The Transmission

Intro: Yugoslavia was home to a remarkable punk, post-punk, and new wave scene. How did such music fit within a socialist state that could label culturally suspect material "šund" or "rubbish"? This post looks at some of the ways the system of šund affected popular culture, from disputes over bands such as Prljavo Kazalište and Aerodrom to criticism surrounding Paraf and Azra and some discussions in pages of Polet, a youth magazine. It also considers these controversies alongside the "Red Book" and the issue of self-censorship in Yugoslav arts.