“Colorful” Vojvodina in the tableaux vivants of Karpo Godina

Patrycjusz Pająk

doi:10.32798/zl.1971

Published: 2025-12-23

Vol. 63 No. 2 (2025)

“Colorful” Vojvodina in the tableaux vivants of Karpo Godina

Patrycjusz Pająk

Zeszyty Łużyckie

Section: Articles

https://doi.org/10.32798/zl.1971

Abstract

Healthy People for Fun (Zdravi ljudi za razonodu, 1971) is one of the most famous documentary films associated with the Yugoslav Black Wave. Director Karpo Godina dedicated the movie to the myth of the “colorful” Vojvodina – a land of numerous linguistically, culturally, and religiously diverse ethnic groups, who, despite their close proximity, live in harmony. In socialist Yugoslavia, this myth served to promote the idea of brotherhood and unity among the Yugoslav nations. Employing the convention of tableaux vivants, enhanced with a carefully chosen musical score, Godina subjected this phenomenon to ironic critique. On the one hand, he revealed its naïve illusoriness; on the other, a kind of beauty which that transcended the ideological horizon.

Keywords:

Vojvodina, ethnic minorities, Karpo Godina, Serbian film, tableaux vivants

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Pająk, P. (2025). “Colorful” Vojvodina in the tableaux vivants of Karpo Godina. Zeszyty Łużyckie, 63(2). https://doi.org/10.32798/zl.1971

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Patrycjusz Pająk

p.p.pajak@uw.edu.pl
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1313-6890

Affiliation:

University of Warsaw, Institute of Western and Southern Slavic Studies Poland

Bio Statement:

Patrycjusz Pająk, DSc, associate professor at the Institute of Western and Southern Slavic Studies, Faculty of Polish Studies, University of Warsaw. His research focuses on the cultures of Slavic countries in Central Europe and the Balkans. He is the author of the books Kategoria rozpadu w chorwackiej prozie awangardowej (The Category of Disintegration in Croatian Avant-Garde Prose) (Polish edition, 2003; Croatian edition, 2007), Groza po czesku. Przypadki literackie (Czech-Style Horror: Literary Cases) (Polish edition, 2014; Czech edition, 2017), and Arcydzieła chorwackiego filmu fabularnego (Masterpieces of Croatian Feature Film) (Polish edition, 2018), as well as articles published in scholarly edited volumes and academic journals.