Beatnik Fashion, Rock’n’Roll, and the Generation Conflict in Yugoslavia 1965-1967

Abstract

The paper examines how beatnik fashion spread through the former Yugoslavia as a phenomenon attendant upon rock’n’roll; it also focuses on the resulting generation conflict, and on the turning of the Communist Party and the Communist Youth Organization towards these music and fashion trends. The study is based on documents from the Serbian Foreign Ministry’s Diplomatic Archives and the Historical Archives of Belgrade, as well as on texts published in Belgrade and Zagreb dailies and music, entertainment and youth magazines in the period 1965-1967.