be seen with the young stars—is taking
measures to correct some of the infrastructure flaws and lack of fund-
ing that have kept the country back and seen young talent go ignored.
Slobodan Živojinović, the national star of the 1980s, told the British newspa-
per the Guardian of his dream of having “10 Serbian players in the world’s top
10”—a typically grandiose expression of Serbian enthusiasm. According to the
newspaper, Ivanović’s finals appearance at the 2007 French Open led to “a
40% increase in participation levels” among Serbian youngsters, and television
stations are suddenly fighting for rights to broadcast the sport. The president
of the country’s national tennis federation since 2003, Živojinović has guided
plans to builds a national tennis center; today’s current stars were forced to
With her triumph in the 2008 French Open, Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanović be-
came world number-one at the age of 20. Along with tennis peers Novak −Doković
and Jelena Janković, Ivanovic has attracted the world’s attention to the quality—
and good looks—associated with Serbian tennis. Courtesy of Manuela Davies,
http://www.anaivanovic.com.
do their training as youngsters in a former swimming pool converted into a

tennis court.
The privations of life in Serbia, and the aftereffects of war and economic
sanctions, have indeed been referenced by the players themselves. “I think
when you learn to fight for your position and you don’t have anything given
to you, or any financial help, that makes you stronger,” said Jelena Janković
to the newspaper. “You mature a lot faster and become very strong mentally,
so when you come to a place where you have good courts and everything is
given to you, you appreciate it more.”11
Volleyball, Handball, and Other Sports
Other popular team sports in Serbia and Montenegro include volleyball
and handball. Possibly because they are on average so tall, Serbs and Mon-
tenegrins are also great aficionados of volleyball, always fielding world-class
teams. Most recently, Serbia’s women’s team took the silver medal in the 2007
European Championships.
Two of Serbia’s best-known volleyball players are brothers: Nikola and

Vladimir Grbić. Both played for Yugoslavia on the gold medal–winning na-
tional teams at the 2000 Olympics and the 2001 European Championships.
Ivan Miljković is another leading volleyball player who played on those great
teams, and he memorably scored the final point against Russia in the Olympic
finals, falling to his knees in amazement. Like the Grbić brothers and other
leading Serbian players, Miljković plays abroad (in Italy), where salaries are
higher.
Handball is also popular in Serbia and Montenegro and elsewhere in the
Balkans. Among the legends of Serbian handball is Zoran Živković (b. 1945),
who played goalkeeper in Serbian handball leagues and is currently a noted
coach. During his career, he made eighty-two appearances for the Yugoslav
handball national team. As a player, he protected the goal for the Yugoslav na-
tional team’s gold-medal performance at the 1972 Olympics, and as a coach
also won gold for Yugoslavia at the Olympics in 1984, among many subse-
quent victories.
In other sports Serbs have excelled as well. Dragutin Topić set the ju-
nior world record in the high jump in 1990 before also winning the Euro-
pean Championships three weeks later. All in all, Topić has set five national
high-jump records and won four national titles for Yugoslavia. One of the
world’s greatest female sports shooters of all time was Croatian-born Serb
Jasna Šekarić (b. 1965). Three times elected world shooter of the year (in 1990,
1994, and 2005), she was also crowned “Shooter of the Millennium” in 2000
by the International Shooting Sport Federation. Over her long career, Šekarić
has won ninety medals in competitions including the Mediterranean Games,
the Olympics, the European and World championships, and the World Cup.
In addition to organized professional sports, Serbs and Montenegrins take
an active interest in skiing, hiking, swimming, and playing pickup basketball
or soccer with friends.
NOTES
1. Bud Collins, “Befitting the Royal Treatment,” Boston Globe, June 8, 2008.
2. “Koštunica: ko ne razume Guču ne razume ni Srbiju,” Radio Televizija Srbije,
September 3, 2006.
3. Matt Prodger, “Serbian Town Has Much to Trumpet,” BBC, August 7, 2005.
4. Ibid.
5. See the official Web site of the sausage festival at http://turija.co.yu/strane/
kobasicijada/program.htm.
6. “Festival Claims World’s Longest Sausage,” Agence France-Presse, February
29, 2004.
7. Rick Reilly, “Vlade Divac’s Private War,” CNN/Sports Illustrated, May 25,
1999.
8. “Australian Open Champion Novak Djokovic Visits Serb Stronghold in
Northern Kosovo,” Associated Press, April 3, 2008.
9. Simon Dilger, “Ana in Dreamland,” Sky News, June 8, 2008.
10. Peter Bodo, “When Ana Ivanovic Serves, You Better Duck,” New York Times,
June 3, 2008.
11. Stuart James, “Serbia Seeks to Build on a Rich Talent Pool,” The Guardian,
June 25, 2007.
5
Cuisine and Fashion
Serbs and Montenegrins are hearty eaters, and their cuisine, with its nour-
ishing blend of Central European and Mediterranean flavors, is excellent.
There are a wide variety of dishes ranging from breakfast pastries like Austrian-
style strudels or Ottoman burek (a kind of flaky cheese pie), to healthy salads,
numerous local cheeses, and copious amounts of meat of all kinds. Serbia
and Montenegro are also well known for their drinks; fruit brandies, like the
Serbian national aperitif šljivovica (from plums), are drunk on every occasion
for which diners can create a good excuse to say živeli (cheers), which is fre-
quently. Wines from the region, typically whites in the northern province of
Vojvodina and reds in southern Serbia and Montenegro, are also robust and
flavorful. There are also a handful of domestic favorites on the beer scene, such
as Serbia’s Jelen Pivo (Stag Beer) and Nikšićko, named after the Montenegrin
town of Nikšić, where it has been brewed since 1896. Like everything else in
these invigorating countries, portions are huge, and especially when visiting
the hospitable homes of local people, saying no is not an option—so come
with an appetite.
On the fashion scene, Serbia and Montenegro have distinguished them-
selves on the catwalks of New York, Paris, and Milan for their beautiful, long-
legged models. While actually fashion designing is taking a while to reach the
same level of notoriety on the world stage, there are numerous well-regarded
Serbian and Montenegrin designers, and events like Belgrade Fashion Week,
held every year in April, give them an opportunity to show off their latest
creations.
FOOD
Serbian and Montenegrin cuisine is a rather unique one, owing to geog-
raphy and history. While it is strong on meat, at the same time it is much
more healthful than the heavy, vegetable-averse cuisines of more northerly
Slavic countries such as Slovakia and the Czech Republic. With geography
that mixes Continental and Mediterranean climates and terrains, Serbia and
Montenegro offer a wide variety of natural, homegrown fruits and vegetables,
plus a taste of seafood on the Montenegrin Adriatic coast. The historical in-
fluences on cuisine result from the distinct influences and experience of two
empires: the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in the northern plains of Vojvodina,
and the Ottoman Empire, which left behind spicy sauces and famous sweets
like baklava. Other Balkan specialties from the region, like Greek and Mace-
donian dishes, fill out the rest of the traditional cuisine.
While people in Serbia and Montenegro enjoy eating out, they also tend to
cook much more homemade food than do Americans, using old family recipes
and fresh local ingredients. Some of the most commonly made foodstuffs oc-
cur as if by ritual, according to the season when the ingredients are freshest:
for example, strawberry jam is always made in late May and early June, during
the peak season for this abundant fruit, while ajvar (a sweet red-pepper sauce)
is made in autumn, after the peppers have been harvested and hung to dry.
A common sight in Serbia and Montenegro in the cold days of winter is the
small outdoor oven with a stovepipe puffing out hot air and an old man or
two sitting around to watch the rakija bubble. This becomes almost a pastime,
when neighbors can gather and while away an evening cooking the next year’s
brandy while sipping that of the previous year.
The dining habits that today’s Serbs and Montenegrins follow are those of
the West, with three meals daily, though this has its own variations. Lunch
is the largest, as in other Mediterranean countries, whereas breakfast tends to
be the smallest; it was only introduced as a concept in the second half of the
nineteenth century. While breakfast may be as simple as a piece of pastry or
Continental breakfast, you will also see in any large town or city barbeque
stands on the street; it is not uncommon to see Serbs in Belgrade munching
on pljeskavica (grilled beef burgers) at eight o’clock in the morning! Serbs and
Montenegrins also preserve another Mediterranean custom, the practice of
having a long, leisurely dinner or drink (whether a coffee or alcoholic bever-
age), without looking at the clock or feeling the need to hurry.
Pastries and Breakfast Foods

Breakfast in Serbia and Montenegro can be larger or smaller, faster or
slower, depending on the location, timing, and, of course, the dinner involved.
CUISINE AND FASHION 85
In the larger cities, where people often get something to eat on the way to
work, lines form in the morning inside the pekara (bakery), usually a narrow
shop with a very long counter and the day’s specialties under big curving glass
windows behind it. Most Serbian bakeries have a few seats or tables where peo-
ple can sit or stand while eating, though many just get their breakfast to go.
The most popular offerings here include burek, a slightly greasy, golden-
brown pie made of several layers of phyllo dough baked in the oven, with
white cheese, spinach, or ground beef inside. Burek is made by a pastry chef
who, like a pizza chef, kneads out the elastic dough into a flat, circular shape,
slips it on his finger, and flips it in the air several times before folding the edges
over repeatedly and placing the filling inside. Thus sealed up and brushed with
cooking oil, the burek is cooked until golden brown and then served. The
steaming pie is about three inches thick and as wide as a good-sized oven pan.
It is cut with a large, rounded knife into quarters or eighths. The former will
definitely fill you up, whereas the latter makes for a good and quick snack. A
close relative of burek is the banica, almost the same but slightly flakier and
less heavy. For a drink, burek is always accompanied by sour drinking yogurt.
Serbs and Montenegrins might also eat such food in late shops after a night
of drinking, because the grease in burek soaks up the alcohol, thus preventing
a hangover the next morning!
Other popular breakfast foods available at the pekara include various kinds
of sweet pita (pie). These include pita sa jabukama (rolled apple pie) and pita
sa višnjama (cherry pie). Other quick breakfast snacks are quite light sugar
doughnuts (krofne) and plain doughnuts with chocolate filling; other kinds
of doughnuts are not traditionally made. During the Christmas season, street
vendors cook doughy doughnut balls, which are then sold in small boxes to
be eaten with chocolate syrup.
When Serbs and Montenegrins eat breakfast at home, it can range from
simple Continental fare (cold cuts, olives, cheese, hard-boiled eggs) to slanina
(bacon) or kobasica (sausage), accompanied by bread (usually a large and
crusty loaf, almost never sliced sandwich bread) or pastries, and sometimes
topped by kajmak (sour cream). Homemade breads range from bela pogača
(white village bread) to proja (cornbread), and are accompanied by butter,
jam, honey, or milk. Kiflice are small croissants, and kačamak is a flour-and-
water kind of polenta. In Serbia, especially in northern Vojvodina, an excellent
tradition of homemade sausage making is continued, and the very finely sliced
smoked bacon (pršuta, prosciutto) can be fantastic. Finally, in addition to reg-
ular fried eggs, Serbs and Montenegrins make a delicious kind of omelette that
involves sweet peppers and onion cooked together with scrambled eggs.
For an accompanying drink, anything from a glass of water or juice to
tea and coffee is served. However, coffee prepared at home in Serbia and
Montenegro is almost always Turkish coffee (sometimes they call it “Serbian”

to express national pride), which is widespread in the Balkans. Turkish coffee
is made in a long-handled copper pot held over the burner or fire, in which
water and a small amount of ground coffee and sugar are cooked. The result
is a thick, black, and strong coffee with a slightly leathery head. For outsiders,
it takes some getting used to, but most swear by it after a while. However, in
cafés, most Serbs and Montenegrins now opt for espresso drinks of various
kinds, espresso sa mlekom (espresso complemented by a dash of milk) being
a particular favorite. Coffees are often accompanied by kisela voda (sparkling
water), of which Serbia has several popular brands, the most famous being
Knjaz Miloš (King Milosh), which is bottled deep in the Serbian mountains
−
of Arandelovac.
Soups, Salads, and Cheeses

Cuisine in Serbia and Montenegro is remarkably healthy partly because of
the amount of soups and vegetables people eat. Soup is most often eaten at
lunchtime, whereas salads are enjoyed at both lunch and dinner. There are
two types of soups in Serbian cuisine: standard supa (soups) and soups with
roux (browned flour); the latter are called čorba and are the more commonly
ordered. These soups are simple but nourishing, featuring noodles with beef
or chicken. Soups featuring vegetables include čorba od zelja i sira (soup with
cabbage and cheese), čorba od spanaća, koprive ili zelja (soup with spinach,
nettles, or cabbage), čorba od boranije (soup with green beans), and paradajz
čorba (tomato soup). Pasulj (bean soup) is also popular. Slightly more high-
brow (and expensive) are riblja čorba (fish soup) and jagnjeća čorba (lamb
soup).
Serbs and Montenegrins eat many varieties of salads as well. They are typi-
cally eaten together with the main course. The most common salads include
srpska salata (Serbian salad, a vegetable salad, usually served during summer
with roast meat and other dishes, made from diced fresh tomatoes, cucum-
bers, and onions, usually seasoned with oil, salt, and commonly feferon, a local
hot pepper similar to cayenne pepper), ruska salata (Russian salad, made with
carrots, green beans, and mayonnaise), and šopska salata (made with sliced
tomatoes and cucumbers and topped with slivers of soft white cheese). Simpler
salads can also be made with anything from lettuce and cabbage to tomatoes,
cucumbers, and carrots. Vegetable spreads, to accompany meals as a side dish
or with bread and cheese, include the sweet red-pepper sauce ajvar, ljutenica
prebranac (baked beans in sauce), and a hot pepper sauce. Stuffed vegetable
dishes are also popular and diverse, from punjene paprika (bell peppers stuffed
with ground beef and rice) and punjene tikvice (stuffed zucchini) to the famous
sarma (stuffed cabbage with beef and rice).
In the great family of Serbian and Montenegrin cheeses, the major differ-
ence is between sir (white cheese) and kaškaval (yellow cheese). White cheeses
are also divided by kravlji sir (cow’s-milk cheese) and ovčji sir (sheep’s-milk
cheese). Goat cheese is more rarely encountered. Most villages claim to have
their own local specialties, though they are often fairly similar in the end.
The Wide World of Roštilj (Barbecued Meats)

If there is one thing Serbs are especially renowned for, it is roštilj (barbecued
meats), and they do eat a lot of them. Whole cities, such as Leskovac in cen-
tral Serbia, are so famous for the quality of their grills that restaurants in other
countries are named for them. And annual events like bacon and sausage fes-
tivals (see chapter 4, “Holidays, Customs, and Leisure Activities”) are widely
visited and popular. Grilled meats in Serbia and Montenegro are eaten for
lunch or dinner (and as we have seen, even for breakfast) in both restaurants
and as fast food from the ubiquitous street stalls with the smoke and smell
of cooking meat emanating from within. In Belgrade, the hip Skadarlija dis-
trict, known for its winding stone streets and arty vibe, is full of traditional
restaurants serving roštilj dishes in the traditional way.
Rocky and rough Montenegro has historically offered few expansive tracts
of farmland, so lamb and goat are more pervasive in the national cuisine, as
is fish on the seacoast. The much larger and agriculturally well-suited Serbia,
on the other hand, has historically been a center for cattle and pig farming,
and during the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Serbian farmers made
fortunes on pig exports to the Habsburgs. In Serbia, therefore, beef and pork
− −
dishes are most common. Karador deva šnicla (breaded, rolled steak stuffed
with cream cheese) is a Serbian classic, named for the 1804 revolutionary hero
Black George. As elsewhere in the Balkans, grilled čevapčići (seasoned, rolled
patties of mixed ground beef ) are a particular favorite, as is the aforemen-
tioned pljeskavica, which can only be described as a hamburger but is some-
how much tastier. When cooked with yellow cheese, spices, and sometimes
mushrooms inside, it becomes gurmanska pljeskavica (gourmet’s pljeskavica).
These two dishes are encountered much more often in restaurants or street
stands than in home kitchens, as most people do not have at home the large,
flat metal grills needed to cook them properly.
Serbs also enjoy a lot of pork dishes. Along with bacon and various types of
sausages (kobasice), including blood sausage (krvavice), there is praška šunka
(boiled ham) and vešalica (long strips or filets of smoked pork). Particularly
harrowing for most delicate Western stomachs are škembići (tripe), mućkalica
(intestines grilled in sauce), and especially the clear, jelly-like pihtije, a nutri-
tious but very heavy wintertime dish created from low-grade pork meat, such
as the head, shank, and/or hock. Some recipes also include smoked meat.
Meat for breakfast—and lunch and dinner as well—is popular in Serbia and Mon-
tenegro. Here an early-morning customer munches on a pljeskavica (hamburger)
at this rostilj (barbeque) place in Belgrade. Such restaurants are plentiful and
serve a wide variety of tasty beef, pork and chicken dishes. Photography by the
author.
Other meat dishes are equally seasonal or foreign flavored. Roast lamb is
the traditional dish for Easter, and roast suckling pig makes a very rich and
lip-smacking meal for Christmas and wintertime in general. Wiener schnitzel
(Bečka šnicla) provides a taste of Austria and Central Europe, while Hungar-
ian flavors are found with the famous gulaš (goulash). One of the popular
Mediterranean dishes in Serbia and Montenegro is musaka (a Greek casserole
of minced meat, eggs, and potatoes). And skewered kebabs (ražnjići) are made
by grilling chunks of pork or chicken, often with little strips of green pepper
and onion between them; this is reminiscent of the Turkish shish kebab. In
restaurants, where the selection is typically vast, large parties often opt for a
big pile of mešano meso (mixed grill).
BEER AND WINE

In comparison to Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and American
microbreweries, Serbia and Montenegro do not make phenomenal beers, but
they do have some good ones. The main problem true beer lovers will find
here is that because of unadventurous local tastes and the frequently hot tem-
peratures, there is not much variety: lagers and pilsners are almost exclusively
the only types of beer made locally. However, Belgrade now offers a fun sum-
mer beer festival, which brings to one place lots of grilled meat (of course)
and beers from around the world; it is believed that events such as this might
provide the opportunity for American beers, currently very hard to find in the
Balkans, to make an entrance into the bars and shops of Serbia. In bars, beer
is available either in the bottle (flaša) or on tap (točeno).
Today, Serbia has fourteen breweries and Montenegro just one. This pop-
ular Montenegrin brew is Nikšićko, a product of the Trebjesa Nikšić brewery
named for the inland town of Nikšić where it is located. This flavorful, slightly
bitter lager has been produced in the town since 1896. Montenegrins were
justly proud when Nikšićko bagged the gold medal at the prestigious Brussels
Beer Fair in 2003. In addition to its flagship Nikšićko Pivo, the brewery has
rolled out three new varieties: Nik Gold, a slightly stronger malt beer; Nik
Cool, lighter than the original; and Nikšićko Tamno, a typically Balkan dark
beer (meaning dark in color rather than robust in texture and taste). Trebjesa
Nikšić beers are the most popular and most widely consumed beers in Mon-
tenegro and second in Serbia after Apatin’s Jelen Pivo. Nikšićko beer is also
now starting to be exported throughout Europe.
The most popular beer in Serbia and Montenegro according to sales is Jelen
Pivo (Stag Beer). This light, refreshing beer is a typical lager, the “everyman’s
beer” that provides refreshment rather than nourishment, a good warm-
weather brew. Jelen Pivo is crafted in Serbia’s leading brewery, Apatinska
Pivara, located in the Danubian town of Apatin in Vojvodina. This land
of gentle rolling hills and fields is well known by brewers for the quality
of the barley grown locally. Apatin is the second-oldest brewery in Serbia,
with records attesting to its beer-marking activities as far back as 1756. It is
suspected that the first brewers benefited from some “outside expertise,” as
it was founded just a few years after Austro-Hungarian queen Maria Theresa
populated the area with Austrian and German settlers in 1748. Only the
smaller Vršačka Brewery, founded all the way back in 1742, is older in Serbia.
Today, Serbs and Montenegrins consume some 500 million liters of Jelen
Pivo every year.
The second-largest brewery in Serbia is MB Pivara of Novi Sad, also in
Vojvodina. This newcomer (established in 2003) on the scene has shaken
things up with a wide range of different beers and has been helped immeasur-
ably by savvy marketing and cameo advertising spots from Serbian celebrities.
In 2006, MB made headlines by opening what it called the “largest beer saloon
in South Eastern Europe” in Novi Sad, a beer hall with a capacity for 2,200
guests. With substantial investment from its owners, the brewery began almost
immediately to export to fifteen European countries, and it boasts some of the

most modern equipment of any brewery in Serbia.
The MB varieties include the light, mild, and foamy Pils Bier, the name
alluding to the style, Czech pilsner, that was invented in the Czech town of
Pilsen in 1840. The Serbian version does not live up to the original, but it
is good nonetheless, especially on a hot summer’s day. The brewery also pro-
duces a German-style pilsner (MB Premium Bier) that is slightly more bitter,
full-bodied, and amber in hue. More adventurous than usual for Serbia, MB
Brewery also introduced a top-fermented Dunkel, which combines some of
the strong taste and full body of an English or Belgian ale or German Alt beer.
The name alt in German means “old,” and this style of beer is indeed older
than lagers or pilsners and is produced in a different manner, using special
brewer’s yeast that ferments only under unique conditions, giving the beer a
rich taste and aroma with a combination of fruity, bitter, and sweet flavors.
Considering ingrained local tastes, MB has made the biggest gamble, how-
ever, with its Schwarz black beer, which combines chocolate and coffee tastes
and is the closest thing Serbian breweries offer to a porter or stout—pretty
good, but still not Guinness.
Along with these big three, Serbia has several other, smaller breweries, which
also produce popular beers of more or less the same lager or pilsner style: some
examples include Jagodinska Pivara from the town of Jagodina, just south of
Belgrade; Weifert, which produces a velvety, sweet dark beer; and the country’s
oldest brewery, Vršačka, also in Vojvodina, which has won more than thirty
gold, silver, and bronze medals for quality in the past twenty-five years.
It is interesting to note that beer consumption in Serbia and Montenegro
has been on the rise over the past few years. Beer consumption in Serbia has
risen appreciably, reaching 50 liters per capita in 2005. Since 2002 especially,
there has been a boom in beer-related advertising as companies try to expand
the industry among the existing market. This has been helped by the deep
pockets of major foreign breweries that have invested in breweries here since
2003. MB has probably spent the most money on advertising in recent years,
with an aggressive marketing campaign that featured a catchy, subtly nation-
alistic slogan; the brewery told Serbs in its ads that MB beers are svetsko, a
naše (“the world’s, but ours too”). A number of celebrities were used to build
up the brand, including the actor Lazar Ristovski; the queen of Turbo-folk
music, Ceca Ražnatović; and Italian former football referee Pierluigi Collina.
Breweries have also built up their brands by being seen at “fun spots,” such as
sponsoring large outdoor concerts, sporting events, and other forms of mass
entertainment.
The increased use of advertising and marketing to heighten the prominence
of beer in the national consciousness has been made possible by the unlimited
funds of foreign investors. Indeed, Serbian and Montenegrin breweries have
attracted considerable interest from the biggest European corporate brew-

eries, which began snatching them up not too long after the fall of Slobodan
Milošević and restitution of Serbia as a democratic state. Things started mov-
ing in August 2003, when the Turkish brewer Efes announced it would take
over 63 percent of Pančevo Pivara, investing 6.5 million euros. In October,
Denmark’s Carlsberg announced it would pay 26 million euros for 49 percent
of Pivara Čelarevo. And then a day later, Belgian brewer Interbrew, the biggest
brewer in the world, announced it was purchasing 50 percent of Serbia’s old-
est beer maker, Apatin. At the time, Apatin held a 39 percent share of the
Serbian market and was valued at 262 million euros. These examples cheered
the Serbian government, which, with a cofinancing grant from the Swedish
government, declared plans to privatize three major breweries (Beogradska In-
dustrija Piva, Vršačka Pivara, and Jagodinska Pivara) in February 2004.1 And
Trebjesa Brewery in Nikšić has also been bought by InBev.
The value of Serbia’s breweries continues to rise as the heavy advertising
continues to increases the beer-drinking market. In December 2007, when
MB’s owners decided to sell the four-year-old brewery, it already held 7 per-
cent of the Serbian beer market, placing it fourth behind Apatinska Pivara,
Carlsberg Srbija, and Efes Srbija. Dutch giant Heineken International bought
the company in February 2008, thus ensuring that things will only get better
for the brewery now renamed Brauerei MB.
New tastes are also being formed by events such as the Belgrade Beer Fest,
held annually over three to four days in the summer at the foot of Belgrade’s
Kalemegdan Fortress, showcasing the products of various local and interna-
tional beer producers.2 The festival, which features live music performances
each evening, has grown in size and popularity, going from seventy-five thou-
sand visitors in 2004 to three hundred thousand visitors the next year, making
it the second-most-visited festival in Serbia for that year. Another, smaller fes-
tival is the Dani Piva (Days of Beer), held since 1985 in the Vojvodina town
of Zrenjanin and organized by the local brewery Zrenjaninska Industrija Piva.
Wine
The wine-making tradition in Serbia goes back at least three thousand years,
and drinking wine was enjoyed and wine making supported by Roman em-
perors, medieval Serbian kings, Austro-Hungarian rulers, and various bishops
(though not by the Muslim Ottomans in places they occupied). Although
Serbia is not as well known for its wines as perhaps it should be, considerable
efforts in the past few years have gone into developing the industry, with the
government devoting resources and promotional campaigns to it.3
In Serbia, there are nearly 270 square miles of vineyards in the country,
which produce about 430,000 tons of grapes each year, most by local wineries.
It is not unusual for families in the countryside to have their own modest
wine-making operation, creating wine just for their own enjoyment. Wine is
a common accompaniment to meals, both at home and in restaurants.
The major varieties of wine produced in Serbia include the Belgrade seed-
less, Prokupac (an endemic grape), Sauvignon, Italian Riesling, Cabernet
Sauvignon, Chardonnay, white and red Burgundy, muscat, Tamjanika, Krstač,
Smederevka, and the famous regional Vranac. Rare varieties like the Krokan
are also grown here. The oldest local grape varieties are the Prokupac and
Tamjanika. The former, which produces a robust red wine, has been grown
since the early Middle Ages; Tamjanika is a muscat from Southern France,
introduced to Serbia more than five hundred years ago.
Serbian wines are also distinguished by regions. The most important one is
that of Negotinska Krajina, near the town of Negotin, 250 kilometers from
Belgrade on the eastern border of Serbia with Romania and Bulgaria. Here
wine has been grown since Roman times, then on the quicksand soil sur-
rounding the Danube. Approximately one thousand acres of vineyards cur-
rently exist here, bordered by two rivers (the Danube and Timok) and framed
by the Miroč, Crni Vrh, and Deli Jovan mountains, part of the Stara Planina
system. Old-time wine shops (vinare) are distinguished by their traditional
stone-and-wood construction and serve excellent local food as well. The wine
culture in the Negotin area also benefits from steady sunshine and a slight el-
evation (150–250 meters high) beneficial to the grapes. This region produces
many kinds of wine, but it is most famous for the delicate, golden Bagrina
white and fragrant reds like Prokupac and Burgundy.
The Vojvodina Plain also contains several famous vineyards. Vršac, one
hundred kilometers northeast of Belgrade), is known as the “town of wine”
for its sweet grapes, noted by Ottoman travel writer Evlija Celebija, which are
even incorporated into the town coat of arms and on the facades of its tradi-
tional houses. Wines produced here are almost exclusively whites and include
some rare local specialties like the Kreaca, made from an endemic and ancient
local white grape. Vintners have also had good luck crafting imported flavors,
and today Rieslings, Pinot Bianco, and Rhine white wines are among the best
local offerings. An interesting fact about this area is that the small town of
Gudurica is one of the most multicultural places in the world per capita; its
1,500 inhabitants come from twenty-two different nationalities!
Another Vojvodina wine area is found on the mountain slopes of Fruška
Gora, southwest of Vršac; the Srem wine region is one of the oldest in Europe,
dating back some 1,700 years to Roman times. Under Austro-Hungarian rule
in the fifteenth century, some of the most notable local wines (like the Sremski
Karlovci) were exported far and wide. This region has further historical interest
for wine making, as the earliest known wine treatise in the Serbian language
(Iskusni Podrumar; The Experienced Cellar Keeper) was written here in 1783
by a leading writer, Zaharije Orfelin (see chapter 6, “Literature”). The region’s

most unique, standout wine, Bermet, is a flavorful wine produced similarly
to vermouth, but with a special blend of twenty different herbs and spices.
Finally, in the far north of Serbia, near the Hungarian border at Subotica,
is the unique Palić wine region, covering some twenty-four thousand acres.
The soil in this area is composed of various sands and clay because it was, in
prehistoric times, the bed of the long-gone Pannonian Sea. This unique soil
composition makes excellent grounds for light, flavorful white wines, such as
the Italian Riesling, Župljanka, and muscatel.
Another important Serbian wine region is near the Danubian town of
Smederevo, just south of Belgrade. This capital of medieval Serbia has been
richly endowed by rulers from Stefan Lazarević in the fifteenth century to
Miloš Obrenović, leader of the second Serbian uprising in 1815. This area
of rolling hills with loose, rich soil produces delicious, light table wines and
blends. Another area that had long connections with Serbian royalty is the
Oplenac wine country in leafy Šumadija, one hundred kilometers southwest
of Belgrade. This area’s abundance of grapes has long been noted, and its res-
urrection of a long wine-making tradition was enhanced by a unique his-
− −
torical quirk: the chief wine-cellar keeper of the Karador dević dynasty, who
emigrated to Canada in 1945, later sent the secret recipe for the best wine
produced for the royal family back to one local vintner. Production of this
wine, Trijumf (Triumph), resumed; composed of a unique blend of Sauvi-
gnon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Riesling, it is considered today one of the best
Serbian wines.
The oldest attested wine making in Serbia, however, is that of the Župa
region, 230 kilometers south of Belgrade. Wine is known to have been made
here for at least three thousand years. The oldest written notice concerning
wine here is the 1196 charter of Studenica Monastery, which, like other lead-
ing monasteries Žiča and Hilandar, all had extensive landholdings and wine-
making operations in the area. The Župa region lies in a vale surrounded by
mountains, and the climate is said to be similar to the French Bordeaux re-
gion. The sprawling vineyards here occupy 2,500 acres, and the variegated
soil provides perfect conditions for growing grapes. The two oldest grapes in
Serbia, Tamjanika and Prokupac, are grown here. Locals enjoy a harvest festi-
val each summer in which the custom of running wine down the town foun-
tain continues.
Wines from Montenegro are fewer, owing to the rocky conditions; how-
ever, some are known internationally. Krstač is Montenegro’s top white grape
and wine, while vintners also produce a hearty red Vranac made from a type
of grape found in Montenegro and Serbia but especially in Macedonia. The
most famous winery in Montenegro is Plantaže of Podgorica, known for its
intense, ruby-colored Vranac. The prime wine-making region in the country is

the Southeast, in the fertile area between the capital and Lake Skadar. The Ser-
bian and Montenegrin wine industry has been growing significantly in recent
years, with an annual international wine festival, In Vino, held in Belgrade
since 2004. The best-known, world-class wine for export is the Terra Lazarica
by Serbia’s largest producer, Rubin, located in the central Serbian town of
Kragujevac.
Liquor and Aperitifs

Making and drinking fruit brandies is a national tradition in Serbia and
Montenegro, and whether one lives in the countryside or in the city, anyone
with access to raw ingredients and an outdoor cooker can make his or her
own. The aperitif for which Serbia is most famous is undoubtedly šljivovica
(plum brandy, also written as slivovitsa or slivovitz in other Slavic languages).
It is a member of the great family of rakija (brandies of high alcohol con-
tent) common to Central and Eastern Europe. Šljivovica is clear in color and
strong—alcohol content may vary from 25–70 percent by volume, with the
general bottle sold in stores coming in at around 40–45 percent. About 70 per-
cent of Serbian plum production (424,300 tons per year) goes into making
šljivovica. Major producers often age their šljivovica in oak barrels for between
five and twelve years. In the old days, this aging process was also important
for local producers and even families, as money was scarce, the economy un-
reliable, and the only thing that would appreciate in value with age was plum
firewater.
Special drinking customs for šljivovica and other kinds of rakija are re-
spected and closely followed. It is drunk from special small glasses, a bit larger
than the average American shot glass, and the first sip is always accompanied
by a round of na zdravlje (cheers). Serbian hospitality dictates that guests en-
tering the home be offered a glass of rakija, and it typically comes at both
the beginning and end of a meal. In restaurants, proprietors wishing to show
their appreciation for the customers will often provide a round of rakija on
the house after the meal.
Naturally, the widespread pride in plum brandy of Serbia and some neigh-
boring countries has led to disputes over trademark, similar to the old Czech-
American dispute over rights to the name Budweiser. After several nations laid
claim to šljivovica as their own, in October 2007 the European Union ruled to
create a compromise solution; slivovitz was chosen as a generic term, allowing
individual nations to protect their own national brand by adding the name
of their own country. Thus was born Serbia’s first national brand, Serbian
Slivovitz, or Srpska šljivovica.4 Although it is common in several countries,
Serbs are adamant that šljivovica originated with them, and they like to think
they have the plums to prove it (Serbia is the third-largest plum producer in
the world).
Other kinds of rakija common in Serbia and Montenegro are lozovača
(grape brandy), viljamovka or kruškovača (pear brandy), and jabukovača (ap-
ple brandy, like the French Calvados). And finally, the rarefied pelinkovac
(a wormwood liqueur similar to but milder than absinthe). Lozovača is es-
pecially popular in Montenegro.
FASHION
From the old days to the present, clothing in Serbia and Montenegro has
evolved but always been marked by vivid colors, rich texture, and an inventive
range of embroideries. The countries also have distinctive traditional shoes,
hats, and other garments that add a unique touch. The richly varied forms of
traditional dress in Serbia and Montenegro are unique not only on national
levels but also on regional levels within the two countries. Although no longer
worn except on special occasions, traditional garb was worn in rural areas until
the 1980s, and even today in the villages you will see old men and women in
clothes that are not too far evolved from the kind of dress that was worn for
hundreds of years in these countries.
Nowadays, Serbian fashion designers are starting to make an impression on
the European design scene, helped, of course, by the tall and gorgeous models
the country is also known for.
Traditional Dress
Traditional Serbian costumes, as with others throughout Europe, are
no longer worn but are an essential part of folk culture and folk history.
The clothing itself was varied, reflecting geographical location and climatic
conditions, and accordingly made from different dyed fabrics, especially
wool, hemp, and cotton. Decorative ornamentation was enhanced by vivid
colors, often dyed into the yarns in the process of weaving. Clothing styles
also varied between villagers and urban dwellers. In Serbian territories
controlled by the Ottomans, clothing developed according to Turkish and
oriental influences. However, in Vojvodina and along the Adriatic, where
Italian and Austrian influences were strong, clothing was largely European in
style. During the many traditional festivals, holidays, and folk dances held in
the country each year, the old-style clothes are unhesitatingly brought out,
ensuring that young generations can appreciate (and wear) the attire of their
grandparents’ and great-grandparents’ days.
Serbia and Montenegro have rich traditions of tra-

ditional clothing. The women depicted in this his-
toric image from 1939 are wearing the traditional
costumes of villagers in South Serbia. Courtesy of
Library of Congress.
The traditional Serbian women’s costumes are marked by a remarkable

variety of colors, embroideries, and forms, typically geometric and flower mo-
tifs. Embroidery is rich and sumptuous, with gold and silver thread adding
sheen and contrast. The long, roughly woven one-piece blouse was the cus-
tomary shirt worn by women, while the jelek is a distinctive kind of wool or
velvet Serbian waistcoat. Women’s jackets were often lined with fur for cold
weather, whereas the nazuvice (embroidered, knee-length woolen socks) were
worn commonly by Serbian women. A tkanica is a kind of belt used to contain
a variety of skirts, either made of plaited or gathered and embroidered linen.
Aprons (pregace) were widely worn around the home and usually decorated
with floral motifs. The colorful zubun is a long hemp waistcoat or dress made
of richly decorated red or blue cloth with buttons. Shirts were in the shape
of tunics, richly decorated with silver thread, and cords were worn over the
shirt. In some areas scarves replaced cords, and caps bordered with cords were
worn as headdresses. Girls also wore collars, and clothing was enhanced, espe-
cially on special occasions such as weddings, with a string of gold coins hung
around the throats of girls, with earrings, bracelets, and caps also decorated
with shiny coins or flowers. Girls often wore red caps, while married women
covered their heads with folded scarves.
Traditional men’s pants in Serbia included both narrow trousers and baggy
ones with flared legs (pelengiri), one of the oldest and most characteristic forms
of clothing in this part of the world. They were typically worn together with
straight but overlapping vests (ječerma) and short overcoats with sleeves. A
leather girder around the belt, known as the čemer, was essential for any self-
respecting Serbian or Montenegrin gunslinger and could carry two pistols;
gunsmith shops usually made these.
The šajkača has been Serbian men’s national hat since the eighteenth cen-
tury and, unlike other traditional dress, is still worn by old people in the coun-
tryside. It originally was worn by Serbian sailors from the Danube and Sava
rivers fleet in the service of Austro-Hungary. These men were known as the
šajkaši and bravely conducted raids against the Turks to expedite the escape
of Serbian refugees from Turkish territories into the Habsburg Empire. The
distinctive hat is easy to recognize. Its top part resembles the curving bottom
of a boat’s hull when viewed from above, which is how it got its name. The
hat became popular as a nationalist symbol from the early twentieth century
and was the official hat of the Serbian army in World War I. By contrast, the
traditional hat of Vojvodina is thick, and the clothes are marked by black and
white tones.
A unique kind of shoe is the opanak, a narrow leather shoe with a long, curv-
ing hornlike extension on the front. It dates back to the medieval Serb king-
doms and was worn in both Serbia and Montenegro. Montenegrin national
dress comes in two main styles: Dinarić (the mountain areas) and the Adriatic,
coastal type. The obvious differences relate to cultural influence, temperature,
and geography. However, in general, the colors of traditional folk costume in
Montenegro are red, blue, and white, like the Serbian flag. The traditional cap
used by Montenegrin highlanders (crnogorska kapa), a soft, woolen hat with
a flat top and embroidery, is very similar to that found in other areas, such
as the Republic of Georgia. In Montenegro, this hat typically has the Serbian
cross or the initials of turn-of-the-century Montenegrin Prince Nikola em-
broidered onto a red-colored top. A popular variant replaced this design with
the ocila symbol conveying the initials for the national motto, “Only unity
saves the Serbs” (see chapter 2, “Religion and Thought”). Under Communist
rule, the Communist red star replaced these designs, though it was never re-
ally accepted. Most recently, a new version depicting the modern coat of arms
Distinctive opanak shoes, shown hanging here at a market in the mountain resort of
Zlatibor, were the traditional footwear of Serbian and Montenegrin males in olden
times. Courtesy of Patrick Horton.
of Montenegro has become increasingly popular, reflecting the latest iteration

in a long line of nationalist symbolism.
Modern Fashion
Although the industry is still largely confined to the national and regional
level, Serbian designers are starting to make a name for themselves with bold
colors and designs. Serbia and Montenegro also boast many fashion models
who grace the catwalks of major fashion shows worldwide, blessed by the
countries’ genes, which make for tall and beautiful people.
Bojana Panić, born in 1985, is one of the top new Serbian models today.
She started her international career in Milan and has modeled for impor-
tant fashion companies in Paris, London, and New York, such as Chanel,
Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent. Ana Mihajlović (b. 1986) is another
Serbian fashion model who has modeled for Dolce & Gabbana, Givenchy,
John Galliano, Prada, Christian Dior, and many others. Mina Cvetković is
another young model who was worked with such major companies, as has
Vedrana Grbović, a young Belgrade woman named Miss Serbia in 2006.
Serbian designers are mainly concentrated in Belgrade and combine chic,
minimalist modern styles with expansive cuts and even some counterculture,
“rock fashion” patterns. Verica Rakočević is the best known of all. Other fa-
mous fashion designers in Serbia include Darko Kostić, Valentina Obradović,
and Bojan Božić.
A relatively new forum at home, Belgrade Fashion Week allows Serbian
(and international) designers, as well as industry executives and students from
Belgrade’s Faculty of Applied Arts, to showcase their wares and learn some-
thing new about the trends. Belgrade Fashion Week has been held annually
since 1996 and operates under the organization of a leading Belgrade designer,
Nenad Radujević, and his fashion studio Click, which opened in 1991 as the
first private modeling agency in Serbia. Today, this agency works with many
of the leading models in the country. The show attracts approximately fifteen
thousand guests, though many more watch through various media. It has re-
ceived plaudits from designers and fashion companies abroad and seems to be
going from strength to strength.
NOTES
1. Christopher Deliso, “Bosnian, Serbian Breweries Attract International Invest-
ment Interest,” February 22, 2004, http://www.balkanalysis.com.
2. For more information, see the festival’s official Web site at http://www.
belgradebeerfest.com.
3. Indeed, a number of the details of Serbian wines in this chapter come from
the Serbian National Tourism Organization’s well-illustrated and informative 2007
booklet Wine Routes of Serbia.
4. “Slivovitz Becomes Serbia’s First Brand,” B92 (Belgrade), September 28, 2007.
6
Literature
Although most Serbian and Montenegrin writers are not very well known
in the West, these countries do have a very rich tradition of literature and
poetry. This tradition began with the theological and hagiographical writ-
ings of religiously inclined medieval scribes, and it has continued through
to nineteenth-century works imbued with the spirit of national awakening,
up to the novels and philosophically minded musings of writers in Commu-
nist and more recent times. At times, these creators have merged the Serbian
and Montenegrin national consciousnesses; at other times, they have taken a
highly individual course. Above all, literature in these two culturally (and ge-
ographically) close countries has reflected the tactile experience of the human
and the natural worlds and the interaction of the nation with a turbulent his-
tory of foreign intervention, war, and poverty—and the almost mythic quali-
ties of courage, betrayal, and sanctification born of this experience. In modern
times, these characteristics have been tempered somewhat by a wonderful use
of comedic devices and juxtapositions meant to poke fun at the behavior of
the people, nationalism, religion, or politics.
EARLY SLAVONIC AND CHURCH LITERATURE

Serbian literature is almost as old as the language itself. It is a member of the
Slavonic group of languages, which, along with the Romance and Germanic
groups, is one of the three largest in the Indo-European family of languages.
At the time of the mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius to Moravia, in the
middle of the ninth century, the differences among the Slavonic languages
were slight, meaning that the heritage of early Slavonic literature is considered
a shared one today. By the end of the tenth century, the language created by
Cyril and Methodius and their follower, Saint Clement of Ohrid in Macedo-
nia, was known as Old Church Slavonic and had become the liturgical and
literary language of Slavs in the Balkans, Central Europe, and Russia.
Serbian ecclesiastical literature was enhanced by contact with the church
abroad, especially on Mount Athos in Greece. The “Holy Mountain,” as it be-
came known, had been a refuge for ascetics and hermits since the early Byzan-
tine period, becoming more of an organized system of monasteries during the
ninth and tenth centuries. The Serbian place in the Orthodox world was am-
plified considerably by the endowment of a Serbian-populated monastery on
Mount Athos, Hilandar, founded by the great King Stefan Dušan. The monas-
teries here had rich libraries and plenty of interaction with Greek, Russian,
Georgian, and other monks, and with the imperial capital of Constantinople,
Serbian monks had access to a wide range of texts, including early Church
patristics, contemporary commentators, and other theological texts. As a re-
sult of their steady translations, they were able to appreciate the content of
Byzantine religious and literary thought and its literary style, bringing this
understanding back to the monasteries and nobility of Serbia and Montene-
gro. One of the results of this process was the adaptation of Greek neologisms,
many with abstract meanings, into Slavonic, thus enriching the vocabulary of
the medieval Serbian tongue.
With Serbian ecclesiastical authors thus developing the skills of expression
in the creation of a higher level of language, they expanded the potential to
express religious and abstract concepts in their own language, as well as to
apply rhetorical figures of speech, following the Byzantine passion for a fairly
convoluted literary style. Lingering traces of this influence have survived to
the current day in the abstruse and wordy formulations, to Westerners at least,
of both ordinary and literary written language.
The oldest surviving example of what can be considered Serbian literature
is an illuminated parchment manuscript book known as Miroslav’s Gospel
−
(Miroslavovo Jevandelje). This 362-leaf manuscript was written between 1180
and 1191. The language used is fairly unique, as it shows signs of linguistic
transition between Old Church Slavonic and the first recognizably distinct
Serbian language. The manuscript was written by two monastic novices for the
brother of King Stefan Nemanja, Miroslav, the Duke of Zahumlje (in modern-
day Croatia). Patterned on models of Byzantine didacticism, the manuscript
explains the origin of the Cyrillic script and is considered a masterpiece of
illustration and calligraphy. Miroslav’s Gospel has long resided in Hilandar
Monastery on Mount Athos; in 2005, UNESCO added the gospel to the
LITERATURE 103
list for its historical and literary significance. The most beautiful surviving
Serbian manuscript, however, is the Serbian Psalter of Munich, created in the
last quarter of the fourteenth century.
Other medieval Serbian literature included court biographies of rulers and
hagiographical texts, or texts about the lives of the saints. Hagiography was by
far the most popular style of literature in Byzantium, usually written in very
accessible vernacular Greek. The Serbs and other Orthodox peoples picked
up this genre, its literary devices, and its themes, from their Byzantine con-
freres. Hagiographical texts inevitably involve saints providing magical cures,
miracles, and other acts of assistance. A permanent suspension of disbelief
(i.e., religious faith) is needed to take them at their word; however, historians
have found hagiographical texts of great value because they often shed light
on social customs, rituals, and even food, drink, and clothing of the common
people of the age.
A major Serbian hagiographical writer, Domentian, was a thirteenth-
century hieromonk (head monk) in Hilandar Monastery, most famous for
writing the Life of Saint Sava (1243). Most of what is known about Ser-
bia’s patron saint, in fact, derives from Domentian’s account. In it, not only
Sava but also the whole Nemanja family, and ultimately the Serbian nation,
are given divine ancestry. Again under imperial patronage, Domentian also
wrote the Life of Saint Simeon (1264), influenced by an eleventh-century
Ukrainian court eulogy and earlier testimony from Serbian predecessor Stefan
Prvovenčani. By the end of the thirteenth century, the hagiography of Saint
Sava was rewritten by another monk, Teodosije. While relying on Domen-
tian’s account for the facts of his exposition, Teodosije demonstrated a new
trend toward realism, attempting to make the saint more human, more
palpable, and closer to the reader. He continued this new style of writing in
1310 with The Life of Petar of Korisa, a Byzantine hermit. The narrative is even
more immediate and offers psychological insights into the mind of the char-
acter, thus demonstrating for the first time some characteristics of the modern
novel.
FROM FOLK BALLADS AND EPICS TO EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY BAROQUE

Under Ottoman domination, and with an overwhelmingly rural popula-
tion, medieval Serbia and Montenegro developed a vernacular literature, as
did similar European countries; that is, a collection of folk songs and epics
passed down orally from generation to generation. The major themes in these
epics were historical events, such as the 1389 defeat at the Battle of Kosovo
against the Turks. In 1690, the Serbs were forced to leave their lands in
Kosovo and Raška with the retreating Austro-Hungarian army. The “Great
Migration,” as it would become known, resulted in the transmission of folk

literature and poetry into more northern climes, and into a society more influ-
enced by developments in Central Europe. Therefore, while foreign influences
began to enter into Serbian literature, an expressive, romanticizing vernacular
simultaneously arose, becoming more powerful with the nostalgia-enhancing
passage of time.
In Montenegro, the resistance of highland tribes to Ottoman domination
meant that a rich and undiluted tradition of folk ballads and legends would
remain generally unaffected, protected in the mountain redoubts of shepherds
and brigands. However, displaced Serbs adjusting to their new homes in
Austrian-held territory soon came under new influences. The academic, well-
ordered style of Central European society began to create new generations
of Serbian philologists and literary men. And as with art and architecture
(see chapter 9), the Ukrainian baroque fashion affected the literature. The
direct reason for this influence was a Scholastic gymnasium established in the
Serbian city of Sremski Karlovci between 1733 and 1739. Its founders had all
previously studied at the Kiev Religious Academy, and from there brought the
new baroque literary culture to Serbs’ attention. Religious poetry, patriotic
verses, and poems written for commemorative events and special occasions
began to be penned here, along with two larger verse works: the 1734 baroque
drama Tragedokomedija (Tragicomedy), by Emanuel Kozačinski, and a collec-
tion of poems related to coats of arms and heraldry, Stematografija (1741), by
Hristifor Zefarović. Another one of the most important Serbian writers of the
eighteenth century, and one of the country’s first Western-style academics, was
Jovan Rajić (1726–1801), a writer of histories, pedagogic texts, and literature.
Another important figure in eighteenth-century literary life was Dositej
Obradović (1739–1811), born in a village in the northern region of Banat
(today, a part of Romania). Obradović had an extraordinary life, joining
the monastic order while young only to become a “fugitive” from his
monastery, spending years traveling alone as a wandering monk through
southeastern Europe, an experience that deeply affected him and left him
very knowledgeable about the various cultures, customs, and peoples to be
found in the region. He was especially influenced by the Greeks. However,
after striking off for Vienna in 1771, Obradović started to devour Western
learning, attending lectures at universities in Paris and London, and he be-
came proficient in both Greek and Latin and all major European languages.
No longer a monk, Obradović espoused classic Renaissance learning values
and would enthusiastically champion Enlightenment thinking. He urged his
countrymen to adopt a new literary vernacular and to eschew the limiting,
religion-associated conventions and mind-sets that had always characterized
LITERATURE 105
Serbian thought. Obradović articulated his thought in this regard in texts

like his Letter to Haralampije (1783) and his autobiographical work Life and
Adventures (1783–1788). Obradović remains the most important Serbian
writer of the eighteenth century and the one who more than anyone else
helped introduce the concepts of classical education and secular literature
based on Enlightenment thought to his home country.
VUK STEFANOVIĆ KARADŽIĆ (1787–1864)

While not a literary author per se, the nineteenth-century philologist Vuk
Stefanović Karadžić is of tremendous importance for the evolution of the
Serbian language and the survival of Serbian folk literature. A friend of the
German writer Goethe, his work ranged from collecting folk ballads and
conducting philological analysis to devising a new system of Cyrillic with
“extra” letters for formalized and rational spelling. This was not all, however:
leading, and responding to, the growing nationalism of his epoch, Karadžić
sought to overthrow the established literary order by replacing the Serbian
dialect then prevailing for another. At the time, the so-called Ekavian/Neo-
Štokavian dialect, common to Vojvodina and other northeastern regions,
was dominant; this owed to more than a century of northerly influence since
the Great Migration of 1690 had displaced the Serbs from their ancestral
home. However, Karadžić wrote in his own native dialect, Ijekavian, found in
Serbian areas of western Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, and Croatia. Karadžić’s
proposals, and the theorizing behind them, appealed greatly to the mass of
Serbs who were from these areas and who were then fighting the Ottomans
for the full restoration of their lands.
Along with winning the admiration of young Serbian patriots, Karadžić en-
joyed respect from scholars abroad. The collections of folk poems he gathered
and published fueled a yearning for the “Old Serbia” and enhanced his repu-
tation among nationalists. For scholars today, Karadžić’s efforts to commit the
oral tradition to pen and paper are an admirable exertion that probably saved
poems and stories that would otherwise have been lost. At the same time, his
work had obvious political implications. The concept of discovering individ-
ual and group identity through language was a new and exciting concept for
European thinkers at the time, and in the Serbian case it became the basis for
the concept of Yugoslavism, or the inherent similarity of all South Slavs (yug
means “south”), based on their commonness of language.
In Karadžić’s time, concepts of identity in the Balkans were undergoing
radical changes because of exposure to trends in the rest of Europe and be-
cause of the retraction and replacement of the Ottoman Empire. Under the
Turks, Serbs and other Ottoman subjects had been classified solely according
to religion; however, starting in the late eighteenth century, a new focus on
ethnic and linguistic identity profoundly altered the course of history and the
political aspirations of almost all Ottoman subjects. Critics today sometimes
blame Karadžić’s linguistic identity logic for the nationalist belief in a “Greater
Serbia,” in which Croat and Bosnian neighbors are “really” Serbs. Interest-
ingly, however, since the breakdown of Yugoslavia and the establishment of
independent republics, the politically encouraged development of distinct
Croatian and Bosnian languages, developed with minor alterations of what
was essentially a common tongue, seem to show that Vuk Karadžić is back in
style.
In his lifetime, Karadžić published ten volumes of Serbian folk poetry he
had collected in his travels. Among Karadžić’s other major contributions to
Serbian linguistics were his lexicographical works: a grammar of vernacular
Serbian (1814) and a Serbian dictionary (1818). In 1847, he also translated
the New Testament into New Serbian. His successful language reforms in-
cluded both changing the standard Serbian vernacular and introducing pho-
netic spellings and new letters to the Cyrillic alphabet. While it certainly
seemed unlikely that one man could single-handedly rearrange a whole na-
tion’s language, the folk hero prevailed, and by 1868, the Serbian government
had removed the last limitations on the use of the revised Cyrillic alphabet.
PETAR II PETROVIĆ NJEGOŠ (1811–1854)

Deep in the mountains of Montenegro, a literary opus had survived dark
centuries of Ottoman domination and, by the early decades of the nineteenth
century, was ready to reemerge for the world to see. It was something un-
touched by foreign influence or studied mannerisms; it was raw, rough, and
oddly touching. The Gorski vijenac (Mountain Wreath) of the great Mon-
tenegrin patriarch-prince Petar II Petrović Njegoš is the culmination of the
Serbian folk epic, based on the rhythms of the gusle (traditional Montenegrin
stringed instrument) that accompanied recitations of the ancient folk songs of
this mountain people. The Gorski vijenac proved tremendously popular when
first published in 1847, and its author remains comparable to Shakespeare or
Homer for his stature in the literary history of his language.
The plot of Gorski vijenac is set in the context of a contemporary Mon-
tenegrin struggle against the Turks. As could be expected, the battle is violent,
and this is reflected in the details of the poetry. It is a dramatic poem, in
which scenes take the form of dialogues and monologues between the central
characters. The major one is a bishop, Danilo, torn between action against
the invaders and the desire to preserve his people. This from the start would
LITERATURE 107
have struck a chord with the average listener, as this was a choice that many
Montenegrins had to make over the years.
In the poem, Bishop Danilo has a vision: he sees the grave threat of Turkish
power spreading across Europe, relentless and unstoppable. In his own coun-
try, Islamic practices have started to take hold, leaving the bishop to fear the
rising power of the infidel amid his own flock. While he and the powerful clan
chiefs know that they must wage a war against the Muslims, he fears that the
result will be the decimation of the Christian Serbs; thus, Danilo equivocates,
like Hamlet, between contemplating action and inaction. By the end of the
poem, however, the bishop and his people are cast into the fray, and an epic
battle takes place.
The Montenegrin hatred of the Turks, and their constant readiness for bat-
tle, shows through clearly. Take the following lines, spoken of an old warlord,
Ivan:
In his old hands he held his sword and spear,

and his hands and weapons became bloody.
Counting Turkish corpses with his footsteps,
the old man bounced like a nimble youngster.
The bishop is based on a character from folk tradition; however, Petar II

endowed him with some of his own characteristics, making him much more
of an intellectual than common folk ballads had him. In addition to his liter-
ary work, Petar II is a central figure in the history of the Montenegrin state.
Born in 1811 into the ruling family of Vladike (bishop-princes), he studied
in monasteries at Cetinje and Kotor at a time when schools did not exist and
most of the population was illiterate. After the death of his uncle, Vladika
Petar I, he was sent to Moscow at the age of twenty-two to be made bishop,
before returning to rule the tiny country. However, before his death in 1851,
Petar II had changed history by ending the hereditary theocracy that had ruled
Montenegro since the seventeenth century. He was the last Vladika, and af-
ter him rule passed to a secular prince. Petar II dreamed of the day when all
Serbian territories would be liberated from the Turks, and his literary work
reflected this. He idolized Miloš Obrenović, the revolutionary who led the
second Serbian uprising in 1815 and established a dynasty that would rule off
and on for the next seventy years.
Today, the tomb of Petar II Petrović Njegoš rests more than 5,500 feet above
sea level, on the famous Mount Lovcen, where the poet, bishop, and ruler built
a chapel for himself. From this peak, one can see all of Montenegro and several
other Serbian lands; even in his death, therefore, Petar II was looking toward
the lands that had yet to be freed from the Turks. The poet’s kaleidoscopic
imagination and love of his homeland shine through in evocative lines like
these:
A hundred times I’ve gazed at floating clouds,

Sailing as, phantom ships high off the sea,
And casting anchor on this mountain range!
Now here, now there I’ve watched them break away,
With darts of lightning and with rumblings dread,
And sudden roar of all the sky’s artillery!
A hundred times have I watched from these heights,
And quietly basked beneath the genial sun,
While lightnings flash’d and thunders peal’d below:
I saw and heard how they did rend the skies;
Downpours from heaven of most hostile hail
Robbed Mother Earth of her fertility.1
ROMANTICISM AND REALISM

From the mid- to the late nineteenth century, Serbian literature passed
through two further influences: romanticism and realism. This was broadly
consistent with similar trends then ongoing in the rest of Europe. Considered
the founder of Serbian lyrical Romanticism, Branko Radičević (1824–1853)
tragically died young, but he left an enduring legacy of poetry. Radičević’s
work shows an author eager to throw off the creatively restrictive shackles of
the baroque style and Enlightenment rationality and to transcend the limits
of folk poetry. His sensitive poems show a close appreciation of nature and
love, often featuring lyrical stories of young men and women trysting in the
great outdoors. Along with these sensual odes to youthful pleasures, however,
Radičević also penned more melancholy works such as the harrowing U licu
smrtvi (In the Face of Death).
Soon after the premature death of Branko Radičević, a new generation of
romantic poets appeared in Serbia, establishing the genre as the leading trend
in poetry. The first major romanticist after Radičević was the enormously pro-
lific Jovan Jovanović Zmaj (1833–1904). His large body of work consists of
−
poems dedicated to love, the senses, and family. In volumes such as Dulici
(Roses) and −Dulici uveoci (Faded Roses), Zmaj expresses a gift for lyricism
and heartfelt feeling. His poetry reveals a deep love for his immediate and ex-
tended family and a strong affinity for the Serbian nation and humankind in
general. Zmaj had an affinity for children, and he also composed children’s
poetry, creating a marvelous and evocative world of characters and scenes
that remains among the best Serbian children’s poetry today. Among notable
romanticists who wrote more than poetry alone is −Dura Jakšić (1832–1878),
who also wrote some forty short stories, three full-length dramas, and a novel.
LITERATURE 109
Very different from romanticism was realism, a trend that caught on in

the 1870s, at about the same time that realist novels were coming into vogue
in America and Western Europe. Realism was in many ways a reaction to
romanticism. Rather than sing the lyric praises of nature, beauty, or love, it
sought to reveal common life in its simple and unvarnished truth. At the same
time, in Serbia, realism meant an almost anthropological examination of lo-
cal habits and regional singularities. From the archaic to the modern, Serbian
realist writers sought to illustrate the customs, characteristics, and dialects
of regions within their nation. Along with similar literary production in the
West, this impulse also had some overlap with the encyclopedic and journal-
istic accounts that Western travelers and diplomats were then publishing in
the form of books.
By the 1870s, realism had become the leading trend in Serbian literature.
This development coincided with the movement of the country’s cultural and
literary life southward from Novi Sad to Belgrade. As the Serbian state gained
more territory and competences in the wake of the Ottoman retraction, there
was more of the old “homeland” for curious scholars and writers to explore,
and realism lent itself well to the task. In true Serbian style, realism had to
proceed according to a theory, and the one that won out was formulated by
Svetozar Marković (1846–1875), a socialist and writer. In his articles Pevanje
i mišljenje (Writing and Thinking) and Realnost u Poeziji (Reality in Poetry),
Marković emphasized the value of realism in reference to chronicling the sto-
ries, historical experience, and folk culture of the peasantry.
The new realist accounts included stories culled from folk life; promi-
nent authors of such included Milovan Glišić (1847–1908), Laza Lazarević
(1851–1891), and Janko Veselinović (1862–1905). Other major figures in the
nineteenth-century Serbian realist movement were Jakov Ignjatović (1822–
1889) and Stefan Mitrov Ljubiša (1824–1878). Again, these writers not
only were exploring new territory in the gradually larger and more stable
Serbia; many of them were also from these lands. The language reforms of
Vuk Karadžić had empowered writers from these previously neglected or un-
derrepresented areas, and the stories they had to tell found an eager reader-
ship in the cultivated circles of Belgrade and Novi Sad. As such, writers Glišić,
Lazarević, and Veselinović all hailed from western Serbia, while the central re-
gion of Šumadija produced two others: Svetolik Ranković (1863–1899), one
of the first Serbian novelists and writers emphasizing a psychological reading
of characters, and Radoje Domanović (1873–1908), who became known as a
satirist.
More major contributions from the “new” Old Serbia included the novelist
and playwright Borisav Stanković (1867–1927), known for his most famous
play, the 1902 Koštana (see chapter 8, “Performing Arts”). Stanković was a
realist who has been called the father of the modern Serbian novel. Born in
Vranje in the south of Serbia, an area with strong Turkish and Roma (Gypsy)
influences, Stanković had a setting for his work that was exotic in compar-
ison to the Austrianized northern Serbia of Vojvodina, and he told his tales
with passion. Along with Koštana, he depicted the lives of people in south-
ern Serbia in his novel Nečista krv (Impure Blood, or Unclean Blood). This
groundbreaking novel was the first Serbian novel to receive favorable reviews
when translated into different European languages.
TWENTIETH-CENTURY SERBIAN LITERATURE

In the twentieth century, Serbian literature flourished and myriad young
and talented writers appeared. In the second half of the century, under Com-
munism, poetry was considered “safer” than literature, as it was often used to
express turgid concepts of Tito’s brotherhood and unity and to immortalize
the war crimes of non-partisans (i.e., the losing sides) in World War II. How-
ever, a rich variety of political and philosophical ideas have exemplified the
genre over the past fifty years, and in Danilo Kiš and Milorad Pavić, Serbia
has produced two Nobel Prize–nominated authors whose work is regarded
very highly abroad.
The most beloved Serbian poet of the twentieth century, Desanka Maksi-
mović (1898–1993) worked as a literature professor and later became a mem-
ber of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences. Maksimović was expressive
and emotional, and her poetry was inspired primarily by scenes of great joy
or great tragedy; for example, when the Nazis murdered children in the 1941
Kragujevac massacre, she was moved to write a poem immortalizing the evil
in “Krvava bajka” (A Tale of blood). Maksimović had great versatility with
the Serbian language and in her poetry was able to evoke deep emotions. Her
best poems include “Predosećanje” (Anticipation), “Prolećna Pesma” (Spring
Poem), “Opomena” (Warning), and “U Buri” (In the Storm). Another one
of her best-loved works is “Strepnja” (Apprehension, or Trembling), a lyrical
poem that incidentally won Maksimović her first writing award. The poem is
as follows:
No . . . don’t come to me! I want to adore

and love your two eyes from far, far away.
For, happiness’s beau just while waiting for—
when only allusion comes out of its way.
No . . . don’t come to me! There is more allure
in waiting with sweet apprehension, fear.
Just while seeking out everything is pure;
it’s nicer when just foreboding is near.
LITERATURE 111
No . . . don’t come to me! Why that, and what for?

Only from afar all stars spark and glee;
only from afar we admire all.
No . . . let not your eyes come closer to me.2
Another pioneer of women’s literature in Serbia was Isidora Sekulić (1877–

1958). She is known for creating strong female characters in a time long before
feminism, and she had considerable success with her novels, essays, and crit-
ical articles. For Sekulić, a major concern were the transformations of mod-
ern life as she experienced it, and her stories reflect the issues and problems
that came with the Industrial Revolution’s transformation of an essentially ru-
ral, agriculture-based society into an urban one. Sekulić’s most famous work,
Kronika palanačkog groblja (The Chronicle of a Small-Town Cemetery), is a
fascinating collection of tales that Sekulić accumulated following the death of
her father, when she began to spend hours by his grave. In the cemetery, she
started listening to the gravediggers’ stories about the people who were buried
there. She assiduously wrote the stories down in a small notebook, publishing
the best of them in her novel.
Poet, author, and diplomat, Miloš Crnjanski (1893–1977) started out as
a journalist. He went on to become one of the leading figures in Yugoslav
literature. As a poet, he was considered a romanticist, but as a novelist he
discussed broader themes of history, with emigration and the fate of refugees
being recurring themes. Crnjanski’s related works, Lirika Itake (1919, The
Lyrics of Ithaca), Seobe (1920, Migrations), and Druga knjiga seobe (1962,
The Second Book of Migrations), are vividly told historical novels based in the
eighteenth century. These highly original accounts examine an unusual event
in Serbian history: what became of the Serbs who fled into Hungary and then
into Russia, fighting for the czar in epic battles all over Europe. Crnjanski’s
later book, Roman o Londonu (1971, A Novel about London), takes a different
angle on the same theme of alienation and emigration, depicting the lives
of characters who are diaspora members far away from home in the British
capital.
Danilo Kiš (1935–1989)

One of the most important writers in later-twentieth-century Serbian, and
indeed European, literature was Danilo Kiš. Born in Vojvodina of a typically
ethnically complex family (he was of Hungarian, Jewish, and Serbian back-
ground), Kiš was a first-rate, intellectually demanding writer whose modernist
list of influences was topped by the Argentinean short-story writer Jorge Luis
Borges. Indeed, Kiš once stated that the world of the short story could be
divided into two periods: before Borges and after Borges. At the time of his
premature death in 1989, Kiš had been expected to receive the Nobel Prize
for Literature, and he left tragically unfinished a work that was expected to
have been his greatest novel.
The influence of Borges is clear in early works such as Bašta, pepeo (1965,
Garden, Ashes) and runs up through his masterpiece, a short-story collection
titled The Encyclopedia of the Dead (1983). Kiš’s first two novels, Mansarda and
Psalm 44, were published in 1962. One of his most famous works, Peščanik
(Hourglass), was published in 1973; it depicts the apparently mundane life
of a nameless railway clerk referred to simply as “E. S.” However, the story,
which is set in 1942, takes on more surreal and horrifying tones as it contin-
ues, with the petty family squabbles and bureaucratic concerns that consume
the clerk’s attention set against the simultaneous mass murders, suicides, and
disappearances of local Jews. The overarching literary structure of the book is
a series of questions and answers presented to E. S. by an unseen interroga-
tor; at book’s end, a final letter discloses that the preceding story was simply a
manuscript, the creation of the unnamed clerk, meant to be just “a bourgeois
horror story.”
Milorad Pavić (b. 1929)

One of Serbia’s most inventive and unorthodox writers, Milorad Pavić has
been acclaimed far and wide for his innovative work as an author, translator,
and literary historian. Each of his five novels has been translated into English,
among many other languages. Like Danilo Kiš, Pavić was strongly influenced
by eccentric modernist genius Jorge Luis Borges, and in his writing he, like
Kiš, plays with form and organization. His stated goal in several of his novels
has been to usurp the convention of reading a book from beginning to end.
For example, his novel The Inner Side of the Wind (1993) can be read from
two different starting points. His 1998 book Last Love in Constantinople: A
Tarot Novel for Divination comes equipped with tarot cards, for the reader to
better understand the book or even to read his or her own fate from it! And
Pavić’s novel that is most famous abroad, Dictionary of the Khazars: A Lexicon
Novel (1984), consists of several short stories—he calls them “entries”—and
allows the reader to begin anywhere he or she chooses. “I always think of
my reader,” Pavić has said. “I offer him a choice—millions of possible paths
for reading. And, the more the book he has read differs from the one I have
written, the better I have dealt with my task.”3
Such intriguing, demanding, and revolutionary thought has made Milorad
Pavić very popular among literature lovers in Serbia and abroad. Dictionary
of the Khazars is indeed one of the most remarkable novels in world literature
today. The subject of the book is, ostensibly, a historical question: the fate of
LITERATURE 113
the mysterious Khazar people, a tribal group that inhabited today’s southern
Russia and Ukraine and converted to Judaism the early ninth century. The
Khazars would finally vanish, but Pavić’s book does not provide any help in
putting the pieces together: rather, he soon departs from his supposedly histor-
ical quest, and it becomes clearer and clearer that his characters are primarily
fictional.
Although numerous information claiming basis in fact is presented, in the
end there is little resemblance between Pavić’s depiction of the Khazars and
what historians know of them today. Rather, the ostensible topic serves as a
device to keep a certain nonlinear narrative line in place: the book takes the
form of three cross-referenced mini-encyclopedias, one for each of Christian-
ity, Islam, and Judaism. The novel may thus be read from anywhere, with the
connections between individual entries thus becoming subjective and unique.
Dictionary of the Khazars is thus both a challenge to the reader and to the genre
of the novel in general. In the methodical madness of this book, the influence
of Borges is quite strong, and one is especially reminded of the Argentine
writer’s short storys Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, in which a secret society of
intellectuals conspires to create the features, sciences, attributes, politics, and
so on of a make-believe planet via their encyclopedia entries.
NOTES
1. The English-language version of The Mountain Wreath, in expert transla-
tion by Professor Vasa D. Mihajlovič, is available online at the Rastko Project for
Serbian Culture Web site, http://www.rastko.org.yu/knjizevnost/umetnicka/njegos/
mountain wreath.html#wreath.
2. This translation is the standard one composed by noted Serbian author and
translator Dragana Konstantinović (b. 1961).
3. Ilmars Slapins, “The World from the Viewpoint of Milorad Pavic,” http://www.
eurozine.com.
7
Media and Cinema
For the greater part of my life I have lived in fiction; in the company of unusual
people in even more unusual circumstances.
—Dušan Kovačević, Serbian screenwriter and director1
Media in Serbia and Montenegro have a very long history. With Politika,
Belgrade boasts the oldest daily newspaper in the Balkans; even today it is the
most respected in the country and is sold in other former Yugoslav republics
as well. Serbia and Montenegro have numerous television and radio stations,
both public and private, and several of them have influence on forming and
directing public opinion on a gamut of issues, from popular music to politics.
Recent years, however, have seen numerous difficulties in media development.
The problem today is not so much a lack of freedom of speech or state repres-
sion (as occurred up through the Milošević regime), but rather economic pres-
sure to conform from new ownership, whether local or foreign. Serbia, with
its population of 7.5 million people, remains attractive for foreign investors,
as recent acquisitions have shown; nevertheless, the long-awaited improve-
ment of standards resulting from the involvement of major European players
in the media industry has failed to materialize. Arguably the biggest lingering
problem with media in Serbia and Montenegro is the tendency toward sensa-
tionalism, especially in regards to political and security issues, something that
can be especially volatile in a region where nationalist emotions typically run
high and controversial issues (e.g., Kosovo) remain unresolved.
With cinema, there is a much happier story to tell in regards to Serbia and
Montenegro. Although Serbs have been making movies since even before the
First World War, their cinema did not become world famous until the break-
down of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, when directors like Emir Kusturica put the
country definitively on the map of world cinema. The days of Communism
were marked mostly by lighthearted, slapstick comedies accompanied by gra-
tuitous amounts of flesh, as well as the mandatory war movies glorifying the
exploits of the Communist Partisans in World War II. Today, a Balkan film
genre (which not even its creators agree exists) has arisen in reaction to the
convulsions of the 1990s. Employing an often absurd juxtaposition of ratio-
nal and irrational events and reactions, in seemingly haphazard fashion and
with heavy doses of black humor, such films have been used as a means of
coming to grips with and describing the chaos and contradictions of the past
two decades of war and economic and political turmoil in the Balkans. Al-
though this genre has definitely left its mark, with numerous films gaining
international acclaim since the 1990s, there are signs that directors in Serbia
(and other former Yugoslav countries) are turning away from this to explore
new thematic horizons. Nevertheless, a certain amount of Balkan surrealism
and black humor will undoubtedly remain in Serbian cinema of the future.
MEDIA
Throughout all the tumultuous events that have transpired in Serbia and
Montenegro since the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the media
have followed the stories—but much more than that, they have helped to cre-
ate them and to create a platform for those with political ambitions. Today, the
man who ruled during the entirety of the 1990s, the late Slobodan Milošević,
is particularly associated with this phenomenon. In reality, though, media was
charitable to all sides at various points. Even today, anyone who has political
aspirations in Serbia or Montenegro quickly becomes associated with specific
media that support or oppose his or her goals. In Montenegro, this scenario
played out between the two largest daily newspapers, Vijesti (News) and Dan
(The Day) during the 1990s and up until the successful independence referen-
dum of 2006. The former newspaper was largely supportive of the government
of Milo −Dukanović and his close supporters, all of whom came to favor inde-
pendence. On the other hand, Dan was associated with the Serbian party in
Montenegro that did not want Montenegro to be independent. Intimidation,
accusations, and beatings characterized the relationship between the different
camps, and one head of Dan was even killed. The struggle has, since the ref-
erendum, moved on to the political control of Vijesti and the state television
station, Radio-Television Montenegro. When, in 2007, the partial owner of
MEDIA AND CINEMA 117
Vijesti, Željko Ivanović, was beaten, critics pointed out that it was “a logical
consequence of almost two decades of strife within Montenegrin society in
which the media have been mostly seen—and used—as political tools.”2
Further criticism of the media in general has been registered regarding
editorial influence over journalists, professional laziness, and especially the
machinations of rival businesspeople, who often have a controlling stake in
the media in question. As analyst Dragan Doković put it in a recent study:
The publishers cannot keep their hands off the editorial work; they continue to wage
private warfare using their media and give preferential treatment to certain political
or business parties. Covert advertising and commissioned or paid articles remain reg-
ular practices. Investigative journalism is being neglected, maybe because of the weak
interest in finding the truth. There are attempts to promote investigative journalism,
but these are somehow limited to enthusiastic ventures, not appealing to profession-
alism. When some media reveals the truth, it often means that they gain some benefit
from doing so, and that they are endangered by an opposing position. But, in Serbia,
it seldom happens that editors or owners are ready to pay for an investigation for the
sake of truth itself.3
In the 1990s, Serbian journalists suffered intimidation and even beatings

because of the political clannishness surrounding the Milošević regime.
However, the most brazen attack on journalists occurred in April 1999, when
the supposed occupants of the moral high ground, NATO’s “humanitarian”
bombers, targeted the Radio-Television Serbia building in Belgrade, leaving
sixteen dead and scores injured, trapped in the rubble for days.4 Frightened
journalists had on the evenings before begged NATO not to kill them on
the air; there was an outcry from most international journalist federations
afterward, with little contrition expressed on the part of the military alliance.
NATO claimed that the broadcasting building was a “legitimate” target
because it was airing “propaganda” supporting the Serbian government; of
course, no one suggested bombing CNN’s Atlanta headquarters, even though
it was later proved that a U.S. Army PsyOps (Psychological Operations;
i.e., propaganda) team had been “helping” the CNN studio editors in the
“production of news” during the Kosovo bombing.5
Newspapers
The official Serbian state news agency, essentially a wire service that delivers
feeds to the print, broadcast, and online media, is Tanjug. Its Montenegrin
equivalent is MINA. Information tends to be simply phrased and sums up
accurately official notices from the government, press conference informa-
tion, briefs of official government activity, and the like. The state agencies
in Serbia and Montenegro do not attempt, as does National Public Radio

(NPR) in America, to create feature stories, reviews, or other extraneous con-
tent. There is no real American equivalent to these state information agencies,
which are prevalent in many countries and work in similar ways throughout.
Although the Serbian information agency had a bad reputation for dissemi-
nating strictly propagandistic information during Tito’s Yugoslavia and again
under Milošević, this was never actually the case on a comprehensive basis,
and it is certainly not the case today. Large Western bodies routinely quote the
Serbian and Montenegrin state agencies when they have factual information
to share.
Serbia has a number of newspapers, the oldest being Politika (Politics). Its
very first issue rolled off the presses on January 25, 1904, making it the old-
est newspaper in Serbia and indeed in the Balkans. It is considered somewhat
akin to the New York Times of Serbia, and it can be found on the newsstands
of neighboring countries. Politika’s slightly retro font and format add to this
image. It is considered the best source of “serious” news in the country. The
Politika Group consists of three companies: Politika AD, Politika Newspa-
pers & Magazines, and RTV Politika. In 2001, a deal gave German media
giant WAZ 50 percent of the company, with 50 percent remaining with the
founding Ribnikar family. The complex deal involved numerous leaders and
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a banker and was led by Zoran −Dindić. Later, WAZ also bought Novi Sad–
based Dnevnik and the Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti, out of Podgorica. The
company also bought several papers in neighboring Macedonia, among other
places.6
At least in circulation, Večernje Novosti (Evening News) is probably the most
popular in Serbia today, with more than two hundred thousand copies sold
a day. It is also a serious newspaper, somewhat less staid than Politika, and
it has been around for fifty-five years. Blic, another daily news provider, sells
about 150,000 copies, and its stories are often influential. It was founded
in 1996 with German-Serbian capital but in 2001 became wholly owned
by a subsidiary of German media giant Bertelsmann. Glas Javnosti (Voice
of the People) is a more nationalist, right-wing paper that sells eighty thou-
sand copies daily. It was started in 1995 by former Blic (Flash) journalists,
who originally wanted to call it Novi (New) Blic, until a judge decided that
this would be copyright infringement. Blic’s owner, Radislav Rodić, also owns
Kurir (Courier). He and his media group were targeted by Milošević during
the 1990s for opposing his policies.
Other high-circulation dailies are somewhat more lowbrow. Kurir is a very
popular tabloid, strong on sensationalism, style, and celebrities, but also with
some dedicated news coverage and, like the others, with a cut-and-paste syn-
opsis of world news from international sources. It has the highest circulation
in Serbia. The newspaper originally emerged after the assassination of Zoran

− −
Dindić, when state regulators attacked Nacional (National), the previous
Belgrade tabloid, because it had run articles critical of the state’s declaration
of a state of emergency following the killing. Svet (World) and Skandal (Scan-
dal) are two other print tabloids, weekly ones that concentrate mostly on sex
scandals involving Serbian celebrities and the less intellectual side of Serbian
popular culture. Svet also has its own local editions in Bosnia’s Republika Srp-
ska, in Montenegro, and in Macedonia, meaning that the poor celebrities of
those countries are also regularly in for the Svet treatment.
Magazines
Serbia’s best and oldest existing weekly news and politics magazine is NIN,
established in 1935. NIN regularly offers the best investigative journalism
that, though sometimes sensational or nationalistic, is generally more credible
than most of the newspapers. Similarly to NIN, which was originally launched
by the Politika Group but has since largely broken off from it, Serbia’s
other main weekly magazine, Dnevnik, was founded by Politika journalists
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(in 1990). It was funded by the well-known Belgrade lawyer Srda Popović.
Other magazines include Danas (Today) and Ilustrovana Politika (Illus-
trated Politics), the first issue of which came out in 1958. In Serbia, all sorts
of magazines exist on many topics, including babies and mothering, autos,
computers, and the paranormal. Women’s magazines are also popular. Lepota
i Zdravlje (Beauty and Health) and Ljubav (Love), with respective circulations
of seventy thousand and forty thousand copies, are two of the most popular.
Major Western magazines like Elle and Cosmopolitan are available in Serbia
as well. A problem with such “fluff” magazines in the Balkans, and perhaps
further afield, is that they are very prone to borrowing content, both from
one another and from outside publications. Usually, this seems to be because
there is little fear that the original creators of a magazine or Web site arti-
cle appearing originally in English-language media will notice—or even look
for—translations of the same article in a Serbian- or other Balkan-language
magazine. Although statistics are not available regarding this, a quick and care-
ful examination usually reveals a certain amount of recycling. Despite laziness
and a lack of original content, this phenomenon also points to occasional al-
legations that in the region, a number of publications seem to exist largely to
assist the money laundering of their owners.
Television and Radio

Whereas print media in Serbia and Montenegro have seen large foreign
investment inroads, television and radio largely remain in the hands of pow-
erful local business tycoons. In at least two cases (Pink TV and B92 TV), an
original radio format became the launching pad for breaking into the televi-
sion market. Television remains a very powerful force for shaping ideas, trends
and tastes, and even political loyalties.
Of Serbia’s many stations, Pink TV has been considered the most popu-
lar in recent years. It began life as a radio station specializing in the glitzy
Turbo-folk music that became popular in the early 1990s. Owned by busi-
nessman Željko Mitrović, who was elected to the Yugoslav Federal Parliament
in the 1990s and was very close to the Milošević administration, the station
became a potent political force. Critics state that the reason for this influence
was its subtlety: its enormous manipulative and political potential is actu-
ally based on its (alleged) absolute lack of political interest. This actually runs
counter to the Western conventional wisdom regarding Eastern European
television and the public, which has tended to argue that state-owned media
represents the biggest mouthpiece of any dictatorial administration. However,
while Mitrović did get early assistance in starting his company from the head
of public television RTS (Radio-Television Serbia) Milord Vučelić, his station
turned to be a much more significant lever for controlling public opinion than
was RTS.
In 1999, annual revenue stood at US$2–3 million, whereas only four years
later total revenues stood at $20 million per annum. Today, Pink is a very
large company, one of the largest in Serbia, and has multiple holdings. With
its satellite transmission, the station reaches the large Serb diaspora in Europe
as well. However, while the company was founded and originally profited
from association with the Milošević regime, as soon as that leader’s political
fortunes changed, the station quickly embraced the new leadership and has
since shown other signs of chameleonlike behavior. Most recently, in 2008,
it was reportedly approaching an American public relations firm to clean up
its image and become a respectable provider of “real” news. This has been
reflected by a new policy that has sought to lessen the amount of flesh that
female singers can show in the videos and performances aired on the network,
thus going against the policy that initially brought Pink so much success.
Another popular network owned by local tycoons is BK TV, founded in
1994. The initials stand for the Braća Karić, or “Brothers Karić.” The Karić
family is one of the richest and most successful dynasties in Serbia. Their BK
television station is just one of around twenty companies in a group that in
2003 enjoyed a profit of more than $200 million. The Karić brothers are also
owners of a mobile phone operator and a private university in Belgrade.
Both TV B92 and Radio B92, which started in 1989 as an experimen-
tal student-run station, were the darlings of the opposition at the time of
Milošević’s fall in October 2000. Unsurprisingly, it is 48 percent owned by
an American media development fund, which means it has a different variety
of political influence. Nevertheless, the B92 broadcast media and Web site
remain important and widely viewed news media in Serbia. B92 is one of the
few Serbian Web sites with dedicated English-language translation, further in-
creasing its stature as a voice of Serbia in the outside world. It considers itself a
voice of democracy and critical viewpoints and has indeed been critical of the
various governments from Milošević to today. However, this does not mean
that it does not defend the Serbian national interest from time to time, and
the station and Web site do also criticize perceived policy mistakes of Western
countries as well in relation to treatment of Serbia.
New Media and Internet Usage

The most popular Web sites in Serbia and Montenegro, such as Beograd
Cafe (http://www.bgdcafe.com) are, as could be expected, oriented toward
popular culture and sports. The major news Web sites are extensions of the
biggest print and broadcast outlets in the country; however, most of them do
not have dedicated English-language translations (B92 is a notable exception).
This indicates that the news in Serbia, even when presented to the world via
the Internet, is still largely intended for domestic consumption and domestic
interests. However, a number of Serbian and Montenegrin journalists have
made names for themselves by writing as local correspondents for English-
language Web sites specializing in the Balkans as well as large media outlets
such as wire services and newspapers in the United States and Britain. Serbs
and Montenegrins have also adapted quite quickly to the YouTube craze and
blogging, posting all manner of videos about daily life, sports, national issues,
and so on.
Dial-up Internet connections became available in Serbia and Montenegro
in 1996 and remain the dominant form of connection today. DSL connec-
tions arrived only in 2005. As in other Balkan countries, the monopoly of the
fixed operator (in this case, Telekom Srbija) slowed the growth of competitive
providers and resulted in high prices compared to other European countries,
with customer packages offering meager amounts of bandwidth. Statistics say
that Serbia has 1.4 million Internet users, or approximately 14 percent of the
population, though this is probably higher in actuality. The same goes for
Montenegro’s stated number of Internet users, fifty thousand, or 8 percent of
the population.7 Nevertheless, Internet usage is a major fact of life today in
Serbia and Montenegro, Internet cafés are widespread, and it is mostly the
older generations who have little or no experience of it.
The Internet and computer technology in general are also starting to play
a larger part in the new media, advertising, and marketing efforts of com-
panies in these countries. According to a report from the Serbian govern-
ment in 2007, most private companies now use the Internet in one way or
another, with marketing and advertising being the most common use.8 Some
62 percent of all companies now have a Web site; 82 percent of all large com-
panies do. Between 2005 and 2006, the percentage of companies receiving
orders via the Internet doubled (from 8 to 16 percent). However, the surveys
indicate that 40 percent of these wired forms are still using dial-up, which
slows the pace of business. Nevertheless, as elsewhere in Europe, usage of the
Internet for promotion, transactions, networking, and other functions will
only continue to grow rapidly in Serbia and Montenegro.
Book Publishing
In Yugoslav days, Belgrade’s capital status made it a haven for the literate
elite, and it remains a place for book lovers and educated ideas. Serbia and
Montenegro have numerous publishers of books, companies that expanded
considerably following the end of Communism’s stifling hold on publications.
They include Mladinska Knjiga-Beograd, a sixty-year-old company with
headquarters in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and subsidiaries in several other Balkan
countries. Another publisher, Paideia, is relatively new, operating since 1991
and offering a wide range of general-interest titles. The much newer Agora
Publishing House was established in 2002 (and originally as merely a book-
shop) in Zrenjanin, northeast of Belgrade. This publishing house specializes
in contemporary literature, producing works of both local and foreign writers,
indicating that Belgrade’s old literary culture is not completely dead. Finally,
the Academic Thought publishing house is, as the name suggests, a publisher
of textbooks and academic studies that number more than 350 at present.
Stubovi Kulture publishing house started in July 6, 1993, primarily as a lit-
erary project, but in the following years it grew into a project of general culture
and historiography. This approach includes a group of the finest of the Serbian
authors and the most prominent ones from the whole world. The Serbian au-
thors of Stubovi Kulture are practically the only Serbian writers whose books
are continually being translated in Europe and Northern America.
CINEMA
Cinema in Serbia goes back to the days when Serbia was a kingdom and
the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires were still in existence. Owing
to its much smaller size and resources, Montenegro has not really been able
to make its mark in the world of film. Serbian cinema, however, has achieved
worldwide acclaim with the films of directors like Emir Kusturica. Today,
Serbian cinema is most often associated worldwide with edgy works of the
1990s and, in more recent years, with large doses of black humor and Balkan
absurdity to spice things up, as mastered by Kusturica in award-winning films

like Underground (1995) and Black Cat, White Cat (1998). Movies dealing
directly with the recent wars in the former Yugoslavia have also reached an
attentive international audience, such as Goran Paskaljević’s Balkan Cabaret
−
(1998) and Srdan Dragojević’s harrowing 1994 take on the Bosnian conflict,
Pretty Village, Pretty Flame.
Today in Serbia there is a thriving young generation of actors and directors
who, bolstered by the success of the previous generation, are working hard to
develop and expand the genre beyond its now stereotypical Balkan identity.
Despite economic difficulties, Serbian cinema remains capable of turning out
up to ten new movies in a down year, many more in a good one.
Cinema in Royalist and Communist Yugoslavia

Serbian cinema dates back almost to the very beginnings of cinema itself,
with the first Serbian movie created in 1911. In those days (and after), film-
making was considered a new vehicle for spreading patriotic fervor among the
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nation. A silent film based on the life of Karador de Petrović, leader of the first
Serbian uprising in 1804, was the inaugural motion picture created in Serbia.
− −
The film, Karador de, was directed by the film pioneer Čiča Ilija Stanojević,
who also acted in it. Of the twelve films produced in Serbia before the start
of World War II, most had similar nationalist or historical themes, such as
Mihail Popović’s The Battle of Kosovo in 1939, the 550th anniversary of the
battle.
During the first half of Tito’s Communist reign, some topics became off-
limits, or at least not to be contemplated, particularly political ones. Tito’s
general policy of stifling nationalism in his potentially fractious republics in
the name of brotherhood and unity also meant that certain historical epics
should take more recent history as their preferred subject matter. In Com-
munist times, the entire Yugoslav cinematic output was approximately eight
hundred films; of these, at least five hundred were devoted to events of World
War II glorifying the Partisan cause.9
Because of his goal of suppressing any possible ethnic nationalism, Tito
discouraged cinematic depictions of previous conflicts. Thus, only one film
dealing with World War I, for example, was produced, in 1964: Marš na
Drinu (The March on the Drina) by the prolific director Zivorad Mitrovac
(1921–2005). This epic film depicts the heroic resistance of the Serbian
royalist army at the Battle of Cer in 1914, where the much more powerful
Austro-Hungarian forces were beaten back. Since the Communist authorities
so disapproved of such nationalist-oriented art, media shunned the film, and
the details of its production have remained secret long after the fact.
An example of a World War II epic is the very successful 1969 film Bitka
na Neretvi (The Battle of Neretva), the dramatic account of a key battle in
1943 that pitted the Axis powers against Tito’s Partisan rebels on the Neretva
River in Bosnia. The film was written by Stevan Bulajić and Veljko Bulajić and
directed by the latter. One of the things that makes the film unique is that it
featured genuine Western film stars, Yul Brynner and Orson Welles, and the
American composer Bernard Herrmann wrote the score for the film’s English-
language version. Partly because of this star power, the film was nominated for
an Oscar in the category Best Foreign Language Film.
Another Serbian filmmaker especially known for his 1960s work was
Živojin Pavlović (1933–1998). Obsessed with sweeping aside the curtain of
Tito’s happy world of brotherhood and unity, Pavlović depicted the world of
Yugoslavia’s most marginalized and abandoned people. For this, the filmmaker
became associated with the so-called black wave realist movement in 1960s
film. Among his numerous films was 1967’s Budjenje pacova (The Rats Woke
Up). The film revolves around the activities of a downtrodden, depressed man
hoping to improve his meager lot in life. In the process he becomes hopelessly
deluded when he falls in love with a girl whom he erroneously thinks will
elevate his fortunes. Actually, she absconds with his borrowed funds, leaving
the man more embittered and miserable than in the beginning. For this film,
Pavlović won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and the gold at Yu-
goslavia’s main festival, the Pula Film Festival in Croatia, one of several he
would receive during his career.
Toward the end of Yugoslavia, filmmakers had success with comedies (in-
deed, many Yugo-nostalgics today look back on the 1980s as a kind of golden
age of social life). Maratonci trče počasni krug (The Marathon Family) is a dark
comedy from Serbian director Slobodan Šijan that has attained cult status in
the former Yugoslavia. Today it is widely considered one of the peak moments
in all of Eastern European cinema and eerily prescient in light of the subse-
quent violent breakup of the country. Set in the 1930s, it tells the story of five
generations of morticians, the Topalović clan, and the young son, Mirko, who
hopes to escape the family business. Times are tough from the economic point
of view, and the business becomes even more unsavory when the Topalović’s
are forced to rely on one Billy Python (played by Zoran Radmilović) and his
grave-digging criminal gang to get cheap, recycled coffins. Mirko, however,
falls for Kristina, the daughter of this local gang leader. However, when both
she and Mirko’s best friend betray him, the young man kills her. The film ends
with a final, apocalyptic gang war between the Topalović family and Python’s
criminals. Jelisaveta Sablić, who played the role of Kristina, won the Best Ac-
tress award at the 1982 Pula Film Festival in Croatia.
Modern Serbian Cinema

With the decline and dissolution of Yugoslavia, a new genre of filmmak-
ing began to emerge. It was a direct reflection of the experiences of peo-
ple who, until very recently, had lived in peace and were trying to grapple
with the sudden new realities of war, social dislocation, and economic break-
down. While films dealing with such themes can be found the world over,
the unique blend of black humor with surreal juxtapositions of sadness and
joy, creativity and destruction, logic and irrationality made ex-Yugoslav films
stand out.
Dušan Kovačević (b. 1948)

The genius behind much of modern Serbian cinema is a man known more
for writing screenplays, often based on his own plays, than for directing. Yet
Dušan Kovačević has contributed to most of the important films to be pro-
duced in Yugoslavia in the past three decades and composed twenty plays,
which have been translated into numerous languages.
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Born in 1948 in Mrdenovac in Vojvodina, Kovačević studied in Novi Sad
before gaining a bachelor’s degree in drama studies from the University of
Belgrade in 1973. He worked in television for several years while writing
plays. In fact, at the age of twenty-three, he had already composed a play
that he would adapt into a screenplay for one of Serbia’s greatest films: the
1982 The Marathon Family (see above). In 1984, he wrote the screenplay for
and co-directed the comedy film Balkanski špijun (Balkan Spy). A hilarious
send-up of the paranoia and irrationality intrinsic to the Communist system,
the film centers on the exploits of an ordinary Serb, Ilija, who becomes cer-
tain that his neighbor is a dangerous spy and that assassins are out to get him.
When the secret police drop in for a “routine” questioning, Ilija starts looking
on his neighbor—a man fresh from a business trip to dangerously capitalist
Paris—with newfound suspicion and starts his own espionage and surveillance
operation against the unwitting man.
A few years later, Kovačević adapted his play Proleće u januaru (Spring in
January) to become the screenplay for Emir Kusturica’s award-winning 1995
film Underground (see subsequent sections). According to Kovačević, he and
Kusturica had to work through sixteen revisions to get the final screenplay
down. All in all, this equaled more than two thousand pages of text. “When
we agreed to make a film of it, I worked for more than three years. It is a kind
of work one could not make any more today. We were a group of workaholics,
directed by Kusturica, towards and against all the external pressures,” he stated
years later.10
Along with several other projects, Dušan Kovačević in 2003 wrote and di-
rected Profesionalac (The Professional), a film that uses the unlikely meeting of
two Belgrade men to flash back on a decade of turbulent experience in the
Serbian capital. The film concerns the interaction of Teja, the educated direc-
tor of a publishing house, and Luka, a taxi driver who claims to have been
an agent of the state security services. Luka discloses that for a decade he was
tasked with keeping Teja under regular surveillance, due to the latter’s lib-
eral pretensions and anti-Milošević views. Other unexpected revelations and
events happen throughout the film, which has echoes of Kovačević’s Balkan
Spy, made two decades before.
Most recently, he has adapted a play originally written to be the screen-
play of Sveti Georgije ubiva azdahu (Saint George Shoots the Dragon), a film
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released in late 2008 by acclaimed director Srdan Dragojević. The most ex-
pensive Serbian movie ever made, the film is based on a true story that
Dušan Kovačević was told long ago by his grandfather, Cvetko Kovačević,
who as a boy had been called on to help the war wounded. In 2005,
Dušan Kovačević was appointed Serbia’s ambassador to Portugal. An ar-
dent nationalist, he also belongs, oddly enough, to the Crown Council of
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Aleksandar Karador dević, descendent of the royal line ousted during World
War II.
Goran Paskaljević (b. 1947)

Goran Paskaljević is one of Serbia’s most respected directors today. His film-
making career began in 1976, but he really received attention abroad with his
1998 take on the recent Yugoslav wars, Cabaret Balkan. The film was actually
based on Macedonian playwright Dejan Dukovski’s award-winning play Bure
Barut (The Powder Keg; the film is also sometimes referred to by this name).
The film takes place in Belgrade, on a cold winter night in which physical
and moral darkness has gripped the city. The characters themselves become
personified powder kegs, prone to reacting violently to any external threat or
challenge. The pressures of war, restrictive politics, and economic privations
have left the society on the verge of disintegration.
In the various snapshot vignettes that comprise the film, the lives of twenty
people cross and are affected in violent ways; structurally, this device antic-
ipated those of several Hollywood movies made in recent years. The people
involved all engage in acts of provocation and retributions, as with the man
who destroys an apartment belonging to a man whose son trashed his car.
The interactions of estranged lovers, former antagonists, and friends who dis-
cover their mutual betrayal are just some of the other stories that play out
in the film. All in all, it is a story of a city’s misplaced frustration and anger,
in which personal suffering is clumsily revisited on innocent victims. Today,
Cabaret Balkan is considered among the top five films to deal with the period
of war in Yugoslavia.11
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Srdan Dragojević (b. 1963)
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One of the most successful Serbian directors of the 1990s, Srdan Drago-
jević studied directing at the University of Belgrade and soon enjoyed a break-
−
through moment with his first film, the 1992 Mi nismo andeli (We Are Not
Angels). Along with directing the film, Dragojević also wrote the screenplay.
This tragicomic plot revolves around the characters of an Angel (played by
−
Uroš −Durić) and the Devil (Srdan Todorović), comically fighting for the soul
of Nikola (Nikola Kojo), a local playboy unaware that he has impregnated
a young high school girl named Marina (Milena Pavlović) during a drunken
one-night stand. The film was an immediate hit in Serbia and other former
Yugoslav countries, with its idiomatic language, frequent pop culture refer-
ences, and fresh directing making it an instant classic.
After working in directing television programs for two years, Dragojević
returned in 1994 with the much darker Lepa sela lepo gore (Pretty Village,
Pretty Flame) set in wartime Bosnia. The film attracted huge interest, with
some eight hundred thousand people flocking to cinemas to see it. Like many
war movies, the plot was based on real events taking place on the ground. It
tells the story of a detachment of Bosnian Serb soldiers who became trapped
inside a tunnel by a Bosnian Muslim detachment, going into the mentality
of characters, young soldiers who have different emotions and reactions to
the fighting. This dramatic and darkly humorous film sparked controversy
in Croatia and Bosnia, as could perhaps be expected. Critics in those coun-
tries charged that the movie dramatized wartime atrocities carried out against
Serbs, but portrayed those perpetrated by Serbs in an ironic, almost comic
light.
Nevertheless, Lepa sela lepo gore is considered a modern classic in Serbia.
In 1998, Dragojević’s following film, Rane (Wounds), painted a much bleaker
and more damning picture of wartime Serbia, perhaps partially a reaction
to comments made about his previous film. A film critical of Serbia under
the Milošević regime, Rane depicts the violent lives of two Belgrade boys
trying to become gangsters. The contextual backdrop of the film is war in
Yugoslavia and especially the growing level of hatred between Orthodox Serbs
and Catholic Croats. When asked about the film’s violence and depressing
nature while promoting this film in America in 1999, the director made a
memorable response: “I can’t escape the subject; this is my life. If I were a
Swiss director, I’d probably be making films about garden roses.”12 Critics
have praised Dragojević as being “one of very few people who manage to show
how things look from the point of view of Serbs.”13
After these two films raised interest in Dragojević internationally, he got

a deal with American film giant Miramax. However, despite spending two
years in America and coming close to working with major American actors
on multiple occasions, the opportunities all fell through in the end and the
Serbian director ended up returning home in 2003. Since then, Dragojević
has continued making films, his most recent being Sveti Georgije ubiva azdahu
(Saint George Shoots the Dragon), released in late 2008, a World War I drama
that will be the most expensive film in Serbian history (excluding Yugoslavera
war epics) at 5 million euros.14 A significant amount of the funding has come
from the governments of Serbia and Bosnia’s Republika Srpska, owing to its
national significance.
The film covers the period from 1912, when Serbia was at war with the
Turks, through the ensuing Great War. It tells a fascinating story of the jealous
rivalry between one village’s able-bodied young men packed off to fight and
its substantial population of invalid veterans from previous wars. When the
former are sent to the front lines, rumors begin to circulate that the latter are
wooing their womenfolk left behind in the village. To prevent a mutiny, the
army chiefs are forced to recruit the invalids, too. The leading role in the film
−
(that of the village policeman, −Dorde) is played by Lazar Ristovski, famous for
−
his role in Kusturica’s Underground, among many others. In the film, −Dorde
becomes suspicious that his wife will be seduced by her former lover, Gavrilo,
who lost his arm in previous battles.
Interestingly, the idea for the film comes from a true story that Dušan
Kovačević, the film’s screenwriter, was once told by his grandfather, Cvetko
Kovačević. In 1914, Cvetko had been a young boy ordered to help the war ef-
fort by transporting the dead and wounded via oxcart to a field hospital during
an important battle, the Battle of Cer in Vojvodina, in which the Serbs beat
back the mighty Austro-Hungarian army. It is fascinating to note the symme-
try between this film and the only non–World War II military history drama
to be made during Communist times, the 1964 Marš na Drinu (The March
on the Drina). Both films focus on aspects of the same epic battle, though
telling the story was an infinitely riskier venture during Communism, when
Tito sought to suppress any iterations of ethnic nationalism, including The
March on the Drina. To Serbs, therefore, it is a bit of poetic justice that the
story can finally be told and supported as they believe it deserves.
Emir Kusturica (b. 1954)

Arguably the best and certainly the most celebrated film director in Serbia
today is Emir Kusturica, the only director other than Francis Ford Coppola
to have won the Cannes Palme d’Or twice. Born into a secular Muslim
family (his father described himself as an “atheist,” Kusturica later recalled),
Kusturica moved to Serbia and has spent most of his life there since. Bosnian
Muslims have expressed anger at the director for allegedly “turning his back”
on his native country by moving to Serbia. However, Kusturica himself grew
embittered when, during the war, Muslim paramilitaries ransacked his family’s
uninhabited apartment in Sarajevo. His shocked father died three weeks later
of a heart attack; Kusturica said “this war killed him too.”15 Devout Muslims
were even more irritated when Kusturica converted to Christianity and built
an Orthodox shrine atop the traditional village he built in western Serbia’s
Mokra Gora mountains, Drvengrad (Wooden Town) or Kustendorf, as it is
now officially called.16 The impulsive director recalled the moment when the
idea first dawned on him, revelation-like, to create the town: “one day when
I was shooting I noticed a shaft of light hit the hillside. ‘There I will build a
village,’ I thought.”17
Kusturica has always been a controversial figure, but one whose larger-than-
life behavior and blunt honesty have also won him many admirers. Although
he has plenty to say and even plays guitar in a side band (the internation-
ally known No Smoking Orchestra), Emir Kusturica primarily lets his films
do the talking. He first sparked attention in the late 1970s, when winning
awards while still a film student. His career began with television shorts in Yu-
goslavia, but he was quickly catapulted to fame when his first full-length film,
Do You Remember Dolly Bell? (1981), took the Golden Lion at the Venice Film
Festival. The setting for the film was 1960s Sarajevo, where a young Bosnian
man, Dino, enjoys himself with an escapist world of cinema, rock music, and
hypnosis. However, when he falls in love with a cabaret girl who is actually a
prostitute, things take a wild turn. The uproarious film piqued the interest of
Western film lovers eager to see what was going on in the still exotic Eastern
European world of cinema.
Kusturica’s second feature film, Otac Na službenom putu (When Father Was
Away on Business), was also critically acclaimed, winning the prestigious Palme
d’Or at the world’s premier cinematic event, the Cannes Film Festival, in
1985. The film also won five first-place awards at Yugoslav film festivals and
was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Film category. Set in 1950
in Bosnia, the film unfolds from the point of view of a Bosnian youth who
believes that his father has gone away on a business trip when, in fact, he has
been sent to a labor camp after authorities suspect him of working for the
Soviet Cominform. Numerous bizarre things happen throughout the film,
such as when the boy finds out about his father’s affair with a female pilot,
who later tries to commit suicide with a toilet’s flush cord.
In 1988, Emir Kusturica moved to telling the unsung tales of Yugoslavia’s
most marginalized people, its large Roma (Gypsy) population. His fantas-
tical Dom Za Vešanje (Time of the Gypsies) explores their unique, transient,
and somewhat chaotic culture. The complex film tells the story of a Roma
teen named Perhan and his tumultuous relationships with his family and girl-
friend. Perhan aspires to marry a local girl but is prevented from doing so by
her mother. Ahmed, a Roma man of ill-gotten wealth, comes to town, and
Perhan leaves his caring grandmother Khaditza, ostensibly to put his lame sis-
ter Danira in a Slovenian hospital. However, Ahmed deceives him and recruits
him into his criminal ring in Milan. After becoming rich, Perhan returns to
his village to find that his love, Azra, is pregnant, he angrily suspects, by an-
other man. However, they marry in spite of his concerns, until Azra dies after
giving birth to the baby. Among other odd twists, Kusturica’s unusual hero
Perhan is blessed with telekinetic powers (which, incidentally, led to a minor
craze among Yugoslavs attempting to move things with their minds), and in
the end he uses them to kill enemies Ahmed and his brother communicate
telekinetically with a fork. However, Perhan is then killed by Ahmed’s bride,
and in the end, at Perhan’s funeral, the coins ceremonially placed over his eyes
are stolen by his son.
The bizarre film received both plaudits and criticism, primarily from Roma
community leaders in the Balkans, who claimed that Kusturica had just shown
the worst elements of their culture with his film. However, it became another
favorite (young audiences were especially excited when Azra, played by Mace-
donian actress Sinolicka Trpkova, bared her breasts in one romantic scene).
The Roma element nevertheless continued, in the form of a soundtrack con-
sisting mostly of traditional Gypsy brass band music, in Kusturica’s next film,
Podzemlje (Underground), which features a screenplay by the eminent Dušan
Kovačević. Released in 1995, Underground became Kusturica’s biggest hit to
date, winning him another Palm d’Or for Best Feature Film at the Cannes
Film Festival that year. The pulsating soundtrack, heavy on infectious, chaotic
brass band music, was created by Serbian composer and musician Goran
Bregović and featured the famous Serbian Roma trumpet player Boban
Marković (see chapter 8, “Performing Arts”).
The complex storyline of the film takes place between the years 1941 and
1961, a period running from the war to Communist Yugoslavia. Although
therefore a period piece, Underground had clear modern implications for the
conflict in Yugoslavia, which was winding down when the film was released.
The overarching plot is of the deception of one man, Blacky (played by famous
Serbian actor Lazar Ristovski) by his best friend, Marko. After being accused of
being Communists in German-occupied Yugoslavia, the two go underground
in Marko’s grandfather’s cellar, along with Marko’s brother and Blacky’s preg-
nant wife, to escape arrest. After an intolerably long time underground, Blacky
resolves to return to the world and kidnap his actress lover, Natalie, who has
gone with a German officer. However, she turns him down, and Blacky is
arrested. His friend Marko comes to save him, but a grenade accident results
in a severe injury to Blacky, and he is forced to recuperate underground. As
time wears on, he is led to believe by Marko that danger remains and duti-
fully remains underground, preparing munitions for a war long over. By the
end of the film, Marko has married his friend’s former lover and is enjoying
the prestige of a high-ranking Communist post in Tito’s new Yugoslavia. The
slogan of the film—“Once upon a time, there was a country”—indicates its
symbolic value, pointing out the tragically fratricidal nature of the breakup of
Yugoslavia.
On the heels of this success, Emir Kusturica went on to win the Venice
Film Festival’s Silver Lion for yet another Gypsy film, the 1998 Crna mačka,
beli mačor (Black Cat, White Cat), set in a Roma settlement on the Danube in
eastern Serbia. This film was so over the top that some Roma voiced their in-
dignation with the director’s portrayal of a wild, violent, drug-taking society
of wheeler-dealers with little regard for conventional principles of morality.
However, the film simply reflected some of the characteristics of Roma life as
the director had experienced them and featured excellent examples of tradi-
tional Roma music.
In Black Cat, White Cat there is a bewilderingly large cast of characters, most
of them members of two local families. The head of the first, Matko Destanov,
seeks to pay off a large debt by marrying his seventeen-year-old son Zare to
the undersized sister of a wealthy local gangster, Dadan. However, Zare is in
love with someone else, and the sister, Afrodita, is waiting for the man of her
dreams. While everything ends happily ever after, at least for some, it is a wild
ride along the way, the surreal gags involving imploding outhouses, dead men
on ice who reawaken, accordions stuffed with money, and, of course, a black
and white cat, the only witnesses to Zare’s ultimate marriage to his love, Ida.
Although some critics found Black Cat, White Cat too preposterous for its
own good, others recognized that it was just a madcap director having a bit of
well-deserved fun and that, as in all fiction, there was a little bit of truth to it.
Emir Kusturica’s most recent major success was the 2004 Life Is a Miracle.
Much more relaxed and contemplative than his previous films, it nevertheless
does take place in a wartime setting, in 1992 Bosnia. The film is based on the
true story of a Bosnian Serb engineer, Luka, who refuses to believe that war
will soon break out. His son, Miloš, is drafted into the Bosnian Serb army but
captured by the Muslims. When Luka is offered Sabaha, a Bosnian Muslim
woman, as a hostage to exchange for his son, he experiences tormented loy-
alties because he and Sabaha, confused by the irrational chaos gripping their
land, end up falling in love. Unlike many other war movies, Life Is a Miracle
is balanced in that there are both good guys and bad guys to be found among
both the Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Muslim warring sides.
As a director, Emir Kusturica is known for his demanding, and some-

times seemingly irrational, perfectionism. In Life Is a Miracle, he shot the
same scenes for twelve full nights—and in the end, never used a second
of the footage.18 In recent years, Kusturica has been increasingly outspo-
ken in his criticism of Western consumerism and Hollywood’s “factory-
produced movies,” which he argues are debasing the art of filmmaking. Posing
the rhetorical question of where the Frank Capras of the world have gone,
Kusturica argues: “What you have now is a Hollywood that is pure poi-
son. . . . Hollywood was a central place in the history of art in the 20th century:
it was human idealism preserved. And then, like any great place, it collapsed,
and it collapsed into the most awful machinery in the world.”19
In fact, Emir Kusturica has only directed one Hollywood film, the offbeat
Arizona Dream (1992), which starred Johnny Depp and Jerry Lewis. Although
the film was not a huge commercial success, it did win critical acclaim with a
Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 1993. While Hollywood has knocked
several times on his door, Emir Kusturica has shown little interest in compro-
mising his ideals for the sake of American exposure and lucre. He also has
strong political views, openly opposing globalism and the American wars in
Kosovo and Iraq, for example. In 2008, he made a splash at the Cannes Film
Festival, though he did not enter his film in any competition, with his bio-
graphical documentary of Argentinean soccer legend Diego Maradona. Some
loved it, while others were less impressed, with one British reviewer pronounc-
ing that in the film, “Kusturica’s egotism has met its match in Maradona’s.”20
Regardless of what some of his critics think of him, Emir Kusturica shows
no signs of slowing down, and his legions of fans eagerly await his next films.
His success has put Serbia definitively on “the map” of European cinema,
and has served as an example for young Serbian filmmakers and actors of the
generations to come.
NOTES
1. Quoted in Jasmina Lekić, “Dušan Kovačević: u potrazi za proćedranim
vremenom,” Novine (Toronto), http://www.novine.ca/intervju/intervju-1088-
kovacevic.html.
2. Dragoljub Duško Vuković, “Beating Lifts Veil on Dirty War for Montenegro’s
Media,” Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), September 12, 2007.
3. Dragan Dokovic, “Media Ownership and Its Impact on Media Independence
and Pluralism: Serbia.” Ljubljana, Slovenia: Peace Institute.
4. Richard Norton-Taylor, “Serb TV Station Was Legitimate Target, Says Blair,”
The Guardian, April 24, 1999.
5. See Christopher Deliso, “The CNN Factor and Kosovo,” May 11, 2005,
http://www.balkanalysis.com.
6. See Christopher Deliso, “Analysis: Print Media Moves on S.E. Europe,” United
Press International, July 28, 2003.
7. Information according to the CIA World Factbook on Serbia, https://www.
cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/.
8. Dragan Vukmirovic, Kristina Pavlovic, and Vladimir Sutic, Usage of Informa-
tion and Communications Technologies in the Republic of Serbia. Statistical Office of
the Republic of Serbia, 2007.
9. These estimates were made by Dušan Kovačević; see Lekić, “Dušan Kovačević.”
10. Dušan Kovačević’s comments are recorded on Emir Kusturica’s official Web
site, http://www.kustu.com.
11. John Anderson, “A Serbian Director’s Eye Remains Fixed on Uncomfortable
Truths,” New York Times, January 9, 2008.
12. Nancy Ramsey, “Film: Growing Up in Belgrade with Suitably Black Humor,”
New York Times, August 22, 1999.
13. Ibid.
14. At time of writing, the movie had not yet been released. See its official Web
site for any updates or changes: http://www.azdaha.com.
15. Dan Halpern, “The (Mis)Directions of Emir Kusturica,” New York Times, May
8, 2005.
16. Information about this unusual project, and all of Kusturica’s work, is available
on his official Web site at http://www.kustu.com/.
17. Fiachra Gibbons, “I Will Not Cut My Film,” The Guardian, March 4, 2005.
18. Ibid.
19. Halpern, “(Mis)Directions.”
20. Andrew Pulver, “Diego Maradona and Emir Kusturica: A Meeting of Egos,”
The Guardian, May 20, 2008.
8
Performing Arts
In a house where the gusle is not heard, both the house and the people there are
dead.
—Petar II Petrović Njegoš, nineteenth-century Montenegrin poet, in
The Mountain Wreath
Britney Spears and Madonna could never be a success here like I am.
—Svetlana “Ceca” Ražnatović, Serbian Turbo-folk singer1
music, dance, and theater have been at the heart of life in Serbia and
Montenegro for centuries, and these countries have given the world many ac-
claimed and imaginative creative works. Over time, they have both reflected
and responded to larger socioeconomic and political developments, but at all
times they have proved a critical release for the Serbian people.
THEATER
Serbia’s tradition of large-scale, organized theater dates to 1861, when the
Serbian National Theater was first established in Novi Sad. It was the oldest
professional theater in the South Slavic lands. Seven years later, founder Jovan
− −
Dordević answered a request from Prince Mihailo Obrenović and opened a
national theater in Belgrade as well.2 Opera performances started from the
end of the nineteenth century, with a permanent national opera (which in
turn established a national ballet) not being established until 1947.
During the second half of the nineteenth century, when resurgent nation-
alism was gripping Serbia and the Balkans, this was also reflected in the
productions of the Serbian National Theater. Along with the “compulsory”

classics and modern masters (e.g., Sophocles, Shakespeare, Molière, Ibsen,
Chekhov), numerous theatrical performances, grand and heroic spectacles in-
spired by Serbian medieval and more recent history, were on the bill. One of
the first plays to break this trend in the early twentieth century was the Koštana
of Borisav Stanković (1902), a recognized classic today. The action takes place
in Stanković’s native town of Vranje in southern Serbia and incorporates sev-
eral of the playwright’s favorite themes, such as longing for lost youth, love of
women, and local patriotism. The play includes references to Serbian folklore
and village customs of the time, which are part of its enduring attraction.
The Belgrade Drama Theater, or Beogradsko Dramsko Pozorište (BDP),
is the city’s official urban theater and has been active since 1947, when it
excited audiences particularly with performances of contemporary American
playwrights. The memorable productions of the 1950s and 1960s included
the Serbian adaptations of Death of a Salesman, The Glass Menagerie, and A
View from the Bridge. Today, the BDP works with a repertory artistic company
and performs both classic and avant-garde plays. A reconstruction of the the-
ater building in 2003 has brought the BDP to a high European theater stan-
dard. The long-running but recently restored Pozorište na Terazijama (Theater
on Terazije), named for the area of Belgrade where it stands, is a Broadway-
style theater and the only one to perform musicals exclusively. Serbia is also
an important destination for theater lovers in Europe. The Belgrade Interna-
tional Theater Festival (BITEF), founded in 1967, is one of the world’s oldest
theater festivals. Today it is considered one of the top five European theater
festivals.
Founded in 1953, the Montenegrin National Theater (Crnogorsko Naro-
dno Pozorište) is located in the capital, Podgorica, and is the little country’s
only professional theater, working closely with the University of Montenegro’s
Faculty of Drama in Cetinje. However, Montenegro’s seasonal theater offer-
ings increase dramatically with the influx of tourists to the coast in summer. In
July and August, the action shifts to the Adriatic town of Budva, where regu-
lar theatrical performances featuring productions and actors from the Balkans
and outside world are held.
OPERA
The Serbian National Opera developed within the Serbian National The-
ater, and after some interruptions held its first performance on February 11,
1919. Conductor Stanislav Binički led the performers through Giacomo Puc-
cini’s opera Madame Butterfly, to generally favorable acclaim. The operas that
followed this were also mostly from Italian composers such as Verdi and
PERFORMING ARTS 137
Rossini, and they were also received very favorably. Serbian composers of the
day who had their operas performed here include Stevan Hristić, with his The
Sunset, and Petar Konjović, with his Prince of Zeta (see the section “Classical
Music” herein). Konjović also wrote an opera based on the beloved 1902 play
Koštana by playwright Borisav Stanković.
Aside from the National Opera, an intimate private opera house, the
Madlenianum Opera and Theatre has been working since 1998 in Zemun,
a northeastern suburb of Belgrade. The founder and main benefactor of the
opera house, Madlena Zepter, made with Madlenianum the largest such in-
vestments in opera in Europe. Although it does not have a permanent ensem-
ble, the opera has continuous organization and administration, and in 2005 it
was completely refurbished and reconstructed. This opera is the major cultural
and artistic center in this populous area of Belgrade.
The standout Serbian opera singer of the twentieth century was Bosnia-
born Miroslav Čangalović (1921–1999). A powerful bass, he is considered
today among the top operatic voices in Serbian and Yugoslav history and in his
long career starred in more than ninety roles. He debuted in 1946 in Belgrade
National Theater’s opera house, playing the role of the jailer in Puccini’s Tosca.
Critics consider his superlative role, however, that of Boris Godunov from
the eponymous Modest Mussorgsky opera. All in all, his concert repertoire
consisted of 520 pieces, including solos, song cycles, cantatas, and oratorios.
In his career, Čangalović received numerous international operatic awards,
including the French government’s chevalier de L’ordre des Arts et des Lettres,
given for Čangalović’s contribution to promoting French culture.
Today, Serbian opera continues to flourish, with many world-known opera
singers. One of the most renowned living opera singers is soprano Jadranka
Jovanović. Her first role, after she earned two degrees in the theory of music
and solo singing in Belgrade, was at the National Theater in Belgrade, where
she played the character of Rosina in Rossini’s famous The Barber of Seville.
Soon after, Jovanović began a career internationally in Milan, appearing in
Carmen, and continued to sing primarily in Italy but also in opera houses,
festivals, and theaters the world over. Slavko Nikolić, currently first tenor at
the Belgrade Opera, has had a similarly distinguished career. He is noted for
his expressive voice and great range, and has appeared in starring roles in all
of the classic operas by composers such as Verdi, Rossini, Tchaikovsky, and
more in opera houses around the world.
Two other contemporary Serbian female singers, sopranos Jasmina Jasna
Šajnović, Biserka Cvejić, and Suzana Suvaković-Savić, are also considered
among the best that Serbian opera has to offer. Both are principal singers at
the Serbian National Opera in Belgrade. The former became a star when just
sixteen years old while dazzling the judges at an English choir competition
with an interpretation of an aria from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. The

latter launched her solo career after winning five international competitions
in the mid-1980s. Since 2002, she has appeared at all of the major Italian
opera houses.
MUSIC
Music in Serbia and Montenegro has always been close to the heart of the
people and throughout history has both accompanied mysterious rituals as-
sociated with religion and has been associated with things like politicians and
big businesspeople—not mysterious at all, except as to their sources of fund-
ing. Music today continues to play a powerful role in society in general. Serbs
and Montenegrins, with many festivals and celebrations on their annual cal-
endars, keep especially close to their roots with folk music and dancing at
weddings and other events. In some parts, especially the eastern edges of Ser-
bia, wailing funeral laments of long tradition are also kept up. Raucous and
fast-paced brass band music, as seen in summer festivals and films from the re-
gion, is especially characteristic of the Serbs and their minority Roma (Gypsy)
population.
Early and Traditional Music

Traditional music among the Serbs and Montenegrins goes back to the
rituals of their Slavic tribal forebears in the pagan, and subsequently Chris-
tian contexts. One ritual with undoubtedly pagan roots involved the flower-
bedecked “rainmaker” girls of the village, who would organize to dance about
their villages to coax the skies to open with rain. Processional songs accompa-
nied by cross and icons characterize rural life after Christianization, and the
synthesis between the two civilizations can be found in the songs performed
on traditional instruments in adopted Christian winter carnivals and cere-
monies for saint’s days and the like. It is known from the records of Byzantine
historians and foreign travelers that the Slavs were using stringed instruments
(at least) as early as the Middle Ages.
Serbian medieval music would develop under Byzantine influences, espe-
cially after the twelfth century. Certainly the strongest and most enduring
such influence was religious—the tradition of Byzantine chant. Technically,
the style employed in Serbian churches developed under Byzantine influ-
ence, and especially from practices on Mount Athos in Greece, where the
Serb-endowed Hilandar monastery allowed Serbian monks access to a steady
stream of Byzantine cultural practices. Any visitor to an Orthodox Church or
monastery in Serbia and Montenegro today can enjoy this form of vocal music
and appreciate that it has remained relatively unchanged for many centuries.
PERFORMING ARTS 139
The academic Miloš Velimirović (1922–2008), who studied in Belgrade but

afterward went on to study and teach for most of his life in America, was a
pioneering researcher on the subject of Byzantine chant and its adoption in
the early Slavic and Serbian worlds.
Forms of culturally unique popular music started to take shape during,
and essentially in reaction to, the Turkish occupation of the late fourteenth to
nineteenth centuries. During this time, “official” music of the state died out
along with it, and it was left to the rural populations, with their simple instru-
ments and folk ballads, to preserve the musical heritage of the Serb people.
Only in Austrian-controlled Vojvodina was the situation somewhat different.
Here, musical (as other) styles were more integrated with Central European
culture, and here as well the development of Serbian classical music occurred
first, in the eighteenth century.
The content of Serbian and Montenegrin folk music is fairly predictable:
epic ballads of bravery commemorating the struggle against the Turks, often
based on historical events, and more uplifting tunes meant to accompany rural
seasonal celebrations, especially weddings. Serbian folk music, as elsewhere in
the Balkans, can be tricky for Westerners to tap along with, since many songs
use unusual time signatures that are less simple than the steady 4/4 of pop-
rock tunes. This adds to the hypnotic, slightly Eastern feel of much Balkan
folk music, characterized by long, tonally static tones enhanced by repeated
trills as a kind of lead. Brass band music, on the other hand, often features
rapid changes of tone and time signature and complex, multiple riffing in
bands that may often have more than fourteen members.
The provenance of traditional instruments used in Serbian and other Balkan
music is a never-ending question of influence in which most countries claim
that the (fairly identical) instruments they use were either invented by them-
selves or else are to at least be especially associated with their nation. Leaving
this vexed question aside, we can say that Balkan music and its instruments
are a result of a unique synthesis of indigenous sounds and instruments and
the Eastern ones brought by the Ottomans, with some areas, however, having
very specific and unique characteristics. In the case of Montenegro, the na-
tional instrument is the gusle, a maple-wood, long-necked instrument quite
similar to the rebab used among Arabian Bedouin tribes. The fact that the
gusle has but one string and that Montenegrin folk songs are fairly monotone
in nature have only added to the traditional jokes about their stereotypical
laziness.
Gusle players, known as guslari, play a double role: they are also minstrels,
able to memorize and sing or recite back the long narrative poetic epics that
refer to the country’s dark but glorious past. The guslari also often improvise
their own additional lyrics, all of which follow a decasyllabic (ten-syllable)
count, unlike Byzantine folk poetry in Greek, which followed a fifteen-syllable

pattern. Gusle players played a crucial part in ensuring that Serbian epic po-
etry survived through the centuries, passing on these epics in the oral tradi-
tion before the days of sound recording could save them for posterity. The
great nineteenth-century philologist Vuk Stefanović Karadžić collected many
of these epics in his research.
One of the best-known Serbian traditional instruments is the frula, basi-
cally a small wooden flute with six holes. As elsewhere in the Balkans, the
frula was traditionally played by shepherds to help pass the time while tend-
ing their flocks up in the hills. A very famous Balkan instrument is the gajde,
a single-chamber bagpipe that possibly originated in the plains of Anatolia
and was brought by the Turks. It is usually made from sheepskin or goatskin,
and playing it correctly requires tremendous lung power. The gajde features
prominently in many folk songs, not only in Serbia and Montenegro but also
around the region. Other popular instruments include the accordion, espe-
cially associated with the northern Banat region and elsewhere in Vojvodina,
where Central European and Romanian influences predominated. The violin
(violina) is a widely used instrument, both in traditional and classical music.
It is used mainly in ensembles.
Brass Band Music

The form of traditional music closest to the Serbian soul, however, is the
music of the brass band. It has its historical roots in the revolutionary, mili-
− −
tary spirit of the early-nineteenth-century uprisings of Karador de and Miloš
Obrenović, when the trumpet was first brought to Serbia from the West,
where it had already been established in martial music. Official brass bands,
with European melodies and grand presentation, came into being. Alongside
the disciplinary and ceremonial nature of this music, in its official use by the
military, the trumpet began to be used not long after its introductions for en-
tertainment purposes. With it, Serbs even began to transpose their folk songs
into a new medium. However, Serbian brass as we know it today would attain
its ultimate form, combining musical complexity with passion, only when
it was adopted by the Roma (Gypsy) populations living in Serbia and the
Balkans in general. Gifted with innate musical ability and bringing their full,
complex variety of rhythm and melodies into play, the Roma created a popu-
larized, danceable, and somewhat exotic genre that we know today as “Gypsy
brass.”
The most famous masters of this genre tend to lead orchestras, many
of eight or more members. Internationally, the best-known Serbian rep-
resentative of Gypsy brass is the Bosnian-born composer Goran Bregović
(b. 1951). Originally emerging as a guitarist in the early 1970s Yugoslav rock
PERFORMING ARTS 141
Roma (Gypsy) children playing for passersby. Serbia is renowned for its Gypsy
brass bands, and brass music is an important part of traditional customs and
ceremonies such as weddings, funerals, and feasts. Each summer, a raucous three-
day celebration and musical competition, the Guča Trumpet Festival, is held in the
small village of Guča. Photograph by Rafael Estefania.
scene, he became known for brass music when he ventured into writing film
scores. Bregović’s breakthrough project was when he wrote the score for Emir
Kusturica’s Time of the Gypsies (1989), the beginning of a fruitful partnership
with the legendary director (see chapter 7, “Media and Cinema”). He then
composed the music (which was actually performed by rock star Iggy Pop)
for Kusturica’s next film, Arizona Dream (1993), which Johnny Depp starred
in. Bregović became associated permanently with Gypsy brass, however, when
he composed the film score for Kusturica’s cult classic, Underground (1995).
Bregović’s music here is an exciting fusion of traditional Serbian brass music,
Balkan polyphonic music, pop themes, and even Latin tango. The composer’s
rock origins are in evidence in the Underground soundtrack as well, and the
driving intensity of much of the music made it very danceable and an instant
hit. Today, many favorites from that album, such as the vibrant “Kalashnikov,”
are still played widely on television and at bars and events. Since Underground,
Bregović has been much in demand, writing several other film scores and tour-
ing with his infectious Orchestra for Weddings and Funerals.
While Bregović is the best-known composer of brass music worldwide, the
most acclaimed performers of the music include Fejat Sejdić, Bakija Bakić,
and Boban Marković. The last of these is especially well known and was the
only trumpeter to win perfect scores from every judge at the annual Guča
Trumpet Festival (see chapter 4, “Holidays, Customs, and Leisure Activities”).
The Boban Marković Orchestra has been the leading brass band in Serbia
for almost twenty years and has won numerous awards. Many trumpeters,
such as Fejat Sejdić, are self-taught. This often owes to the poverty of life in
Roma communities and the lack of formal schools or academies for such mu-
sic, which is passed on from generation to generation. For example, Marko
Marković, the son of Boban Marković, joined his father’s orchestra after hav-
ing practiced ten hours a day by himself to earn his place. Sejdić himself has
been a leading figure in Serbian music for four decades, playing in front of the
highest Yugoslav leaders, such as Josip Broz Tito and Slobodan Milošević. The
best Serbian brass bands have expanded their audiences significantly over
the past decade or so and are to be found in festivals, documentaries, and
concerts the world over with their highly distinctive sound.
Classical Music
Classical music in Serbia and Montenegro sprang up somewhat later than
in the rest of Europe because of the political instability and economic depri-
vations that accompanied the transformation of an Ottoman possession into
an independent state. Theater music was performed in Kragujevac in central
Serbia as early as the period of Miloš Obrenović (leader of the second Serbian
uprising in 1815), and later in the National Theater in Novi Sad (founded in
1861). Orchestra concerts began in 1842 in Belgrade and received a major
boost not long after eminent composer Johann Strauss appeared for a guest
performance with his orchestra. His musical selection included original com-
positions inspired by Serbian folk melodies. After Strauss, other foreign com-
posers and performers began to appear in Serbia as well. Gradually, Serbia
began to produce its own stream of composers, musicians, and singers, some
of whom by the end of the nineteenth century had achieved success perform-
ing in Germany, Hungary, and France.
Stevan Stojanović Mokranjac (1856–1914) was one of the pioneers of clas-
sical music in Serbia, and he remains the most accomplished Serbian com-
poser and music teacher of the nineteenth century. With Mokranjac, a strong
sense of folk and ecclesiastical music was fused with the classical style to cre-
ate unique compositions; his most famous such compositions were the fifteen
“Rukoveti” (literally, works by hand, or handmade), an assortment of classi-
cized folk songs from across Serbia and former Serbian lands. He also wrote
choral arrangements for church services based on traditional Serbian melodies,
which are still sung today.
PERFORMING ARTS 143
The next major classical composer after Mokranjac was Stevan Hristić
(1885–1958), who played a dominant role on the classical orchestra and opera
scene in the first half of the twentieth century and founded the Belgrade Phil-
harmonic Orchestra. His two major works were the Symphonic Fantasy for
Violin and Orchestra and Rhapsody for Violin and Piano. His other works drew
inspiration from Serbian tradition and history, such as the Opelo in B mi-
nor (a Serbian Orthodox requiem), and the ballet Ohridska legenda (The Leg-
end of Ohrid, after the fortified Macedonian town held by the Serbs in the
Middle Ages), his most famous work. His composition Resurrection was the
first Serbian oratorio (1912). Petar Konjović (1883–1970) was another sig-
nificant Serbian composer of the Yugoslav periods, whose expressive works
often evoked nationalist and folk themes. Many were for opera scores, at a
time when that genre was just getting off the ground in Serbia. His most fa-
mous works are the operas Vilin veo (A Fairy’s Veil), Knez od Zete (The Prince
of Zeta), Seljaci (Peasants), and Otadžbina (Homeland). His Koštana was an
adaptation of the very popular play of the same name by Vranje-born play-
wright Borisav Stanković.
Classical music in Serbia has survived the various wars and political uncer-
tainties that have plagued the country over the past two decades. Among note-
worthy modern-day performers is the young violin maestro Stefan Milenković
(b. 1977), who began playing under his father’s tutelage at the age of three.
Today a concert violinist and teacher at the Juilliard School and the Univer-
sity of Illinois, Milenković’s illustrious career has included performances be-
fore then–U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1987 and subsequently Mikhail
Gorbachev and the late Pope John Paul II. At the age of twenty-six, he was
named a faculty member at Juilliard, where he also became a teaching assis-
tant of the famous Itzhak Perlman, an Israeli-American violinist, conductor,
and pedagogue, one of the most distinguished violinists of the late twentieth
century. Milenković has already won numerous prizes and competitions for
his skill and released several albums.
Rock and Controversy

Rock-and-roll music has a long history in Serbia, and indeed in the for-
mer Yugoslavia, whereas in other Eastern European countries it manifested
as both innocuous pop and on occasion pointed political or social cri-
tique that brought performers into a collision with the Communist (and
post-Communist) authorities. However, compared to Soviet states, Tito’s
Yugoslavia was a fairly liberal place, so much so that it appealed to American
hippies and liberal theorists in the 1960s and 1970s. Rock first came to the
country early on, influenced by American and British acts from Elvis to the
Beatles and the Rolling Stones. From the late 1960s, a number of homegrown
rock groups became popular in Yugoslavia, like the YU grupa, a pioneer in us-
ing Serbian folk music elements in rock music, and Smak, which combined
its rock approach with jazz and blues influences. As in many other things,
Belgrade became Yugoslavia’s capital of rock, with the biggest concerts and
some of the best bands being from there.
The 1980s represents what many look back on as the golden age of Yugoslav
rock. With Tito’s death and the future of the country more uncertain than
ever, rock music provided an outlet both for public doubts and unrest and
for simple, straight, to-hell-with-the-future exuberance. During this decade,
the Belgrade scene gave birth to various new wave bands, such as Električni
Orgazam, Ekatarina Velika, Oktobar 1864, and Partibrejkers.
Riblja Čorba
Among the groups to emerge from the Belgrade scene in the 1970s was
Riblja Čorba (literally, fish stew, though also a slang term for menstruation).
When the group began in 1978, it combined a 1970s-style hard-rock sound
−
with blues riffs and satirical lyrics. The band’s leader, Bora −Dordević, has often
caused controversy with his (usually) socially critical lyrics. This biting sarcasm
was evident in the band’s very first single, “Lutka sa naslovne strane” (Doll on
the Front Page), a hard-rock ballad about a fame-hungry model that quickly
became a hit on the radio. Riblja Čorba’s debut album, Kost u Grlu (Bone in
the Throat), was released the following year and spawned several more hits,
selling a then-notable 120,000 copies.
The band’s zenith as social critics occurred a few years later, when the Com-
munists went after them for songs that could be read as dismissive of Tito’s
revolution. Actually, one did not have to dig deep into lyrical analysis to get
the point behind “Za ideale ginu budale” (Fools Get Killed for Their Ideals)
and “Kreteni dižu bune i ginu” (Jerks Rise Up and Get Killed). Before a con-
−
cert in Sarajevo, lead singer and songwriter −Dordević had to write an “ex-
planation” for the offending lyrics. Then, in 1983, Yugoslav state censors de-
creed that two songs—“Mangupi vam kvare dete” (Those Rascals Are Ruining
Your Kids) and “Besni psi” (Wild Dogs)—were “ethically unacceptable.” The
embarrassed authorities were reacting to the indignation of Arab, African,
and Greek diplomats at the lyrics to the second song: Grčki šverceri, arap-
ski studenti, negativni elementi, maloletni delikventi i besni psi (“Greek smug-
glers, Arab students, negative elements, juvenile hooligans, and mad dogs”).
Several embassies lodged official protests, and the Yugoslav Ministry of Cul-
ture ordered an “analysis” of the song by a panel of “experts.” For the av-
erage Serb, however, the song, drawing on common stereotypes, was just
amusing.
PERFORMING ARTS 145
−
However, −Dordević’s later involvement in more serious political causes
damaged the band’s popularity among fans in Croatia and Bosnia, when he
came out in favor of the Bosnian Serb fighters and the Serb rebels in the
Krajina region of Croatia, based around the city of Knin. Together with a
−
Knin band of the time, Mindušari, he recorded a controversial song titled “E
moj druže Zagrebački” (Oh, My Zagreb Comrade). It was a reaction to an
anti-Serbian song by Croatian singer Jura Stubljić, “E moj druže Beogradski”
(Oh, My Belgrade Comrade).
−
However, −Dordević and Riblja Čorba were not unthinking nationalists, as
their enormously popular satirical song “Baba Jula” would prove. The song al-
ludes, critically, to Mirjana Marković, the corrupt wife of Slobodan Milošević,
who had recently started her own political party, JUL–Jugoslavenska Levica
(Yugoslav Left). The band thus became associated with the anti-Milošević,
pro-Western protest bloc. However, after the toppling of the dictator in 2000,
Riblja Čorba never really regained its former popularity in Serbia; more than
−
simply having gotten old, −Dordević alienated some with his support for
Vojislav Koštunica’s Democratic Party of Serbia. However, the band still con-
tinues to release new material.
Other Rock Groups

When English rock icons the Rolling Stones played Belgrade in 2007,
the opening act was a similarly long-lived Serbian band, Električni Orgazam
(Electric Orgasm). The band began on Belgrade’s punk and new wave scene
−
in 1980 and became a mainstream rock band, led by Srdan “Gile” Bojković.
They were an important band on the Yugoslav new wave scene. Električni
Orgazam has eight albums and is still a popular live act in Serbia and around
the former Yugoslavia; like many Serbian rock groups, it appeals to those feel-
ing “Yugo-nostalgia” for the good old days.
Another pioneer on the Yugoslav scene, Ekatarina Velika (Catherine the
Great, also known simply as EKV) formed in 1982 and disbanded twelve
years later following the tragic death of lead singer Milan Mladenović. In that
time, the new wave and rock-influenced band had built up a loyal following
that actually grew after the band itself was no more. Ekatarina Velika’s ten
albums included three live ones. Critics and fans consider its best to be Ljubav
(Love), released in 1987. Two years later, the band released the much darker
Samo par godina za nas (Just a Few Years for Us), which seemed to predict
the civil war and social upheaval that was to grip Yugoslavia beginning in the
following years. Leader Mladenović later considered one hit from that album,
“Srce” (Heart), to be EKV’s best song.
The Partibrejkers (Party Breakers) is another important Serbian rock group
to have emerged from the former Yugoslav rock scene. The band’s eclectic
influences include the Rolling Stones, the New York Dolls, the Stooges,
rhythm and blues, and American rockabilly music. Major hits include “Kreni
prema meni” (Come to Me), “Ona Zna” (She Knows), and “Mesečeva kći”
(The Moon’s Daughter).
Today the rock group Van Gogh remains one of Serbia’s most popular rock
bands, with a following in other ex–Yugoslav republics as well, despite the fact
that most of their success came in the 1990s. MTV Europe named Van Gogh
the Best Adriatic Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2007.
A popular group that combines rock with arty and electronic tones is
Darkwood Dub, which is still among the headliners on large regional music
festivals like the EXIT Festival in Novi Sad (see chapter 4, “Holidays, Cus-
toms, and Leisure Activities”). Formed in 1988, the group pioneered musical
trends in Serbia then beginning in Western Europe, such as electronic percus-
sion, ambient bass, and sampling, combining these with more traditional rock
elements. Aside from appearing at festivals and releasing six original albums,
the band has also contributed to several film scores and has been associated
with pro-democracy projects and initiatives in Serbia.
Rambo Amadeus
One of Serbia’s most over-the-top musicians, and an outstanding if ir-
reverent performer, is Rambo Amadeus (real name, Antonije Pušić). This
self-titled musician, poet, and media manipulator, sometimes compared to
American rocker Frank Zappa, has recorded fifteen albums since emerging
on the Yugoslav scene in 1988. He has had a major impact on the develop-
ment of music here, not only for his own songs but also for his categoriza-
tion of styles; indeed, it was Rambo Amadeus’s lighthearted comment that
his music could be called “Turbo-folk” that created a name later applied to
a much different genre of popular music (see the section herein on Turbo-
folk).
Following in the tradition of earlier Serbian performers, Amadeus’s songs
often satirize social trends and politics. His concerts have always been marked
by improvisation, unexpected (and usually comic) events, and intense perfor-
mances. From the beginning, Amadeus perceived the value of spectacle and
illusion: as an “unknown commodity” at the time of his arrival on the scene, he
was able to develop a reputation as a trickster by introducing himself as Nagib
Fazlić Nagon—allegedly, a poor mine-shaft operator who had been saving up
enough money to record an album. His first album, O, tugo jesenja (O, My
Autumn Sadness) was a hit, coarsely combining Serbian folk riffs with rap,
opera, rock guitar, and irreverent lyrics. Oddly enough, before becoming a
singer, Amadeus had actually enjoyed a successful career in sailboat regattas
off the Montenegrin coast.
PERFORMING ARTS 147
Zdravko Čolić
Serbia and Montenegro have their share of crooners (both male and fe-
male) who turn up on the concert stage and at television galas to sing soaring
pop ballads and folk numbers. Among them, arguably the most beloved is the
Bosnian-born Zdravko Čolić (b. 1951). The fifty-seven-year-old singer, who
started out as a balladeer in the early 1970s, could perhaps best be described as
Serbia’s version of Tom Jones. A charismatic performer, Čolić retains a youth-
ful charm (and, in his videos, youthful women). He was already acknowledged
as one of Yugoslavia’s greatest pop stars by the time the country fell apart in
the early 1990s. Blessed with a melodic and powerful voice, and great personal
charisma, Zdravko Čolić is one of the few pop singers to appeal to both the
older and the younger generations in the former Yugoslavia.
Čolić began his career in 1968, making hits with romantic numbers like
“Sinoć nisi bila tu” (Last Night You Were Not Here) and “Gori vatra” (The Fire
Is Burning). Some of the best-known songs from the singer’s long career also
−
include “Zvao sam je Emili” (I Called Her Emily), “Madarica” (The Hungar-
ian Woman), “Zločin i kazna” (The Crime and the Punishment), and “Moja
draga” (My Darling). The last, from the melodic, rock-influenced 2004 al-
bum Čarolija, is a plaintive, beautiful ballad about love lost, while the album’s
lead track, the joyous “Biti il ne biti” (To Be or Not to Be) restores festive
spirits. Today, Čolić still performs regularly in the major cities of the former
Yugoslavia, and he attracts big audiences for New Year’s Eve and other special
concerts.
Turbo-folk
The one style of Serbian popular music that has caused just as much winc-
ing as cheering is the ubiquitous Turbo-folk, a genre that seems just as much
a social order as a form of music. Perhaps because its main stars have been so
closely affiliated with controversial politicians and salacious lifestyles, Turbo-
folk has acquired a checkered reputation over the years. But what exactly
is it?
The moment the term itself actually came into being can be defined fairly
precisely. In 1988, Serbian rocker Rambo Amadeus used it, jokingly, to de-
scribe his own eclectic sound, which included smatterings of percussive pop,
Balkan traditional, and exotic Turkish music, combining various styles and in-
fluences. A few years later, in 1991, the bland Novi Beograd (New Belgrade)
neighborhood, which consists of identical concrete apartment blocks hosting
a large percentage of the city’s population, hosted several illegal radio stations.
One DJ in Novi Beograd, W-ICE, started mixing Serbian folk with electronic
dance beats, and a specific form was set. The commercialization of the new
music developed quickly, with producers starting to put busty, scantily clad fe-
male singers and tough-guy, mafia look-alikes behind the microphone and in
the salacious background choreography. Economic difficulty and the ensuing
mass depression caused by the suffering of Serbs in neighboring Bosnia and
Croatia during the wars, and most acutely United Nations trade embargoes
on Serbia, helped nationalist subtexts in the lyrics find a large audience. An
early example was the song “Ne može nam niko ništa” (No One Can Touch
Us) by the singer Mitar Mirić. Although the overt meaning of the song was
the drama of a young couple trying to keep their love against all odds, the
implicit reference was a defiant statement of Serbian national unity at a time
when it seemed to Serbs that the whole world was against them.
Turbo-folk clearly had appeal, therefore, as a form of escapism, and it
proved a lucrative industry for the singers, managers, and production com-
panies involved. But more than this, it also developed into a cultural index
when its stars began to cultivate various unsavory associations. The most fa-
mous was the 1995 marriage of Arkan, the notorious paramilitary leader in
the Bosnian war, to a young Turbo-folk singer named Svetlana (“Ceca” for
short). The popularity of both, and what this said about the ideals of men and
women in contemporary Serbia, horrified many observers both at home and
abroad. Turbo-folk became a more omnipresent factor in televised media as
well, in both music videos and “live” performances (usually lip-synched) on
talk shows and music galas. Serbian television is still full of such events today,
though trends toward reining in some of the lewder bits seem to have begun
on the programs of the genre’s standard-bearers, like Pink TV (see chapter 7,
“Media and Cinema”).
By the early 1990s, a distinct style would be known by the name of Turbo-
folk. Short-skirted, leggy girls such as Lepa Brena, Ceca, Dragana Mirković,
and Snežana Babić embraced the new, more uninhibited style, becoming
overnight stars. The largely generic nature of the lyrics, music, and looks also
meant that producers could manufacture public tastes by taking any attrac-
tive young woman (and sometimes man) with a decent voice and dressing (or
undressing) him or her in the right way. Television programming filled with
scantily clad young women dancing salaciously and singing vapid lyrics had a
pleasantly numbing effect on the public, provoked copycat behavior and val-
ues in “real life,” and—most important—brought in significant advertising
dollars that helped advance the media moguls’ business and political ambi-
tions. The performances of the stars, and their lifestyles as constantly inves-
tigated by the tabloids, introduced a range of unhealthy examples for young
women and men in society, with a noticeable increase in plastic surgery and
various surgical enhancements being among the most worrying.
The matriarch of Turbo-folk is Lepa Brena, the best-selling singer of any
Balkan pop performer. A star since the early 1980s, Brena was the inspiration
PERFORMING ARTS 149
for the Turbo-folk genre of the 1990s, combining the silliness of Yugoslav
candy pop with Serbian folk melodies. Her music was meant to be danced to,
and for the first time, the traditional two-step group circle dance (the kolo)
was applied to pop. With a backing band called Slatki Greh (Sweet Sin), Brena
reeled off a string of hits starting with 1982’s “Mile voli disko” (Mile Likes
Disco). The song went like this:
Mile likes disco,

But I like Shumadija’s kolo,
To be closer with each other,
The accordion is playing disco.3
Despite, or perhaps because of, the inherent silliness of the lyrics, such songs
went on to become classics of late Yugoslavia. Controversially, Lepa Brena
herself was an outspoken supporter of Yugoslavism, even singing her popular
hit “Živela Jugoslavija” (Long Live Yugoslavia) at the opening ceremony of
the 1984 Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo. Brena recorded many other
albums over the years, and she continues to be popular in concert and on the
Belgrade talk shows. Her newest album was for release in 2008.
Turbo-folk’s biggest star of the modern era, however, is the busty, raven-
haired Ceca. Ironically, she got her showbiz start at the age of seventeen, when
cast in the role of the decent country maiden Koštana from the beloved 1902
play of the same name. Her phenomenal popularity in recent years was at-
tested by a June 2002 stadium concert in Belgrade in which she performed in
front of an estimated one hundred thousand fans. In January 2007, she was
part of a multigroup Orthodox New Year’s concert, also in Belgrade, that drew
350,000 people. Since 1988, Ceca has recorded thirteen albums, all of which
have generated numerous hits and sold more than 10 million copies in all. In
recent years, she has increasingly started putting out polished dance tracks,
with more pure pop than folk to them, in line with the prevailing trends.
However, Ceca’s musical legacy will forever be associated with one album,
Maskarada (Masquerade, released in 1997), and its hit single, “Nevaljala”
(Naughty Girl). The album sold almost four hundred thousand copies in the
first two weeks of its release, and “Nevaljala” became the only song in Serbian
pop history to top the charts for seventeen consecutive weeks. Its racy lyrics
reflect a favorite theme of the Turbo-folk genre, that of the love triangle. The
most famous lines from it go like this:
All month long I’ve been sleeping alone

What you would do in my place?
Why should it be something sacred to me,
That it’s good for you to be with her?
The blue nights in satin,
The coconut milk—

It would be better for you to be with me,
But oh you have no taste!
You love her, I love you,
Oh, does she know? So what if she knows—
She should give you to me,
Because tonight I’m a naughty girl.4
Ceca’s career has also had its share of controversy, beginning with the 1995
marriage to the paramilitary leader Arkan. In March 2003, she was arrested
and detained for four months after the assassination of Serbian Prime Min-
−
ister Zoran −Dindić. She was accused of helping his killers, the mafia group
Zemun Clan, but was subsequently cleared of all charges. However, in 2008,
Ceca was accused of being involved with illegal financial transactions with FK
Obelić, a soccer club owned by her. Ceca has also started and is president of
a humanitarian fund that donates money to families with three children or
more—which oddly enough brings the queen of lascivious living into perfect
harmony with the stated goals of the somewhat more staid Serbian Orthodox
Church.
NOTES
1. Matt Prodger, “Serbs Rally to Turbofolk Music,” BBC.
2. The official Web site of the Serbian National Theater is http://www.
narodnopozoriste.co.yu/cms/.
3. Translated by the author.
4. Translated by the author.
9
Art and Architecture
The development of shipping in Boka Kotorska in the past, and the consequent
relative prosperity of this region of our country, unique for its natural beauty,
was particularly reflected in the rational architecture of the captains’ houses built
during the eighteenth and at the beginning of nineteenth century. . . . The size
and equipment of the house expressed, in the manner typical of pioneers, the
achieved earnings, the thought-out savings, and the personal vanity.
—Milan Zloković, Serbian modernist architect1
The iconographers of Serbia were great masters, so much so that those who have
some conception of the art of fresco painting are astonished. They surpassed
many of the Italians who, more than others, worked at frescoes.
—Photios Kontoglou, art historian2
Belgrade does not have to seek a remedy for the heterogeneity and colorless-
ness of its architecture in the national style based on our old sacred architec-
ture. . . . It has its own life, its own needs and habits. Its financial means, climate,
work conditions, etc., will dictate the special and characteristic style of Belgrade
Modernist Architecture.
—Branislav Kojić, Serbian modernist architect3
Serbia and Montenegro have a long and vivid history of art and architec-
ture, based on the ancient and medieval examples of the Roman, Byzantine,
and medieval Serbian kingdoms, with other influences right up through the
Ottoman and national revival periods, and finally a brief modernism pe-
riod truncated by Tito’s Communist regime. Since the fall of Communist
Yugoslavia, architecture has not been distinguished by anything special—just

more “modern” constructions as elsewhere in Europe. In art, however, Serbian
painters both continue to push new ground in abstract works and to invoke
the past with the time-honored creation of Byzantine-style religious icons,
perhaps the country’s greatest gift to the world in terms of historical art.
CHURCHES, MONASTERIES, FRESCOES, AND ICONS
There is no part of the artistic and architectural heritage of Serbia and

Montenegro to match the Byzantine and medieval Orthodox churches of
these lands and Kosovo, which is why Serbs have been so devastated by
the loss of that southwestern province to Albanians; since 1999, when the
United Nations and NATO took over control of the province, more than 150
churches and monasteries have been damaged or destroyed, a catastrophe for
Serbian and world cultural heritage and a crime for which none of the perpe-
trators has ever been found or held accountable.4 Since 2004, UNESCO has
listed the Visoki Dečani Monastery in western Kosovo as a World Heritage
site; although this book does not include this or other great Kosovo churches,
such as the Gračanica Monastery, the reader should understand that for
Serbs, these are considered very much part of the national architectural
treasure.
Early Byzantine Architectural Influences

Serbian and Montenegrin church architecture derives originally from
Byzantine influences, though in coastal Montenegro and Vojvodina in
northern Serbia there are Catholic influences from the Venetians and
Austro-Hungarians, respectively. Since stonemasons and builders at different
times also came from the Montenegrin coast, and in turn had influence from
European sea trade and commerce, this proved another way for Western
styles to creep into Serbia and Montenegrin church architecture. In general,
churches in the Byzantine style are distinguished by their plaster-and-brick
outer walls, vivid frescoes, grand inner arches, and side chambers, and most
of all by the plethora of curving outer domes that seem to emerge one
from the other magically. One feature of a Serbian Orthodox church that
distinguishes it from the original Byzantine style is the frequent addition of
a tall clock tower adjacent to the main church building.
Early Byzantine architecture simply continued existing Roman architec-
tural innovations, such as the famous Roman arch, but it increased the geo-
metric complexity of structures. It also began to use more bricks and plaster
than simple stone, and it added complex dome structures set on massive piers.
Finally, the heavily frescoed walls were enhanced by a constantly changing
ART AND ARCHITECTURE 153
interplay of light and shadow, when thin beams of sunlight passed through
specially designed narrow windows and portals by day, or with the flickering
of candlelight at night. From an architectural point of view, however, what
fundamentally separated the Byzantine from the Roman style was the techni-
cal breakthrough made by architects of Emperor Justinian the Great. In the
middle of the sixth century, the Byzantines figured out how to take a square
church design and convert it into a circular dome design by using squinches
and pendentives (ceiling corner constructs to help support the weight of a
dome). The classic examples of this early Byzantine architecture include Jus-
tinian’s grand cathedrals in Ravenna, Italy, and of course the Hagia Sofia in
Constantinople—to this day, one of the world’s architectural masterpieces.
When Serbia converted to Christianity from the seventh to ninth cen-
turies, it developed a hybrid style of church architecture, combining the early
Byzantine three-nave (single-vault) basilica with Romanesque styling. By the
end of the eighth century, cruciform churches with pillared cupolas started
to appear. Saint Tryphon’s (originally built in 809 and rebuilt in 1166), a
Catholic cathedral in Kotor, Montenegro, is especially representative of Ro-
manesque architecture, characterized by round arches and thick vaults. This
influence arrived “by sea” (i.e., through maritime contact with Italy). After
the cathedral was damaged by an earthquake in 1667, it was refurbished only
in stages because of irregular financing, a fact that accounts for its oddly
asymmetrical towers. The cathedral remains the major attraction in Kotor,
and it is one of the most impressive such structures on the whole Adriatic
coast.
The Raška School (c. 1150–1370)

The first notably Serbian style of church architecture is the one associated
with the Nemanjići—the so-called Raška school,” named for the location of
the Serbian dynasty of the twelfth to fourteenth centuries. Early versions of
this style, influenced heavily by middle Byzantine architecture, appear with
the church of Saint Nicholas in Kuršumlija (built in the 1160s), a structure
built with a single nave and cupola resting above a central square bay, and
−
the similar church of −Durdevi Stupovi at Novi Pazar (1171). However, what
is considered the first great example of Serbian Raška school architecture is
the superlative Studenica Monastery, 39 kilometers southwest of Kraljevo in
central Serbia.
Begun by Nemanjić dynasty founder Stefan Nemanja from 1183 to 1196,
Studenica remains one of Serbia’s largest monasteries. Its founder made it
a heavily fortified monastery, with thick surrounding walls, and wanted it
to serve as his future mausoleum. The monastery features two churches: the
Church of the Virgin and the Church of the King. While the ravages of time,
natural disasters, and foreign invaders have destroyed much of the original
structures, Studenica has been reconstructed in elaborate fashion. King Ste-
fan’s unique goal was to create a monastery that resembled the theological
conception of the ideal, heavenly city. The result was a symmetrical structure,
with circular outer walls surrounding the complex, and the inner center falling
exactly beneath the cupola of the larger, central church. Ten towers and two
reinforced entrances appeared along the outer walls.
Studenica provided the model for several other Nemanjić churches, includ-
ing Mileševa (built in the 1220s) and Morača (1252). Another major example
of the Raška school of architecture is the church at Sopočani (1265), which
combines Byzantine and Romanesque styles. Its three-nave basilica structure
reflected Romanesque architecture of the time, while the monumental inte-
rior is typical of middle Byzantine architecture. (Sopočani was later deserted
for two centuries and left exposed to the elements, but when reconstructed its
frescoes were almost like new, something Serbs attribute to the work of divine
Providence). The church at Gradac, built a few years later, also employs West-
ern themes, being Gothic in its structure and shape; this reflects the style of
southern Italy, from where, it is believed, some of the artisans involved came.
The Morava School (1377–1459)

The second identifiable trend in Serbian church architecture is known as
the Morava school, beginning in the late fourteenth century, when the Serbian
state was forced to relocate northward to the Morava River basin to escape
the advancing Turks, and continuing to the mid-fifteenth century. The Ser-
bian prince Stefan Lazarević is especially associated with the Morava school
because of his endowments of the great churches of Ravanica (1377–1381)
and Lazarica in Kruševac (1377–1380). What distinguishes Moravian archi-
tecture from its predecessor is the geometric juxtaposition of cupolas and
arches, with alternating stone and brick layers, and especially the highly or-
nate stone decorative sculpturing around the windows, arches, door frames,
and columns. These sculpted forms were most often geometric or floral in
nature; only in late Moravian churches do we find human and animal fig-
ures as found in Roman and early Byzantine stonework (as well as in me-
dieval Georgian and Armenian churches). Most unusually, the Morava school
sculptures were usually painted in vivid colors. It is believed that Serbian archi-
tects in this period were influenced by monastic builders on Mount Athos in
Greece.
The second characteristic of Moravian churches was their increasingly for-
tified nature—testament to the growing threat from Ottoman forces. During
sieges or attacks on outlying villages, monasteries became safe havens for the
citizens and therefore had to be equipped defensively, as well as with everyday
provisions and water. The Manasija Monastery (built from 1407–1418, also
known as the Church of Resava) in Despotovac exemplifies this trend, with its
imposing structure, five cupolas, and massive outer walls dotted by ten towers.
This church was also endowed by Prince Stefan Lazarević, and after he died
it became his mausoleum. Until the Serbian Moravian principality fell to the
Ottomans in 1459, Manasija was the center of Serbian culture and art. For
art historians and ethnologists, the wall paintings of this church are notable
because they show people wearing feudal Serbian costumes.
Modern Church Architecture

The construction of Serbian churches, embracing both traditional and more
modern forms, coincided with the beginning of an independent Serbian state
after the uprisings of 1804 and 1815. These churches therefore tend to be
associated with specific dynastic families and to be located in more northerly
areas that had not previously been major centers for Serbs, most notably the
new capital of Belgrade.
These include Belgrade’s Saborna Crkva Svetog Arhangela Mihaila (Cathe-
dral Church of St. Michael the Archangel) and the Church of Saint Sava
(1929). The cathedral was built in the style of classicism with late baroque
elements; architects building the Church of Saint Sava were inspired by mod-
ernist architecture.
Another very important religious structure in Belgrade is Saint Marko’s
Church. In the very center of the capital, it houses the sacred remains of the
fourteenth-century emperor Stefan Dušan. The architecture was largely in-
spired by that of Gračanica Monastery in Kosovo. The church of Sveta Ružica,
located within the sprawling Kalemegdan Fortress above the Danube, is con-
sidered especially holy because for several years after the Ottoman invasion, it
housed the body of Saint Petka, a female saint who is one of the most revered
by the Orthodox people (in Greek she is known as Saint Paraskevi).
One of the most awe-inspiring sights in Serbia is the magisterial Church
of Saint George at Oplenac in the western Šumadija region, site of the first
− −
rebellions against Turkish rule. It was built by the Karador dević dynasty as
its family mausoleum in 1912. This imposing, five-domed church built with
gleaming white marble is most remarkable for its fifteen-thousand-piece mo-
saic, which depicts biblical scenes from assorted frescoes from more than sev-
enty Serbian monasteries.
HISTORIC DEFENSIVE ARCHITECTURE

Nonreligious historical architecture in Serbia and Montenegro consists
mostly of castles and other fortified structures, the oldest ones dating from
Roman times—a testament to the country’s unfortunate placement in the

middle of a perennial conflict zone. These structures, spread out over a large
and diverse geographical area, display much variety—a result of their differ-
ent outside influences and specific purposes. Fortifications were almost always
built of stone and in strategic places that could be easily defended, such as hill-
tops, ravine entrances, or overlooking important river or seaports. Fortresses
served to protect governing authorities and families, monasteries and monks,
economic centers, and, of course, the soldiers required to defend the
realm.
The oldest fortress in Belgrade, and today one of its most popular places
for relaxing or taking a stroll, dates from the days when the city was known as
Singidunum. Built by the Romans in a.d. 86, the Kalemegdan Fortress was
built along a high, curving bluff overlooking the confluence of the Sava and
Danube rivers. This militarily and economically strategic placement allowed
the Romans to monitor ships coming and going and to defend the city in case
of attack. As with other elevated fortresses, Kalemegdan could also be used as a
safe haven for the citizens in the case of an enemy siege. This massive complex
today includes parks, museums, and tennis and basketball courts.
Byzantine texts from the middle of the tenth century attest to the first Ser-
bian defensive architecture. One such site, now mostly ruined, is near the
small Montenegrin town of Spuž. Surviving remains, including a great tower,
indicate that the structure was originally a palace complex in the principality
of Zeta/Duklja in the tenth century. More intriguing ruins lie in the medieval
Serbian mining center and town of Novo Brdo, where a partial citadel stands
over foundations set in an irregular pattern that fanned out to include six thick
towers connected by bulwarks. Another low bulwark created a protected path-
way along the outer walls, reminiscent of Byzantine fortifications, such as the
great Theodosian Walls of Constantinople. A good example of riverside de-
fensive architecture is the medieval settlement of Golubac, on a hill guarding
the −Derdap Gorge on the Danube. Although most of the settlement has not
survived, the remaining ring of towers, starting from the waterfront and ris-
ing up in a circular pattern to the ridgeline, indicates the builders’ strategic
goals. Also set near a river (the Morava) is the former capital of Prince Lazar
at Kruševac. Along with the famous Lazarica Church, visitors today can see
the remains of the structure’s towers and palace.
Perhaps the most famous example of medieval Serbian defensive architec-
ture is the well-preserved Smederevo Fortress, built from 1428–1430 along
the Danube by the despot −Durad− Branković. The extensive walls and tow-
ers of the lengthy fortress survive, though little of the original inner structures
do. Smederevo is considered the pinnacle of Serbian medieval defensive archi-
tecture, after which Turkish occupation prevented the construction of similar
large-scale fortresses. Smederevo was built under Byzantine supervision, along

a long, flat area above the Danube. A high and enclosed tower stands guard
at the tip of the triangular fortress closest to the river. Towers with defensive
parapets run along the walls, which were built with stone and bricks glued
together with lime mortar. It should be noted that the major reason the Turks
took Serbian (and other Byzantine) fortresses owed less to the skill of the in-
vaders than to the progress of military technology, in the form of gunpowder
and the first cannon. Repeated and heavy cannon fire was needed to breach
the walls of well-fortified cities like Constantinople and even smaller ones,
such as Novo Brdo, as archeological evidence has attested.
Montenegro is especially rich in grand defensive architecture from medieval
times. Here, however, the architects were mostly Westerners—the Venetians,
who controlled much of the Adriatic coast to further the commercial interests
of their maritime empire, which stretched from Italy to the Near East and the
Black Sea. Stara Budva (Old Budva) consists of narrow stone streets culmi-
nating in a citadel over the protected bay: today this warren of chic shops is a
favorite place for tourists to stroll, but it was once the key defensive point for
The little town of Perast is situated at the convergence of the bays of Risan and Ko-
tor in the Boka Kotorska, Montenegro’s most beautiful waterway, lined with moun-
tains and fjords. It was the earliest inhabited part of the area, with civilization dating
back to Neolithic times. Perast reached its architectural and political peak during the
rule of the Venetian Empire (fifteenth–eighteenth centuries). Photograph by Rafael
Estefania.
On the far northwestern edge of Montenegro, the evocative town of Kotor stretches
along its eponymous bay, the Boka Kotorska. Its outstanding architecture, a legacy of
three centuries of Venetian rule, has led it to be protected by UNESCO as a site of
world heritage. Courtesy of Patrick Horton.
the Venetian-held town. The foundations of Stara Budva include remnants of

walls dating back to Hellenistic times. A slightly different site is Stari Bar (Old
Bar), further down the coast but a few kilometers inland. In medieval times
a significant center of economic, cultural, and ecclesiastical life, Stari Bar was
constructed on raised rocky terrain for strategic purposes. The surviving ram-
parts date from Venetian times, though these were built over early medieval
structures.
The most impressive fortified site in Montenegro, however, is Kotor, one
of the most defensively strategic coastal sites in Europe. Built at the back of
a long, meandering bay framed by limestone cliffs, Kotor has always been
coveted property. Now a UNESCO World Heritage site, Kotor is backed by
an impregnable mountain and surrounded by city walls built by the Nemanjići
dynasty. From 1420 to 1797, it was controlled by Venice, which expanded the
city walls. When that republic fell soon afterward, it passed into the hands of
Napoleon, who subsequently turned Cattari (as it was then known) over to
the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Getting Kotor back became an obsession for
Montenegrin princes, right through World War I, after which they finally
succeeded.
TRADITIONAL VILLAGE ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGNS

There is considerable charm to be found in the traditional architecture of
the Serb and Montenegrin peasantry, which you can still see today in rural ar-
eas. The distinct styles of these structures vary according to geographical neces-
sity (i.e., lowlands and mountain areas) and, according to cultural influence,
most markedly between the formerly Austro-Hungarian northern province of
Vojvodina, the center of the national revival, Šumadija, and southern areas
more affected by the Ottoman influence.
Village houses, wherever the location, were built with functionality in
mind. Their builders assessed climatic conditions and relied on readily avail-
able local materials. In mountainous Montenegro, therefore, stone houses
with stone-shingled roofs predominated, while in forested Šumadija, Zlatibor,
and Fruška Gora, log cabins with high, wood-shingled roofs were most fre-
quently built. Finally, in less forested southern, central, and eastern Serbia,
houses of mixed construction were made. These involved timber frames, the
walls created of stone, mud, and wattle. The roofs of such houses were often
thatched or partially thatched. This style, known as the Morava style, is the
closest to houses in the north, on the Pannonian Plain of Vojvodina, where
houses were constructed of tightly packed clay, mud, and straw, as well as
unbaked bricks. Of course, for wealthy and important families, houses were
often much more ornate and built of finer materials.
While many traditional houses in Serbia and Montenegro are now dilap-
idated and in a state of disrepair, some are being renovated into smart bed-
and-breakfasts for foreign tourists. The most remarkable use of traditional
styles, however, has been the Drvengrad (literally, “Wooden City”) project,
also known as Kustendorf, by filmmaker Emir Kusturica (see chapter 7, “Me-
dia and Cinema”). This specially built town in the Mokra Gora area between
Mount Zlatibor and Mount Tara consists of traditional, western Serbian,
arched wood houses. It won the European design award from the Philippe
Rotthier European Foundation for Architecture.
FROM THE BAROQUE TO MODERNISM

The baroque style of architecture in Europe was originally conceived as part
of the Catholic Counter-Reformation reaction against the rationalism and
idealized symmetry represented by Renaissance painters and the Protestant
Reformation thinkers. It came to Serbia in large part with the Catholic Austro-
Hungarian Empire, whose long rule in the north left Vojvodina and Belgrade
with the greatest number of baroque structures. In Belgrade the period of so-
called urban renewal lasted from 1718 to 1739, and it was in that period that
the Austrians built Knez Mihajlova (Prince Michael) Boulevard as part of a
baroque-inspired urban plan. Even today, Knez Mihajlova remains Belgrade’s
main pedestrian street, where residents and visitors go to enjoy a long, relaxed
stroll, shop, or sip coffee along the small squares that abut it.
Baroque architecture during the eighteenth century in Serbia also began
to appear as a trend in church and monastery construction. By 1726, high,
baroque-style bell towers were being added to existing monasteries, while
new churches were built in a higher and wider style; here, the Counter-
Reformation thinkers’ goal to create awe and grandeur befitting the Divine co-
incided quite nicely with free Serbians’ desire to finally enjoy more expansive
and grand structures, since the Turks had prevented Christians from building
any church larger than a mosque in areas under their control. The best ex-
ample of ecclesiastical baroque architecture in Serbia remains the Cathedral
of Saint Nicholas in Karlovac (built 1758–1762). The church is characterized
by an enormous facade and two massive flanking towers—thus achieving the
appropriate goal of an awe-inspiring architectural display. This was followed
by further baroque-style churches built throughout the eighteenth century,
notable for their ornate pilasters and lizenes and featuring few pillars, unlike
earlier Morava school churches.
The near contemporary cathedral in Belgrade (1841) and Church of Saint
Mark (1836) were massive expressions of the vitality of the new Serbian state.
Grand, classicist facades and baroque touches (like the bell tower) character-
ized these churches, which featured intricate painted art as well. Such churches
were designed to leave visitors in awe, as was the case when Stefan Nemanja
and his descendents built the first great Serbian churches in the thirteenth
century. The new Belgrade churches became models for church architecture
elsewhere in Serbia.
In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as Serbia and Montenegro
gradually recovered more and more territory from the Ottomans, they also
moved firmly within the European aesthetic orbit. Informed and enthusiastic
Serbs and Montenegrins helped to popularize Western political, philosoph-
ical, artistic, and architectural theories back home. A prime example of the
spirit of Serbian architecture in this period is found in the national theater in
Belgrade (built in 1868), designed by Aleksandar Bugarski.
During this period, Serbian architects also began to study in European
universities, with assistance from the Serbian government’s Ministry of Con-
struction, which then used the returning students’ expertise for creating
urban structures. The ferment of ideas that characterized the nineteenth cen-
tury is evidenced in the eclectic combination of styles ranging from Renais-
sance to academic and secessionist forms employed by nineteenth-century
Serbian architects. In 1897, Belgrade’s Technical Faculty opened a depart-
ment of architecture, allowing knowledge acquired abroad to be transmitted
to younger generations of students. Serbian and Montenegrin architects were
recruited to design not only public and corporate buildings but also the man-
sions of the rich and famous throughout the country.
One of the most beloved buildings in Belgrade and an emblem of the
city is the Hotel Moskva (Hotel Moscow), which stands at a central point
near the top of the major pedestrian street, Knez Mihajlova Boulevard. Built
in 1907, the Moskva is an imposing, rectangular structure with a narrow
facade and numerous windows. Its interior features stained-glass windows.
The Hotel Moskva, which has hosted countless lu-

minaries since opening in 1908, preserves Belgrade’s
turn-of-the-century ethos. It is one of the city’s ma-
jor landmarks, its big-window café being much fre-
quented even by locals. Photo by the author.
It was designed by Serbian architect Jovan Ilkić. Similarly monumental

and ornate structures built in Belgrade at around the same time as the
Moskva include the Belgrade Cooperative Building (1905), designed by An-
dra Stevanović and Nikola Nestorović, and the Telephone Exchange Building
(1908), designed by Branko Tanazović, who also designed the Ministry of
Education building four years later. Although it was designed slightly later,
in 1930, the magnificent Post Office and Telegraph Administration Build-
ing, designed by architect Momir Korunović, is a similar grand, multiwindow
structure.
The modernist period of architecture in Serbia (1919–1941) is now being
critically appraised, gaining new admiration from critics abroad. Architects
of this period were also practicing intellectuals, heavily influenced by artistic
and philosophical developments then taking place in Western Europe. What
really propelled the movement, however, were the exigencies of the times; a
war-shattered Serbia had to be rebuilt, and villagers migrating to the capital
had to be housed and served. Answering the call was an eclectic group of four
young architects who, in November 1928, formed a society with the grandiose
name Group of Architects of the Modern Movement in Belgrade. Although
it was not a secret society planning to overthrow a government or assassinate
someone, it was typically Balkan in that it had its own bylaws and customs
and met in a café—the celebrated Ruski Tsar, to this day a fashionable spot
for coffee and cakes in the heart of Belgrade.
The group’s founding members were Czech architect Jan Dubovy (1892–
1969), Bosnia-born Dušan Babić (1896–1948), Milan Zloković (1898–
1965), a Serb from Trieste in Italy, and Branislav Kojić (1899–1987), the
only native of Serbia. All of these architects would have long and eminent
careers in subsequent years. Their group’s prestige was enhanced significantly
in 1930 when the established architect Dragiša Brašovan joined. The group
had an effect by spreading new ideas to students, awarding prizes at special
design shows, and generally sparking a new creative energy into the grow-
ing capital city. According to a Serbian architect and historian of architec-
ture, Liljana Blagojević, these newcomers on the scene “were adamant about
establishing a contemporary identity for Serbian architecture.” Their group
“seemed to be the way ahead in their struggle against the hostile traditionalist
environment.”5
Some of the buildings Brašovan designed included Novi Sad’s Provincial
Administration building, the Cable Industry in Jagodina, and the State Print-
ing House in Belgrade, considered a prime example of Belgrade modernism.
Zloković, also considered a father of Serbian modernism, designed many dis-
tincitve buildings, such as the Belgrade Children’s Hospital (1940).
Serbia’s second city, Novi Sad, is the capital of the northern province of Vojvodina.
Its architecture is strongly influenced by its previous history of Austro-Hungarian
rule. The city also hosts the famous EXIT Festival each summer, bringing partygoers
from all over Europe to hear some of the most-best known local and international
musicians. Courtesy of Patrick Horton.
Communist-Era Architecture
Although most people wince when they see it now, architecture in Tito’s
Yugoslavia was considered cutting edge at the time, and perhaps future gen-
erations will someday find something to be fascinated by in these concrete
monstrosities, bulky and cut by sharp angles and awkward forms, reflecting
the esoteric and abstract nature of Communist ideology being propounded at
the time. Yugoslav architects were frequently recruited to design buildings in
foreign countries (often in the Middle East), and their contemporaries from
foreign lands were sometimes called in to design Yugoslav buildings, as when
Japanese architect Kenzo Tenge designed the new post office in then-Yugoslav
Skopje, Macedonia, a lingering eyesore that resembles an enormous concrete
pineapple.
Postwar architects in Serbia were allowed to use their creativity, but it was
also constrained to some extent by the limits of the form and content that
Tito the Communist preferred. A parallel example from a different artistic
genre was the case of wood-carvers: then, rather than produce hand-sculpted
wooden blocks decorated with religious motifs, they were to illustrate their
carvings with forms that could not be mistaken for anything other than sec-
ular. In architecture, things were similar: the underlying Serbian penchant
for monumental grandeur—as witnessed since the first great churches of
the Nemanjić kings—remained dominant, it was just applied to a different
style.
This is the case with Belgrade’s Western Gate Towers (1950), designed by
Mihajlo Mitrović: two massive skyscrapers joined together at the top by a
funnel-shaped central tower. The multiterraced Military-Medical Academy in
Belgrade (1973), curving symmetrically in a double ellipse, is an impressive
example of Communist architecture, as is the city’s Museum of Modern Art
(1965), the work of Ivan Antić and Ivanka Raspopović.
FRESCOES AND ICONS
Without doubt, the historically most significant form of visual art pro-
duced in Serbia and Montenegro, in the opinion of most locals and foreigners
alike, comes in the form of the Byzantine-influenced painted icons and fres-
coes for which Serbia is long renowned. Byzantine icons are sacred paintings
that depict Jesus and Mary, as well as the angels and saints of the Orthodox
Christian Church, which sometimes include earthly rulers who are considered
important by the church and in some cases have been sanctified, such as King
Stefan Nemanja. The artistic style of iconography is quite remarkable; unlike
most other forms of painting, they are not three-dimensional, but show figures
and objects marked by elongated or disproportional arms, legs, and eyes. The
“missing” dimension symbolizes the unknowable spiritual existence of God.
Everything shown in an icon indeed has a symbolic meaning, and pondering
this requires deep concentration, something ameliorated by the vivid colors
and striking figures of the icon, which is not uncommonly flanked by gold
backgrounds or preserved in an ornate silver outer case.
Most practically, an icon is meant to be a window or portal into the spiritual
world, through which one can communicate his or her deepest prayers to the
personage depicted in the picture. A very potent feature of icons, therefore, is
the reputation that some have acquired for being miraculous; stories of peo-
ple being cured from diseases, freed of some psychological or emotional bur-
den, cured of infertility, and so on, were widely attested to in medieval times
and apparently continue to occur today for the faithful. Some icons have also
acquired magical reputations for withstanding fires, appearing miraculously
out of nowhere, and protecting Christian cities in times of war. It is thus lit-
tle wonder that people who paint icons are considered not only artists but
also theologians of a sort. People who paint icons for a living are usually very
religious, frequently praying and following the Orthodox calendar in period-

ically fasting and participating in other rituals.
Although all iconography derives from a similar model, the march of time
and geographical differences (i.e., the styles of different nations) influenced
the development of the genre. Serbian icon and fresco painting passed through
numerous subtle stages, beginning with the simplest of early Byzantine styles
to Russian- and Ukrainian-influenced romanticized paintings of the eigh-
teenth and nineteenth centuries. Especially to be noted is the style of icon
painting that developed in Serbia during the thirteenth- and fourteenth-
century Nemanjić dynasty, the so-called Morava school, the same name given
to the architectural style of churches constructed then. As with church archi-
tecture, this visual art was strongly influenced by Byzantine mores. The cul-
tural transmission occurred both from the interaction and cooperation of Ser-
bian monks in Constantinople and especially the Serb-endowed Monastery
of Hilandar on Mount Athos in Greece. Works of art, architecture, literature,
and philosophy developed in Byzantium during this time are known as Palae-
ologan, named for the Palaeologos dynasty that ruled from 1261, when Con-
stantinople was recaptured from Latin knights following their fifty-seven-year
occupation, to 1453, when the city fell to the Ottomans. The direct influence
of Byzantine artists and artisans in Serbia itself grew after 1204, when many
were forced to flee from Constantinople following the (mostly Christian!) sack
of the city by the knights of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. This Greek influ-
ence can be seen today in the wall frescoes of the Church of the Ascension at
Mileševa, as well as at the Sopoćani Monastery.
Some further interesting details are provided by Serbian-Canadian profes-
sional icon painter Svetlana Novko:
Art historians can tell the Serbian, or Moravian school of iconography by its darker,
earthier undertones of skin and garments (in comparison to, say, Russian bright pinks,
blues and greens and almost blond holy personages, including Christ representations)
and by oftentimes distinctly “Serbian” features of the holy personages. The Mileseva
Resurrection fresco (dubbed “White Angel”) is an example of an icon that looks quite
“Serbian.” A number of extant Moravian School frescoes and icons offer a glimpse
into the daily life of Serbs then, such as the Hilandar icon of the Entry of the Mother
of God into the Temple (Vavedenje) from around 1320. In the background of the
main event, the icon depicts a scene from Serbian patriarchal family life in the zadruga
communal system, including such details as the hair styles, features, clothing and hair
covers etc., of the peasant women and girls.6
While a number of medieval icon painters (most of them monks) are

known by name, most are unknown because they rarely signed their names,
thinking it vain and unfitting the holiness of their work. Production of reli-
gious art was affected by the Ottoman conquest of Serbian lands, because it
displaced or destroyed the nobility and church and the sources of wealth that
had allowed them to patronize the arts. This meant a relatively lower produc-
tion of icons during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. However, efforts
resumed with the restoration of the Serbian patriarchate in Peć (Kosovo) in
1557. A renaissance of Serbian icon and fresco painting occurred during the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when a number of regional schools of
icon painting sprang up. One of the most interesting cross-cultural devel-
opments was the influence, in the early part of this period, by the so-called
Cretan school of icon painting. The name refers to iconographers from the
Greek island of Crete, which from 1204 to 1669 was under the control of
the Venetian Republic. Here, a unique Italo-Greek style sprang up, creating a
fusion in art and literature between the Byzantine East and the Italian West.
The icons of this school are characterized by a more full-bodied, expressive,
and “softer” Italian Renaissance look. Such icons were usually commissioned
by wealthy patrons, decorated with gold trim, and lavishly ornamented.
After the Great Migration northward into Austro-Hungarian territory in
1690, Serbian religious art began to incorporate Western European influences.
However, traditionalism remained strong, with many leading icon painters
clinging to the simpler High Byzantine style of the eleventh to fourteenth
centuries. Nevertheless, developing trends in eighteenth-century Serbian art
reflected the new social and political realities of the “New Serbia” and set-
tlements along the Danube, especially Sremski Karlovci (also referred to as
Karlowitz). Here, the influential patriarch Arsenije IV championed the
adoption of the more realistic, baroque-style Ukrainian iconography. Thus,
Arsenije’s court painters began to follow this style in their work. The following
two centuries of artistic development would be characterized by the tension
between, and synthesis of, Byzantine traditionalist and modern Western and
Ukrainian baroque aesthetics.
−
The Serb −Dorde Mitrofanović is considered the leading painter of the early
seventeenth century; his work on the church at the Morača Monastery is con-
sidered among the best of the period. Other important Serbian iconographers
of the period include Dimitrije Daskal, the head of the Rafailović-Dimitrijević
family known for producing several iconographic masters, all inspired by tra-
ditionalism. Daskal’s work in 1689 at the Church of Saint Luke in Kotor,
Montenegro, is considered exemplary, though his most important work was
done in 1717–1718 in the Church of Pelinovo; here he created an elabo-
rate series of icons depicting the life of Saint Nicholas, the Virgin Mary, and
the entire menology. Daskal’s descendents were active throughout the eigh-
teenth and early nineteenth centuries, when they became known as the Boka
Kotorska school of icon painting. Similarly conservative art was championed

by Father Simeon Lazović, who, like his son Aleksije, followed Byzantine mod-
els in his paintings.
The “modern” school of painting, influenced by South Russian and
Ukrainian baroque in the eighteenth century, had its own masters, among
whom are found some of Serbia’s first great modern painters. Hristifor
Zefarović, painter of the Monastery of Bodjani in Bačka (1737), was the first
to truly embrace the liberating use of form and color embodied in Ukrainian
baroque. His work demonstrates an expressive and imaginative rereading of
sacred art, and many art historians believe that with Zefarović, modern Ser-
bian art was born. The wall paintings created at the Monastery of Krusedol
(1750–1756) also represent the new baroque trends, of further interest by the
presence there of an actual Ukrainian—the artist Jov Vasilijević—who had
become a court painter for Patriarch Arsenije IV. Among other aesthetic ex-
emplars, Vasilijević took his inspiration from illustrated baroque bibles from
Germany and Holland.
Other iconographers influenced by the Ukrainian baroque style include
the prolific Nikola Nešković (1740–1789)—author of more than a thou-
sand icons, frescos, and other paintings—Dimitrije Bačević, Dimitrije and
Jovan Popović, Jovan Popović, Vasa Ostojić, and Ambrosije Janković, all ac-
tive in churches in the Sremski Karlovci diocese between the 1750s and 1780s,
when new Western influences began to gain influence. However, the acknowl-
edged master of the baroque period, considered the first great modern Serbian
painter, was Teodor Kračun.
Kračun’s dated works begin with the frescoes of the Church of Saint George
in Sombor (1772) and continue through 1780, when he painted more out-
standing icons in the patriarchal church at Sremski Karlovci. In an exciting
departure from the past, Kračun also employed rococo themes in this work.
Kračun’s work embodies the synthesis of older Byzantine traditionalism—
characterized by strictness of form, meant to imply the spiritual dimension—
and the more explicit spirituality and emotiveness of the new baroque style.
His contemporaries and successors in the 1780s and thereafter, such as Jakov
Orfelin and Teodor Ilić Češljar, would be influenced by Kračun’s vision,
though they would not equal his genius. With the prolific, Vienna-trained
Češljar, who painted the iconostases in Mokrina, Stara Kanjiža, Kikinda, and
Bačko Petrovo Selo, a turn away from the baroque and toward the rococo
palette and more subdued, lyrical form then gaining prominence in the West is
witnessed. The work of Češljar marks the beginning of a new, more aus-
tere style of Serbian ecclesiastical art, heavily influenced by the Viennese art
academies, where many Serbian painters would be trained during the nine-
teenth century. Major painters of this style, known as the Serbian Biedermeier
school, include Arsa Teodorović, Pavel −Durković, Nikola Aleksić, and espe-
cially Konstantin Danil, the greatest representative of the genre. This period
also marks the emergence of formal (and secular) oil portrait painting.
MODERN PAINTING
Modern painting of a nonecclesiastical nature combined a range of Western
influences, especially German, Austrian, and French, reflecting the most com-
mon destinations for Serb and Montenegrin art students abroad. Throughout
the nineteenth century, their artwork would increasingly be marked by a mix-
ture of styles forced to conform with the wishes of their patrons—increasingly,
a wealthy and nationalist-minded aristocratic class seeking to have the best
(and worst) moments of Serbian history immortalized on canvas, often in
bombastic fashion. This need, and the Serbian upper crust’s vain desire for
European-style portraits of themselves, did not always prove greatly inspiring
for the artists, but a commission was a commission, and so it went.
In the 1840s, Serbian painting gradually departed from its classicist Bieder-
meier severity in favor of romanticism, which was marked by three distinct
qualities. The first was a gripping emotiveness that embellished the nation-
alistic and patriotic content of these paintings (much to the satisfaction of
their patrons). The second was a new conceptualization of landscape. Whereas
landscape had previously played a subordinate, background role in Serbian
paintings, works of nineteenth-century masters like Novak Radonić and Steva
Todorović elevated it, for the first time, to the central theme. The third aspect
of Serbian romanticism was embodied especially by −Dura Jakšić, who stud-
ied in Vienna and was deeply influenced by Rembrandt. In his paintings, he
imitated the Dutch master’s use of light and shadow and exploration of color.
With Jakšić, Serbian romanticism reached its peak between 1850 and 1870.
After 1870, a number of Munich-trained painters brought a new German
style of realism into vogue in Serbia. This genre is characterized by dark, rich
colors; the subject matter continued to include landscapes and, especially,
still-life and peasant village scenes. Proponents of this school included Miloš
− −
Tenković, −Dorde Krstić, and −Dorde Milovanović. Uroš Predić (1857–1953)
and Pavle Jovanović (1859–1957) were two of the greatest painters of the
late-nineteenth-century Munich style. The former created a harrowing series
of evocative nationalist-themed painting such as the dark Turkish Burning of
the Relics of Saint Sava and the Kosovo Maiden, spurred by the folk legends of
a Serbian girl giving water to wounded soldiers on the battlefield at the 1389
Battle of Kosovo. Jovanović created arguably the most famous Serbian paint-
ing of all time in 1896 with The Great Migration under Arsenije III Čarnojević
in 1690. This grandiose, nationalist-minded work is undoubtedly moving,

with its depiction of the patriarch leading his devastated flock out of Kosovo
together with the Austrian army retreating from battle with the Turks. This
painting was commissioned at a time of high nationalism and nostalgia, fol-
lowing the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 that reshaped the Balkans, and it was
finished just seven years after the five-hundredth anniversary of the great Bat-
tle of Kosovo, which signaled the end of the medieval Serbian empire. In this
fin-de-siècle period, a number of other patriotic-minded works focusing on
Serbia’s medieval greats were also commissioned.
THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

The turn of the century in Serbia marked a breath of fresh air for artists,
as contemporary trends elsewhere in Europe began to be adopted, such as
fauvism, cubism, and avant-garde. The country’s first school of art was opened
in 1895 by Kirilo Kutlik, whose students also studied in France and Germany,
where they (and other Serbian artists) came into contact with such styles of art.
After the First World War, another important sign of progress occurred when
the Belgrade School of Painting was opened. In 1904, the National Museum
in Belgrade opened the Yugoslav Gallery, to be devoted to twentieth-century
paintings; today, it preserves some three thousand paintings and watercolors
created between 1889 and 1999.
One of the first important twentieth-century painters in Serbia was
Milan Konjović (1898–1993), a native of Sombor in Vojvodina. He studied
abroad and lived for eight years in Paris, where he had numerous success-
ful exhibitions. In his lifetime, Konjović had 297 one-man and 700 group
exhibitions, both at home and in many foreign countries. His work, which
defies easy description, falls into six periods, divided by art historians into
color phases. In his lifetime, the prolific Konjović created some six thousand
oil paintings, pastels, watercolors, temperas, drawings, tapestries, stained-
glass windows, mosaics, and other forms of graphic art. A contemporary,
Marko Čelebonović (1902–1986), is regarded as one of Serbia’s finest modern
painters. Čelebonović pioneered a style called intimism, defined by its use of
colors. The painter had a colorful life as well, living in various European coun-
tries and volunteering in the French Resistance in World War II. Čelebonović’s
notable French colleagues included Antoine Villard, Paul Signac, Albert
Marquet, and Andre de Segonzac, and from them he adopted some of the
contemporary ideas of the French tradition, and his work indeed is paral-
leled by the tradition of French artists of the 1930s. However, what makes
Čelebonović’s work original is his juxtaposition of this French flavor with east-
ern, Balkan tones. As his life wore on, Čelebonović considered himself more
and more to be a Yugoslav painter, with his roots ultimately in Serbia and the
Balkans with all of their Byzantine and Turkish heritage.
A close colleague and contemporary of Marko Čelebonović was the Mon-
tenegrin Petar Lubarda (1907–1974), whose influence was especially pro-
nounced after World War II. While Yugoslav Communist ruler Josip Broz
Tito preferred “socrealism,” or social realism, Serbian artists, led by painters
like Petar Lubarda, started to liberate themselves from Communist kitsch
in the 1960s. Lubarda, who spent World War II in German concentration
camps, was inspired by Montenegrin history and landscape in his paintings.
Lubarda was the winner of many international awards, and he traveled widely
through his career. The same affection for his homeland reflected in his works
was also evident in Lubarda’s efforts to establish the first art academy of Mon-
tenegro. A second distinguished Montenegrin painter was Milo Milunović
(1897–1967), known for his works in both impressionist and cubist styles.
He was educated in Florence, Italy, and later in Paris, where he fell under the
influence of the great impressionist Paul Cézanne. Milunović’s most success-
ful works were created between 1926 and 1932 and combined impressionism
with a more abstract, rationalistic approach.
Among several other notable twentieth-century painters is the internation-
ally acclaimed Vladimir Veličković (b. 1935). In the 1970s, he became one of
the major promoters of surrealist figurative painting. From 1983 to 2000, he
was a professor at the École Nationale Superièure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and
is especially popular in France.
NOTES
1. Liljana Blagojević, Modernism in Serbia: The Elusive Margins of Belgrade Archi-
tecture, 1919–1941 (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003), 191.
2. Photios Kontoglou and Constantine Cavarnos, Byzantine Sacred Art: Selected
Writings of the Contemporary Greek Icon Painter Fotis Kontoglous on the Sacred Arts
According to the Tradition of Eastern Orthodox Christianity (Belmont, MA: Institute
for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, 1992), 71.
3. Liljana Blagojević, Modernism in Serbia, 61.
4. For a graphic and detailed assessment of the scale of this destruction on a case-
by-case basis, see the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska-Prizren, Crucified Kosovo,
book available online at http://www.rastko.org.yu/kosovo/crucified/default.htm.
5. Liljana Blagojević, Modernism in Serbia, 57.
6. Quote taken from the author’s interview with icon painter Svetlana Novko.
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Index
Abortion, 46, 51–52 Bologna Process in European education,

Adrianople, 12 56
Albanians, 4, 7–8, 12–14, 23–24, Bosniaks, 7–8, 34
33–34, 39, 79, 152 Branković, Vuk, 13
Amadeus, Rambo, 146 Brasovan, Dragiša, 163
Austro-Hungarian, 8, 15, 17–18, 53, Bregović, Goran, 69, 130, 140–141
84, 87, 89, 91–92, 103, 122–23, 128, Broz, Josip Tito, 20–21, 40, 142, 170
152, 158–60, 163, 166 Bulajić, Stevan and Veljko, 124
Austro-Turkish War, 14 Bulgarians, 8, 11, 16–18
Byzantine Empire, 10, 12
Baljak, Aleksandar, 29, 39–40
Balkan Wars (1912–1913), 16–18 Čangalović, Miroslav, 137
Battle of Kosovo, 12–13, 36, 67, 103, Čarnojević, Arsenije, 14
123, 168–69 Catholic Church, 20–21, 34
Battle of Pločnik, 12 Cetinje, 6, 52, 55, 107, 136
Battle of Srem, 21 Christianity, 9–10, 29–32, 113, 129,
Bayezid, Ottoman Sultan, 13 153, 170
Belgrade Aphoristic Circle, 37–38 Clinton, President William, 24
Belgrade University, 43 Čolić, Zdravko, 147
Bijelo Polje, 6 Communism, 8, 21–22, 34, 37, 41,
BK Television, 54, 120 45–46, 52, 60, 110, 116, 122, 128
Bobotov Kuk, 7 Constantine the Great, Byzantine
Boka Kotorska, 6, 151, 157–58, Emperor, 30
166 Cotrić, Aleksandar, 39
176 INDEX
Corfu, 18 Guča Trumpet Festival, 61, 68–69, 142

Croats, 8, 17–20, 23–24, 34, 74, 127 Gypsies (Roma), 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 13, 19,
Cyril and Methodius, 3, 31, 101–2 21, 46, 69–70, 110, 129–32, 138,
140–142
Dacians, 10
Damnjanović, Milan, 42 Hagiography, 103
Danube River, 4–5, 10, 62, 92, 97, 131 Hague Tribunal, 25–26, 39
Dayton Accords, 24 Herceg-Novi, 6
Dečani Monastery, 33, 152 Hilandar Monastery, 11, 32, 93, 102–3,
Dimitrijević, Branislav, 47 138, 165
Dinaric Alps, 5 Hitler, 19–20, 24
Divac, Vlade, 75 Holocaust, 20
Doković, Dragan, 117 Holy League, 14
−
Dragojević, Srdan, 123, 126–28 Homosexuality, 57–58
Drina River, 5, 123, 128 Hungarians, 8, 20, 34, 159
Drvengrad, 129
Duklja, Kingdom of, 11, 156 Inat, concept of, 48–50
Durmitor Mt., 7 Islam, 13–14, 33, 36, 113
Dušan, Stefan, 11–12, 32 Italians, 8, 20, 151
Dušanov Zakonik, 12 Ivanović, Ana, 61, 79–80
−
Derdap, 5 Izetbegović, Alija, 22
− −
Dindic, Zoran, 25, 118–19, 124,
150 Jaksić, −Dura, 108
− −
Durdevi Stupovi Monastery, 32 Janissaries, 14
−
Durić, Mihajlo, 43 Janković, Jelena, 79–80
−
Doković, Novak, 78, 80, 82 Jarić, Marko, 76
Jews, 13, 20, 34, 112
Ekatarina Velika, 145 Jovanović, Jovan Zmaj, 108
European Credit Transfer System, Jovanović, Pavle, 168
57
EXIT Festival, 68, 146 Kalemegdan Fortress, 62, 91, 155–56
Kangrga, Milan, 40
Ferdinand, Franz, 17, 68 Karić Brothers, 54–55, 120
− −
Folk Literature, 104–5 King Aleksandar I Karadore dvić, 19, 21
Fruška Gora Mt., 5 King Milutin, 11
King Peter II, 19–20
Glagolitic alphabet, 3 Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes,
Glisić, Milovan, 109 18
Gospels, 52, 102 Kingdom of Srem, 11
Gorski vijenac (The Mountain Wreath), Kiš, Danilo, 110–112
106 Kojić, Branislav, 151, 162
Great Powers of Europe, 16 Konjović, Milan, 169
Great Serbian Migration (1690), 14, Konjović, Petar, 137, 143
103–5, 166–68 Kopaonik Mt., 5
INDEX 177
Kosovo Liberation Army, 24 Nešković, Nikola, 167

Kosovo Polje, 12 Nikčević, Vojislav, 3
Koštunica, Vojislav, 25, 61, 145 Nikola I of Montenegro, 16
Kotor, 6–7, 16, 55, 107, 151, 153, Nikolić, Aleksandar, 74
157–58, 166 Nikšić, 55, 83, 91, 93
Kovačević, Dusan, 115, 125–26 Novi Pazar, 7, 54, 55, 153
Kracun, Teodor, 167
Kragujevac, 20, 27, 54, 94, 110, 142 Obilić, Milos, 12
Kumanovo Agreement, 24 Obradović, Dositej, 104
Kusturica, Emir, 29, 116, 122, 125, Obrenović, Milos, 15, 69, 93, 107, 140,
128–33, 141, 159 142
Old Church Slavonic, 31, 102
Lake Plav, 7 Orfelin, Zaharije, 93
Lake Skadar, 6–7 Ottoman Empire, 2, 14, 32, 35, 84, 105
Lazarević, Stefan, 13
Lepa Brena, 78, 148–49 Paganism, 30
Lovćen Mt., 7, 43, 107 Pannonian Plain, 5, 159
Lubarda, Petar, 170 Partisans, 19–21, 110, 116
Pašić, Nikola, 19, 21
Macedonians, 8, 10, 23 Paskaljević, Goran, 126
Makarije, Patriarch, 32 Patriarch Arsenije II, 32
Maksimović, Desanka, 110 Pavić, Milorad, 110–113
Marić, Božo, 39 Pavlović, Živojin, 124
Marković, Boban, 69, 130, 142 Peć Patriarchate, 32–33, 52, 166
Marković, Mihailo, 40–42, 45 Petrović, Gajo, 40
− −
Marković, Svetozar, 109 Petrović, Karador de, 15, 123
Megatrend University, 55 Petrović, Petar II Njegoš, 16, 43, 106–7,
Mihailović, Draža, 20–21 135
Mihajlović, Momčilo, 39 Phanariots, 32
Milanović, Igor, 77 Pink Television, 47
Milenković, Stefan, 143 Pliny, 9
Milošević, Slobodan, 23, 25, 42, 91, 116 Praxis School, 40, 41, 43–44
Miroslav’s Gospel, 102 Predić, Uroš, 168
Mitić, Boris, 38 Prince Lazar, 13, 156
Mokranjac, Stevan Stojanović, 142–43 Princip, Gavrilo, 17
Morava River, 5, 154 Prvovenčani, Stefan, 32, 103
Morava School, 154, 160, 165 Punisa Radić, 19
Murat I, Ottoman Sultan, 13–14
Museum of Contemporary Art, 47 Radić, Stjepan, 19
Radičević, Branko, 108
NATO, 12, 22–24, 27, 30, 39, 50–51, Radmanovic, Vladimir, 76
54, 56, 59, 117, 152 Rajić, Jovan, 104
Nemanja, Stefan, 11, 31, 32, 153, 160, Rakočević, Verica, 99
164 Rankić, Zoran, 39
178 INDEX
Rasević, Mirjana, 52 Tesla, Nikola, 46

Raška, 31 Thracians, 10, 16
Ražnatović, Svetlana (Ceca), 46–47, 90, Topić, Dragutin, 81
135, 148–50 Turbo-folk, 45–47, 90, 120, 135,
Ražnatović, Željko (Arkan), 46–47, 148, 146–49
150 Turks, 12–18, 29–30, 32, 48, 67, 97,
Red Army, 21 103, 106–7, 128, 139–40, 154, 157,
Republika Srpska, 24, 119, 128 160, 169
Riblja Čorba, 144–45
Roman Catholic Church, 30 Ulcinj, 6, 26
Romanians, 8, 10 Ulemeg, Milorad (Legija), 25
Russia, 8–10, 15–16, 25–27, 31–32, 46, United Nations, 23, 25, 39, 148,
63, 81, 102, 111, 113 152
Ruthians, 8 University of Belgrade, 42, 52, 60
University of Montenegro, 55
Saint Clement of Ohrid, 3, 102 University of Pristina, 54
Saint Sava, 14, 36, 67, 103, 155, 168 Ustaša, 19–21, 33
Šapić, Aleksandar, 77
Savičević, Dejan, 76 Van Gogh (Serbian rock group), 146
Šekarić, Jelena, 81 Vardar River, 5
Sekulić, Isidora, 111 Veličković, Vladimir, 170
Seleš, Monica, 78–79 Vendetta in Montenegrin society, 48–49
Serbian nationalism, 23, 46, 47 Vlachs, 10
Serbo-Croatian language, 2 Vladika system of governance, 16, 48,
Simić, Slobodan, 39 107
Smederevo, 13, 93, 156–57
Socialist Party, 29, 42 World War I, 17–18, 97, 123, 128,
Sokolović, Mehmed Pasa, 32 159
Sombor, 52, 167, 169 World War II, 19, 21, 33, 37, 41–42,
Sopočani Monastery, 52, 154, 165 51, 110, 116, 123–28, 170
South Slavic linguistic group, 2
Soviet Union, 19, 40 Volga River, 9
Sremski Karlovci, 92, 104, 166, 167
Stanković, Borisav, 109–10 Zagreb, 2, 40, 145
Stara Planina Mt., 5, 92 Zakić, Rastko, 38
Stefanović Karadžić, Vuk, 105, 140 Zemun Clan, 25, 150
Stojaković, Predrag, 75 Zeta, 6, 11, 13, 137, 156
Stojković, Dragan “Pixie,” 76 Zeta Plain, 6
Studenica Monastery, 32 Živojinović, Slobodan, 78
Zlatibor Mt., 5, 159
Tacitus, 9 Zloković, Milan, 151, 162
Teodosije (hagiographer), 103 Zrenjanin, 50, 91, 122
About the Author
CHRISTOPHER DELISO is an American journalist, travel writer, and

author specializing in the Balkans. He holds an MPhil with distinction in
Byzantine Studies from Oxford University.
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Culture and Customs

of Serbia and Montenegro

Serbia and Montenegro. Cartography by Bookcomp, Inc.

Culture and Customs of Europe

Deliso, Christopher M., 1974–

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available.

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be

The paper used in this book complies with the

Series Foreword vii

1 Land, People, and History 1

2 Religion and Thought 29

3 Marriage, Gender, Family, and Education 45

4 Holidays, Customs, and Leisure Activities 61

5 Cuisine and Fashion 83

7 Media and Cinema 115

8 Performing Arts 135

9 Art and Architecture 151

Selected Bibliography 171

Culture and Customs of Europe features individual volumes on the coun-

There is no country in Europe today that has been more misunderstood

and most Serbian nobles killed. Ottoman conquest acceler-

1948 Tito breaks with Stalin, navigating a diplomatic course be-

Land, People, and History

SERBS AND MONTENEGRINS

The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet originally derives, as do other Cyrillic alpha-

In its very name—meaning “Black Mountain” in Italian (Serbian equivalent, Crna

Yugoslav states settled down into predictable patterns of political behavior

or Romans), played a vital role in preserving the literature, philosophy, and

The Height of Serbian Glory: From the Nemanjići to Tsar

and mainland Greece. Stefan’s lasting contribution to Serbian medieval archi-

The Ottoman Conquest

Serbia and Montenegro under the Turks

Revolt and Relocation

signiﬁcant in Serbian population decline in Kosovo, and it has been captured

The Serbian Uprisings and Establishment of an Independent State

leading dynasties in Serbia sought to take power for themselves, frequently

Montenegro’s Rise and the Balkan Wars

Bulgarians, and Serbs (the modern-day Republic of Macedonia comprises

World War I and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes

were keen on joining a Belgrade-centered monarchy, having just been freed

World War II and Ascendancy of the Partisans

Serbia and Montenegro during Tito’s Yugoslavia

Serbia during the Wars of Yugoslav Secession

Serbia and Montenegro after Milošević

Serbia proper, on the other hand, seems to be improving. Despite chronic

Religion and Thought

Only unity saves the Serbs.

Orthodox worship diﬀers markedly from Catholic or Protestant worship.

FROM PAGANISM TO A PATRIARCHY

oversaw the endowment and creation of numerous monasteries, a Byzantine

FROM WORLD WAR II TO THE LOSS OF KOSOVO

RELIGIOUS PRACTICE TODAY

Saudi Arabian Wahhabi version of Islam, an archaic and puritanical practice

Western Europe from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. Serbian thought

SATIRE AND APHORISM

aphorism has reached its apogee; indeed, as Aleksandar Baljak, considered

An aphorism, as deﬁned and practiced in Serbia, is a short, sharp, linguistically ef-

more. These aphorisms reﬂect the perception of contemporary realities. For

aphorist, recently published a book of aphorisms in Sweden, it failed to stir

YUGOSLAV PHILOSOPHY: THE PRAXIS MOVEMENT