"Throwing Stones at the System": Rock Music in Serbia during the 1990s

Abstract

Throwing Stones at the System Throwing Stones at the System Throwing Stones at the System Throwing Stones at the System" " " ": : : : Rock Music in Serbia during the 1990s Rock Music in Serbia during the 1990s Rock Music in Serbia during the 1990s Rock Music in Serbia during the 1990s BRANA MIJATOVIC Milosevic was brought down by rock and roll, without a doubt.Because rock is also OTPOR [the movement Resistance], and the fist [visual symbol of OTPOR], and our empty wallets, and running through the tear-gas, and Dinkic as a governor of the National Bank [Mladjan Dinkic is a young economist, oppositionary intellectual and a musician] and a smile that conquered the fear. 1During the 1990s rock music in Serbia metamorphosed from urban entertainment to underground opposition and a weapon of resistance against the Slobodan Milosevic regime.The analysis of several rock songs that critically addressed political discourse, key political events, figures, and social injustices in 1990s Serbia will reveal the variety of ways in which metaphors and symbols in music functioned as a powerful political critique.In using this strategy, it is not my intention to provide an encyclopedic and chronological overview of the musical scene in Serbia in the 1990s, nor do I wish to overemphasize the significance that rock music had during those turbulent times.The purpose of this article is to provide examples which will illuminate the role of music as "a kind of cognitive praxis" and a "collective learning process" during times of political unrest. 2 What exactly did rock songs in Serbia oppose and how did they function as a "cognitive praxis"?In order to answer these two questions, I will outline briefly the political and social situation in Serbia during the 1990s and then discuss the concept of cognitive praxis in social movements as proposed by the sociologists Ron Eyerman and Andrew Jamison (1991).The complexities of Serbian politics during the 1990s are well documented.3 From Serbia's involvement in the wars in Croatia and Bosnia, to the staggering economic crisis, to the regime's 1 Branko Rogosic, "Uvodnik" ("Editorial"), Rock Express, no. 25 (2000)

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