Queer celebrity: Marija Šerifović and national vs. sexual identity

Irena Šentevska

doi:10.32798/zl.1087

Published: 2023-10-16

Vol. 59 No. 1 (2023)

Queer celebrity: Marija Šerifović and national vs. sexual identity

Irena Šentevska

Zeszyty Łużyckie

Section: Articles

https://doi.org/10.32798/zl.1087

Abstract

The paper examines the media phenomenon of Marija Šerifović, Serbia’s Eurovision Song Contest winner, from two angles: 1) the political context of her success as a representative and cultural emissary of a newly-defined (post-Yugoslav) Serbian nation, and 2) the cultural context of communication of her sexual identity to a largely unsympathetic domestic audience. What makes this case interesting is the over-politicization of this communication: the initial conflict between Šerifović’s celebrity status of a “national heroine” and a (potentially) “queer outcast” has gradually changed in the public sphere in accordance with the more general political shifts in attitudes towards members of the LGBTQ+ community in Serbia. The essay also aims to situate this dynamics in the wider political context of the “sexual diversity debate” revolving around the Eurovision Song Contest.

Keywords:

Marija Šerifović, Eurovision Song Contest, LGBTQ community, Serbia, nationalism

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Šentevska, I. (2023). Queer celebrity: Marija Šerifović and national vs. sexual identity. Zeszyty Łużyckie, 59(1), 105–127. https://doi.org/10.32798/zl.1087

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Irena Šentevska

irenasentevska@gmail.com

Affiliation:

Independent Scholar Serbia

Bio Statement:

Irena Šentevska received her PhD from the department of arts and media theory of the University of Arts in Belgrade, Serbia. She is independent scholar, curator and translator. Her research interests include theatre, film, television and popular music studies. Her first book The Swinging 90s: theatre and social reality of Serbia in 29 pictures came out in 2016 (Orion Art, Belgrade). She is currently working on her second book Singing Belgrade: urban identity and music videos (Clio, Belgrade).