Recreating the bonds: Naši ljudi or Yuggar of Sweden The Old Set of Values in the New Environment

Summary, in English

This thesis will inquire into the contemporary neo-Yugoslavian culture in Sweden and cultural intimacy as a base to recreate the bonds from the past. Moreover, mutual impacts between the two substantially different societies, the society of free individuals of the Swedes and neo- Yugoslav collectiveness, duh Yuge, are the result of a multifaceted process with intriguing outcomes. Zlatan Ibrahimović and Mårten Andersson aka Cvetković are some celebrity examples of this cultural mishmash, but this research will shed light on the broader landscape of the Yugo-Swedish identity (without necessarily having Yuggeskostym on).
Opposing the Balkan bloodshed and genocidal notions, in this study, Yugoslavia reveals itself as another word for nostalgia and a path to mutual understanding. Despite the traumatic past, in the spirit of the former union and brotherhood, far from the toxic homeland propaganda, locally called Yuggar of Sweden coined an expression that opens all doors and is the bottom of my research: who are “naši ljudi” and how do they interact? The interview questions with “our people” will explore the profile of their memory of Yugoslavia, and the relation between a sense of self, a sense of loss, and a newly built identity in Sweden.

• Author: Milica Matejcic Gakovic
• Department/s: Central and Eastern European Studies
• Publishing year: 2024
• Language: English
• Full text: Available as PDF - 964 kB; Download statistics
• Document type: Student publication for Master's degree (two years)
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Keywords: Keywords: nostalgia; post-conflict community; cultural intimacy; narrative identity; naši ljudi; duh Yuge; Yuggar 1; self-defining memories.
• Supervisor: Tomas Sniegon