New Primitivism

New Primitivism (Serbo-Croatian: Novi primitivizam) was a subcultural movement established in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia in March 1983. It primarily used music, along with satire, sketch and surreal comedy on radio and television, as its forms of expression. Its protagonists and followers called themselves the New Primitives. Functioning as a banner that summarizes and encompasses the work of two rock bands Zabranjeno Pušenje and Elvis J. Kurtović & His Meteors as well as Top lista nadrealista radio segment that eventually grew into a television sketch show, the discourse of New Primitivism was seen as primarily irreverent and humorous. The movement officially disbanded sometime in 1987, although the bands and television show continued for a few more years after that—Elvis J. Kurtović & His Meteors until 1988, Zabranjeno Pušenje until 1990, and Top lista nadrealista until 1991. Basing itself on the spirit of the Bosnian ordinary populace outside of the cultural mainstream, the movement was credited for introducing the jargon of Sarajevo mahalas (brimming with slang and Turkish loanwords) into the official Yugoslav public scene. Many of the New Primitivism songs and sketches involve stories of "small people"—retirees/pensioners, coalminers, petty criminals, street thugs, provincial girls, etc.—being placed in unusual and absurd situations. Stylistically, the New Primitives' methods drew comparisons to Monty Python's Flying Circus, sharing the short sketch form and utilizing absurdity as means of eliciting laughs from an audience. The embodiment of New Primitivism is a youth who both reads challenging works such as Hegel's The Phenomenology of Spirit, but also does not mind getting into fistfights. In the most general sense, the movement got established as a Sarajevan reaction to the New wave and Punk movements that had been sweeping the Yugoslav alternative music scene for several years already. Some of New Primitivism's most notable traits were promoting and popularizing Sarajevan street jargon and slang that hadn't been well known outside of the city in others parts of Yugoslavia where Serbo-Croatian is spoken.