Between West and East. The case study of Đorđe Marjanović

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role played by the first Yugoslav pop stars during the 1950s and the 1960s in the process of developing a local identity in popular culture; moreover we will shed light on the symbolic meaning of this phenomenon according to the international position of Yugoslavia. Strongly against any form of Western “decadent culture” until the early 50s, in a couple of years the Yugoslav system completely changed its approach, allowing new cultural trends from the capitalist world to penetrate in the country and even providing them with spaces and financial support. In the early 60s one can already mention a bunch of well established names in the music scene. After presenting the whole phenomenon, we will focus on the figure of Djordje Marjanovic. The Yugoslav singer, who introduced a new way of acting on the stage, established himself as the first local pop star, also becoming an object of worship for young people. In the following decades he engaged himself in several tours all over the Soviet Union, where he gained a huge popularity. Through his concerts, Marjanovic contributed to spread the new pop sounds in the Eastern Block, bypassing the hostility of the authorities toward Western-oriented music. That said, analyzing Marjanovic's case of study we will give an overview of the internal processes affecting the Yugoslav Federation (liberalization and opening up toward the Western culture) as well as of its international position (a tampon, but also a filter between West and East).