Yugofuturism and subversive mimicry: Ex/Post-Yugoslav Digital (Meme) Culture

Abstract

The text deals with digital meme culture originating in ex-Yugoslav countries and the forming of a particular post-Yugoslav, (post)digital cultural space which we will examine both in the “affirmative” context of a (yet-to-be-conceived) Yugofuturism, and that of subversive affirmation strategy. This strategy – in which subversion comes not from criticism and clear resistance to any given discourse and action, but from controversial and vivid forms of overemphasis of those same ideologies and imagery – at first glance seems intrinsic to digital meme aesthetics. Following the footsteps of transitions of retrogardism (Neue Slowenische Kunst) and the wider field of contemporary subversive mimicry practices in post-digital art and culture, we will explore this ex/post-Yugoslav shared space in search of a possibility of a(n) (anti)utopic Yugofuturistic discourse.