Dizelaši ( Cyrillic: дизелаши; singular dizelaš, Cyrillic: дизелаш) was an urban street youth sub-culture popular in the 1990s in Serbia. It has been described as a mainstream fashion and social subculture, ^[1] that of a working class, similar to the British chav, French racaille [ fr] and Russian gopnik. ^[2] The French movie La Haine (1995) is often mentioned in relation to these subcultures. ^[3] It was characterized by turbo-folk, ^[1] hip-hop and dance music (such as Đogani), ^[1] mass-appeal designer clothes (such as Diesel), embroidered sweatshirts ^[1] and sportswear ^[2] (such as Nike Air Max ^[4] and Reebok Pump ^[2] shoes and Kappa ^[2] sweatsuits) and large link chains. ^[1] Track jackets were tucked into the bottom pants which in turn were tucked into socks, as to conceal goods; it is said that legendary gangster Knele (1971–1992) popularised it, having used it as a tactic ensuring his gun would slide into his socks rather on the pavement when running from the police. ^[2]

It emerged in Belgrade in the late 1980s and became popular by 1992, ^[2] in a period of embargo on FR Yugoslavia following the outbreak of the Yugoslav Wars. The youths were stereotyped as gangsters (also called mangupi), involved in illegal activities ^[1] such as fuel smuggling. The Russian counterpart is the Gopnik sub-culture, with which it is grouped together into "Post-Soviet fashion" that has become popular in recent years. ^{[5] [6]} In contrast to the dizelaši, the opposing sub-culture was called padavičari, including hippies, rockers, headbangers, metalheads and ravers. A typical dizelaš was seen as:

A youngster, short-cut [hair], in a track suit, with a gold chain around his neck, a mobile phone (possibly a good car), often tied to criminal activities. ^[7]

The resurge of the fashion has been dubbed Neodizelaši. ^[8] The 1995 documentary about Belgrade gangsters, Crime that Changed Serbia, is an icon of the culture.

Modern-day subculture closely related to old dizelaši is called gaseri (Serbo-Croatian) / gaserji (Slovene). ^{[9] [10]}

In movies

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (February 2018)

• Dva sata kvalitetnog TV programa, 1994 film
• Crime that Changed Serbia, 1995 documentary about Belgrade criminals
• The Wounds, 1998 film about a violent teen duo in Belgrade
• Skinning, 2010 film
• Welcome to Dizeldorf, meaning Welcome to Düsseldorf, Mashan Lekitch - Mašan Lekić 1994 documentary about Belgrade nineties culture

See also

• Chav, sub-culture in UK
• Gopnik, sub-culture in Russia
• Šatrovački, sociolect

References

Sources

• Eric D. Gordy (1 November 2010). Culture of Power in Serbia: Nationalism and the Destruction of Alternatives. Penn State Press. pp. 133–. ISBN  978-0-271-04368-5.
• Ivana Kronja. "Urbani životni stilovi..." Komunikacija. Archived from the original on 2012-06-18. Retrieved 2015-08-08.
• Rečnik savremenog beogradskog žargona: preko 4500 žargonskih reči i izraza. Istar. 2002. ISBN  9788690231164.
• Milosz Miszczynski and Adriana Helbig, ed. (27 March 2017). Hip Hop at Europe's Edge: Music, Agency, and Social Change. Indiana University Press. pp. 95–. ISBN  978-0-253-02321-6.
• Papović J., Pejović A. (2016) Revival without Nostalgia: The ‘Dizel’ Movement, Serbian 1990s Cultural Trauma and Globalised Youth Cultures. In: Schwartz M., Winkel H. (eds) Eastern European Youth Cultures in a Global Context. Palgrave Macmillan, London

External links

• "Kupio sam Gucci cvike, a i Air max dvojke". Popboks.
• "Za diplomski o dizelašima Milica dobila 10 u Rimu". Mondo.
• Aleks Eror (13 February 2016). "the international ubiquity of the tracksuit". i-D; Vice.
• Aleks Eror (1 February 2017). "Is Post-Soviet Fashion Ethically Problematic?". Highsnobiety.
• Aleks Eror. "Dizelaš: the 'Serbian gopnik' style that defined the 90s is making a comeback". Calvert Journal.
• Milorad Milovanović (31 March 2017). "Slike devedesetih zbog kojih nas podilazi jeza". NOIZZ.