In consultation with me, come up with a research question pertaining to popular music in the Balkans or related topic. The topic should be in dialog with existing scholarship (e.g. readings on the syllabus and whats available through the library catalog) and provide a specific angle on the subject. Your topic/thesis can revolve around a specific genresuch as folk music, rock and punk, turbo- and neo-folk, rap and dub step etc.or a combination thereof. These can be formal questions such as the influences, evolution, and characteristics of the genre or broader social and political questions pertaining to the issues of national identity formation, gender and sexuality, and class. Ideally, your research topic will include a combination of the two. You will need to both contextualize the materials historically, as well as to provide analysis of select songs/music videos/paratextual materials. The bibliography should include at least 3 secondary and 4 primary sources. You can just use videos from Youtube or music streaming from spotify as primary sources.
The suggestion by my professor is to narrow down the ideas of last outline. You can just focus on one aspect —national identity and explore turbofolk music in Serbia and how it affects national identity in Serbia. Serbia has complicated nation background (has been ruled by different countries). The suggestion is to explore serbia’s relationship to Europe, to Turkey/Ottoman, and to Yugoslavia.
