There has never been such tension before a pop culture event in the Croatian capital. The upcoming concert by right-wing pop star Marko Perković Thompson, scheduled for next Saturday (July 5) at the Zagreb Hippodrome, has already surpassed all previous similar gatherings, if not any others in general.
The growing public tension, however, does not stem solely from the singer-songwriter's extreme political leanings, which have led to his performances being banned in some Western European communities. Namely, fears of various dangers due to the expected enormous crowds at the concert are now coming to the fore.
About half a million tickets were reportedly sold for Thompson's performance. It is estimated that Zagreb will be overcrowded with visitors next weekend, representing more than half of the population of the Croatian capital. At the same time, the possibility of a general traffic, security, public health and other collapse of the city is predicted.
This is also indicated by the frequent public disputes regarding issues such as securing the concert, emergency services, parking spaces, public transport, etc. But, while the outcome of this uncertainty is anxiously awaited, the public debate about the reasons for Marko Perković's impressive popularity will certainly remain unfinished after the concert, without whom, for example, there would be no public celebration of a single victory by the Croatian national football team today.
Normalization of Ustashaism
Some wave it off, with a dose of moral panic, attributing all the causes to the (ir)responsibility of the broad masses. Others resort to a more complex analysis. There is no question that Thompson glorifies the Croatian fascists from World War II, i.e. the Ustasha regime, but he himself could not rehabilitate it to such an extent and, one might say, normalize it.
Croatia was nevertheless an important part of the Yugoslav partisan movement during that war, the only one in the world that largely independently liberated the country from total occupation by the Axis Powers. This would not have been possible without the anti-fascist unity of the Croatian and Serbian populations of Croatia, under the leadership of local communists.
"In the context of the general shift to the right, not only in Croatia but across Europe and the world, Thompson's popularity is not surprising," Lada Duraković, a musicologist and music historian at the Academy of Music in Pula, tells DW.
In her opinion, it is also a reflection of the defeat of cultural policy and the systematic retreat of institutions in the face of a noisier, more aggressive right. The cause is not primarily the war between Croats and Serbs at the end of the last century, although Thompson's career also began in that war; an important phase of the right-wing extremism of society occurred both before and subsequently, with the initiative from the top, by the elite.
For example, this was done by approving the use of the Ustasha salute "For Homeland - Ready" (ZDS), similar to the Ukrainian case with the right-wing salute "Glory to Ukraine". Thompson shouts it at the beginning of his first and perhaps greatest hit "Čavoglave", but he shows similar Greater Croatian impulses in other songs, such as the one in "Lijepa li si" when he includes a part of his imaginary Croatia - Bosnia and Herzegovina.
"In a country where the national academy of science and art 'washes' Ustasha iconography, creating," as our interlocutor says, "a distinction between the 'Ustasha' and the 'homeland' ZDS, and symbols associated with the NDH, such as the Croatian coat of arms with the first white initial field, find their way into semi-official use, Ustasha symbols at Thompson's concerts are no longer a scandal, but part of the process of institutional normalization of historical revisionism." The Utopia of Unity
"It is, therefore, part of the cultural policy for which the state has given permission," stated the musicologist who, among other things, is also involved in researching the mutual relations between ideology and music. She also assesses that for a part of the audience, the reason for Thompson's popularity is certainly a conscious ideological choice. Because, such people recognize and share the narrative of exclusivity in his songs, the reproduction of messages that trivialize crimes, relativize fascism, and the like.
However, this scholar warns that looking at his popularity only from that angle is quite a simplification. After all, what does a musicological review of the structure of the Thompson phenomenon look like?
"Basically, Thompson's music is very functional and uses familiar mechanisms to achieve a certain effect: hard rock or heavy metal patterns with melodic choruses and a strong rhythm, simple harmonic progressions, distorted guitars, powerful drums, occasional use of traditional instruments and dominantly emotionally articulated vocals. This effect is the core of his appeal, because it provides a utopia of belonging, a kind of emotional response to deep social frustrations. In short, The Thompson Phenomenon is more a question of what people feel than what they think. That affective moment is key," Duraković assesses.
Thompson, as our interviewee adds, evokes collective affective states, moments in which the crowd shares some common feeling – sadness, pride, defiance, euphoria. “To problems such as material insecurity, cultural disorientation, symbolic emptiness – who are we, what have we survived, what have we fought for, is this the Croatia we dreamed of – Thompson offers answers,” points out Lada Duraković.
Compensation of meaning
"And his answers," he says, "are: your suffering is legitimate, belonging to the Croatian people is sacred, your sacrifice is truly recorded in history. It is healing for all who feel insignificant, disenfranchised, despised, deceived on a daily basis – a kind of anesthetic for frustration, and an adrenaline booster."
Duraković emphasizes that in this "nourishing" of a sense of community, national pride and belonging, the diaspora is given special treatment as an active, emotionally and spiritually connected segment of the Croatian people. "The audience probably leaves his concert with a sense of meaning, which compensates for what they lack in reality," she says.
In her opinion, Thompson offers a stable affective map: “I know how you feel, and here it is – my music confirms that you are right.” This, she says, is why he is not “just a singer,” but an emotional center for thousands of people.
A regulator of the sense of identity and a producer of a kind of collective affective cohesion that provides a sense of order, meaning and belonging in a society of deep insecurity.
"Thompson's audience does not necessarily share his political views," Duraković emphasizes. But it is also unrealistic to expect that after the upcoming concert at the Hippodrome, they will share them any less than they have so far.
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