Negotiating post-war nationhood: Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the eurovision song contest

Abstract

‘Old’ Yugoslavia competed for the last time in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1992, hosted in Zagreb and won by Italy. By 1992, Yugoslavia had broken up into five separate nations (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Macedonia and Slovenia). The former two entered ESC in 1993 as new nations, whereas the Federal Republic of Yugoslvia competed in 1992 but was banned from participation in the ESC until 2004 due to international sanctions and isolation. This chapter will explore the separate ESC trajectories of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia. These three case studies offer insights into how Europe is imagined and re-lived in Europe’s cultural and political periphery, where forces of the East and West once again compete for geo-political influence.