SerbianSerbian Pictograms
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PICTOGRAMS REPRESENT SOME OF THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS, HABITS, AND INTERESTING FACTS OF THE SERBIAN PEOPLE: COMMUNISM, CYRILLIC, SLIVOVITZ, CHEVAPCICI, AND MANY OTHERS. PICTOGRAMS: SLAVIMIR STOJANOVIĆ; TEXT: MILETA PRODANOVIĆ
Serbs
SLAV PEOPLE WHO MIGRATED TO THE BALKANS IN THE 6TH AND 7TH CENTURY AD FROM THE REGION BETWEEN THE RIVERS ODER, VOLGA AND THE BALTIC SEA. THE AVARS TRIBE WENT FURTHER BUT THE SERBS REMAINED ON THIS BUSY CROSSROADS OF CONTINENTS, CIVILIZATIONS AND RELIGIONS.
The Organization “Black hand”
1903 ASSASSINATION – THE END OF THE DYNASTY OBRENOVIC. KING ALEXANDER AND HIS UNPOPULAR WIFE DRAGA WERE KILLED IN A PLOT ORGANIZED BY OFFICERS. ALTHOUGH EUROPEAN HISTORY ABOUNDS WITH SUCH ASSASSINATIONS, THIS ACT CAUSED CONSTERNATION AT OTHER FOREIGN COURTS. BECAUSE OF THIS REGICIDE SERBIA ENTERED THE TWENTIETH CENTURY WITH SANCTIONS IMPOSED BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. IT ALSO CAME OUT OF IT WITH SANCTIONS.
“Opanak”
THE SERBIAN PEASANT SHOE, A PART OF FOLK COSTUME, THE TRADITIONAL FOOTWEAR MADE OF BRAIDED LEATHER PIECES WITH CHARACTERISTIC SPIRAL, SIMILAR TO A PROW OF A SHIP OR THE END OF A BIRD’S BEAK. A PART OF FOLK HUMOR IS THAT SHOE “BEAKS” ARE USED AS HAND HOLDERS WHEN SQUATTING TO RELIEVE ONESELF IN THE OPEN.
Historic “NO” to Stalin
ONE OF MANY THEATRICAL GESTURES OF LEADERS ON BEHALF (AND AT THE PRICE) OF THE PEOPLE. SERBIAN AND YUGOSLAV HISTORY SHOWS MANY SIMILAR GESTURES THAT MAY ALL BE CLASSIFIED UNDER THE TERM SPITE. TITO IN 1948 SAVED YUGOSLAVIA FROM LIVING UNDER RIGID COMMUNISM AND SOVIET OCCUPATION. HISTORY MUCH LATER, CHARGED THIS WITH INTEREST.
Trumpets
DUE TO THE CONCURRENCE OF HISTORIC AND GEOGRAPHIC CIRCUMSTANCES THE STEREOTYPE HAS BEEN CREATED THAT SERBS ARE A MILITARY PEOPLE. THE TRUMPET IS A MILITARY INSTRUMENT. BREGOVIC AND KUSTURICA BROUGHT FAME TO THE SERBIAN BRASS BANDS. THE FAMOUS FESTIVAL OF BRASS BANDS IS HELD EVERY YEAR IN A SMALL TOWN OF GUCA.
Inflation
ALTHOUGH INFLATION ALWAYS EXISTED IN YUGOSLAVIA IT MAY BE SAID THAT 1993 HYPERINFLATION WAS THE RECORD HOLDER IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. ZEROES WERE ADDED TO THE BILLS AT THE RHYTHM OF ONE PER WEEK. THE RECORD WAS ESTABLISHED WHEN THE BILL CARRIED ELEVEN ZEROES.
Monasteries
THE POSITION ON THE BORDERS OF DIFFERING CIVILIZATIONS ALSO HAD ITS ADVANTAGES. THE MEDIEVAL ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN SERBIAN KINGDOM EXPLOITED THE INFLUENCE OF BOTH THE EAST AND THE WEST AND SYNTHESIZED THEM IN AN ORIGINAL WAY. NUMEROUS MONASTERIES AND FRESCO PAINTINGS PRESERVED TO THIS DAY TRACE THE EARLIEST EFFORTS OF TRUE EUROPEAN MULTICULTURALISM.
Monasteries
THE POSITION ON THE BORDERS OF DIFFERING CIVILIZATIONS ALSO HAD ITS ADVANTAGES. THE MEDIEVAL ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN SERBIAN KINGDOM EXPLOITED THE INFLUENCE OF BOTH THE EAST AND THE WEST AND SYNTHESIZED THEM IN AN ORIGINAL WAY. NUMEROUS MONASTERIES AND FRESCO PAINTINGS PRESERVED TO THIS DAY TRACE THE EARLIEST EFFORTS OF TRUE EUROPEAN MULTICULTURALISM.
Vlade Divac
SERBIAN WHO SUCCEEDED IN BASKETBALL—THE SPORT IN WHICH AMERICA HOLDS UNCONTESTED RULERSHIP—WHO IS ALSO AN EXCEPTIONAL AND POSITIVE PERSONALITY IN EVERYTHING HE DOES.
The Battle of Kosovo
THE KEY SITE IN SERBIAN HISTORY AND MYTHOLOGY AND MUCH LATER IN POLITICAL PROPAGANDA AS WELL. A DECISIVE BATTLE AGAINST THE TURKS TOOK PLACE ON ST. VITUS DAY (VIDOVDAN), 28 JUNE 1389. ACCORDING TO CONTEMPORARY CRITERIA, THE BATTLE ENDED IN A DRAW BECAUSE BOTH EMPERORS, LAZAR AND MURAT, WERE KILLED AND NONE OF THE ARMIES REMAINED OVERNIGHT AT THE BATTLEGROUND. IN HISTORY’S VIEW THE BATTLE ENDED WITH DEFEAT.
Ferdinand’s Assassination
THE VISIT OF THE UNPOPULAR AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ARCHDUKE FRANCIS FERDINAND TO SARAJEVO ON 28 JUNE 1914, ONE OF THE GREATEST SERBIAN HOLIDAYS, WAS UNDOUBTEDLY A PROVOCATION. GAVRILO PRINCIP’S SHOTS SIGNALED THE BEGINNING OF WORLD WAR I IN WHICH MILLIONS OF EUROPEANS LOST THEIR LIVES AND MORE THAN A QUARTER OF THE WORKING POPULATION OF SERBIA AS WELL.
Communist symbols
HERALDIC SYMBOLS YUGOSLAVIA SHARED WITH BROTHERLY SOCIALIST COUNTRIES INCLUDED: SICKLE AND HAMMER AS THE ASSOCIATION OF WORKERS AND FARMERS, FIVE-POINTED STAR (OBLIGATORILY RED), COG-WHEELS AS A SIGN OF INDUSTRIALIZATION AND STATE COAT OF ARMS FRAMED WITH WHEAT SHEAVES.
Baton
INSEPARABLE FROM THE PHENOMENON OF RALLIES, THE PRESENTATION OF AN ARTISTICALLY-STYLED RALLY BATON CARRIED THROUGH THE ENTIRE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA TO MARSHAL TITO WAS THE CLIMAX OF THE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION.
Plum Brandy
IN THE SAME WAY, AS COGNAC IS THE NATIONAL DRINK FOR THE FRENCH OR WHISKY FOR THE SCOTS, “SHLJIVOVITZA” IS THE NATIONAL DRINK FOR THE SERBS. THEY SOMEHOW BELIEVE THAT NO OTHER NATION MAY PRODUCE A FRUIT BRANDY.
The First NATO War
THE FOURTH BIG BOMBING OF BELGRADE AND SERBIA IN THE 20TH CENTURY – TWICE BY GERMANS, TWICE BY ANGLO-AMERICANS. THE SERBS THUS AT THE END OF THE CENTURY, GAVE REASON FOR CONTINUED EXISTENCE OF THE MILITARY ASSOCIATION WHOSE MANDATE WAS UNNECESSARY AFTER THE BREAKUP OF THE SOVIET BLOC.
Cyrillic alphabet
THE SCRIPT THAT APPEARED AT THE END OF THE 9TH CENTURY, BY ADJUSTING THE GREEK ALPHABET TO THE SLAVIC LANGUAGE. USED IN MANY COUNTRIES OF EASTERN AND SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE, AS WELL AS IN THE CENTRAL ASIA (KAZAKHSTAN, MONGOLIA). THE ALPHABET BECAME WELL KNOWN THROUGH THE COLD WAR SPY FILMS.
Serbian Language
THE SERBS SOMEHOW BELIEVE THAT THEIR LANGUAGE IS UNIVERSALLY UNDERSTOOD. THERE EXISTS A SAYING: SPEAK SERBIAN THAT ALL THE WORLD MAY UNDERSTAND YOU.
Ivo Andric
THE ONLY YUGOSLAV NOBEL PRIZE WINNER FOR LITERATURE. THE LATEST WAR IN THE WESTERN BALKANS HELPED THE WORLD TO REDISCOVER HIS HIGHLY METAPHORICAL AND WISE BOOKS.
Nikola Tesla
A GENIUS, A STRANGE MAN, THE MAN WHOSE INVENTIONS ARE AT THE ROOT OF EVERYTHING WE HAVE IN TECHNOLOGICAL CIVILIZATION. THANKS TO HIM, INSTEAD OF DIRECT WE HAVE ALTERNATING CURRENT. AFTER HIS DEATH THERE REMAINED DRAWINGS THAT STILL NOBODY CAN UNDERSTAND WHICH GAVE RISE TO MANY ASTONISHING LEGENDS.
Five hundred years under Turks
A PHRASE UNIVERSALLY USED TO JUSTIFY ALL AT IS BAD IN SERBS. HOWEVER, FIVE CENTURIES UNDER FOREIGN RULE LEFT, IN ADDITION TO NUMEROUS TURKISH WORDS IN THE LANGUAGE, MANY IMPORTANT CIVIL ACHIEVEMENTS, AND MULTICULTURAL TRADITIONS. ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT GIFTS FROM THIS TIME IS THE SPECIALLY PREPARED COFFEE STILL CALLED “TURKISH COFFEE”.
Center of the World
THE SERBS HAVE DIFFICULTY IN ASSESSING THEIR POSITION IN THE WORLD. IN SOME STRANGE WAY SERBIA IS A PERIPHERY OF SIBERIA AND THE VERY CENTER OF THE CIVILIZED WORLD. WITH ALMOST ALL NEIGHBORING PEOPLES THE SERBS SHARE THE FANTASY THAT THEY ALONE SAVED CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION FROM THE INVADING ASIAN HORDES.
After Tito-Tito
TITO’S COMMUNIST DICTATORSHIP HAD CERTAIN SOFT ASPECTS. LIFE WITHIN IT HAD BEEN ACCEPTABLE, AND THE STANDARD OF LIVING, BASED ON FOREIGN CREDITS, WAS FAIRLY HIGH. GRAPHITI IN THE POST-TITOIST PERIOD STATED “THE LOCKSMITH WAS BETTER” OR “COMRADE TITO YOU WERE STEALING BUT GIVING TO US AS WELL. THESE NOW STEAL BUT ARE GIVING NOTHING TO US.”
Rallies
GREAT PARA-SPORTS PERFORMANCES IN WHICH THE MASSES OF PEOPLE ARE TRANSFORMED INTO ENORMOUS “TABLEAUX-VIVANT” – USUALLY AT A STADIUM. THE RALLIES EXISTED EVEN BEFORE SOCIALISM AS AN IMPORTANT PART OF PANSLAVIC SOKOL TRADITION. IN THE IDEOLOGICAL TIMES OF COMMUNISM RALLIES BECAME A PART OF TITO’S CULT, AND WERE ALWAYS ORGANIZED FOR HIS BIRTHDAY ON 25 MAY.
“Chevapchiche”
DIFFICULT TO PRONOUNCE, THE WORD HAS A ROOT IN THE TURKISH TERM “KEBAB”. THE TRADITIONAL SERBIAN MIXTURE OF MINCED MEAT, HOWEVER, DIFFERS FROM THE ONE FOUND IN THE ORIENT. FOR TRUE SERBS THE CONVICTION PERSISTS THAT WHATEVER IS NOT MEAT IS NOT FOOD.
Bad guys – Good guys
AS EVERLASTING ALLIES, WARRIORS ON THE RIGHT SIDE IN WORLD WARS OF XX CENTURY, SERBS HAVE, UNTIL RECENTLY, BEEN “GOOD GUYS”, FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF TRIUMPHANT POWERS, OF COURSE. THIS STATUS HAS BEEN LOST IN A SERIES OF LOCAL WARS IN WHICH SERBS HAVE GAINED – OFTEN WITH A GOOD REASON – AN IMAGE OF VICIOUS VILLAINS, PARAMILITARY BANDITS, TACTIC AND STRATEGIC LIARS, OPPRESSORS OF NEIGHBORING NATIONS – IN SHORT, OF BAD GUYS.
Basketball
THE YUGOSLAV SPORT WITH THE MOST TROPHIES. WITH THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS GOLD MEDAL WON IN 1970 IN LJUBLJANA, YUGOSLAVIA IS AMONG THE TOP TEAMS IN THE WORLD. IT’S SUCCESS CONTINUED EVEN AFTER THE GEOGRAPHICAL FRAGMENTATION OF THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA.
The Black Wave
MOVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY ON WHICH LOCAL CENSORSHIP EXERCISED A GREAT DEAL. FILMS BY DIRECTORS SUCH AS DUSAN MAKAVEJEV, ALEKSANDAR PETROVIC, ZIVOJIN PAVLOVIC, LAZAR STOJANOVIC, AND SOME OTHERS HAVE BEEN INTERNATIONALLY AWARDED, YET OUR LOCAL AUDIENCE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO SEE THEM ONLY AFTER 15-20 YEARS.
Danilo Kiš
THE WRITER, THE DISTILLER OF WORD, THE EUROPEAN CULT NARRATOR, TRANSLATED TO ALMOST EVERY LANGUAGE IN THE WORLD. ONE OF HIS NOVELS ENDS WITH: “WE HAVE TO LEAVE NOW”, MY MOTHER WOULD THEN SAY. “MY GOD, HOW QUICKLY IT BECOMES DARK HERE! “
Time
TIME IS A VERY FLEXIBLE CONCEPT FOR THE SERBS. PERHAPS EVOLVING THROUGH CENTURIES OF TURKISH OCCUPATION, THIS MORE ORIENTAL NOTION OF TIME MAY IMPLY, ‘NOW’ OR ‘IMMEDIATELY’, OR IT MAY MEAN ‘TOMORROW OR AFTER TOMORROW’, ‘IN A MONTH’, OR ‘NEVER’.
The Crossroads of Wars
THE SPACE INHABITED BY SERBS, AS ONE OF THE IMPORTANT CROSSROADS IN THE SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE, HAS SHAPED SERBIAN HISTORY. AND HISTORY, ABUNDANT WITH DIVERSE CAMPAIGNS AND CONQUESTS, SHAPED FURTHER THEIR MENTALITY.
Slogans
STATE MANTRAS ON THE WALLS OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS, SOMETIMES GARNISHED WITH PICTURES OF COMMUNIST HEROES MARX, ENGELS, LENIN, AND TITO. THE MOST FAMOUS ONE WERE: KEEP BROTHERHOOD AND UNITY AS THE PUPIL OF THE EYE, NOTHING MUST SURPRISE US, COMRADE TITO WE SWEAR NOT TO STEP OFF YOUR ROAD. HISTORY HAS CONTRADICTED ALMOST ALL SUCH SLOGANS.
Spite
A QUALITY THE SERBS LIKE TO ATTRIBUTE TO THEMSELVES. WITHOUT EXCEPTION, THE HISTORICAL PRICE OF SUCH SPITE, PAID IN HUMAN LIVES, HAS BEEN VERY HIGH. IN A SOMEWHAT MORE BENIGN FORM IT IS LINKED WITH SPORT. THE SERBIAN TEAMS ARE ABLE TO CONQUER UNDOUBTEDLY BETTER OPPONENTS PURELY OUT OF SPITE. WHEN THERE IS NO SUCH MOTIVATION, IT OFTEN HAPPENS THAT THEY MAY LOOSE EVEN TO THIRD-RATE OPPONENTS.
Field toilet
THE CABIN, USUALLY MADE OF WOOD BUILT OVER SEPTIC PIT, USED FOR THE RELIEVING OF BOWELS. THOUGH USED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, IT INVARIABLY APPEARS AS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT IN YUGOSLAV FEATURE FILMS.
Partisans
TITO’S GUERRILLA ARMIE IN WORLD WAR II COINCIDING IN SERBIA WITH THE CIVIL WAR LASTING FROM 1941 TO 1945. AS VICTORIOUS PARTY THEY BROUGHT COMMUNIST IDEOLOGY TO THE COUNTRY. THE FILMS ABOUT THE PARTISANS ARE A KIND OF DOMESTIC “WESTERN”, ACHIEVING SOME INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS PARTICULARLY IN CHINA, VIETNAM AND SOME OTHER COUNTRIES.
Zenit
THE YUGOSLAV AVANT-GARDE ART MOVEMENT, A PART OF THE WORLDWIDE WAVE OF DADAISM AFTER THE WORLD WAR I. THEY GATHERED AROUND THE JOURNAL STARTED BY LJUBOMIR MICIC. HE INTRODUCED THE CONCEPT OF “BALKANIC-BARBAROGENIE” INTO THE DADAIST POETICS BASED ON CONTRADICTIONS.
Mileva Einstein
THE FIRST WIFE OF THE FAMOUS PHYSICIAN FROM NOVI SAD WHOM HE MET DURING THEIR STUDIES IN SWITZERLAND. THE SERBS BELIEVE THAT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT OF ALBERT’S ACHIEVEMENTS LIE THE IDEAS TAKEN FROM HIS LESSER-KNOWN COLLEAGUE.
5 October 2000 – “Bulldozer revolution”
THE DAY WHEN SERBIA AGAIN APPEARED ON ALL SCREENS IN THE WORLD, WITH A POSITIVE SIGN THIS TIME. OTHER PEOPLES CARRIED OUT THEIR REVOLUTIONS MAINLY WITH TANKS, AND THE SERBS – WITH AN EXCAVATOR. ON THIS DAY THE FATE OF THE LAST OLD FASHION DICTATOR IN THE EASTERN EUROPE WAS SEALED.
