From vernacular creativity to digital activism – construction of heroes and villains in contemporary Serbian environmental movement

Abstract

This paper deals with the social construction and representation of heroes and villains of the contemporary Serbian environmental movement. In the last few years, growing environmental problems have led to establishment of several informal environmental initiatives and organizations in Serbia. These local environmental initiatives and organizations with a strong social media presence are dedicated to raising environmental awareness among the general public and protesting against the privatization of natural resources and the opening of new factories and new mining sites, which inevitably lead to environmental pollution. Various practices of digital activism play a significant role in informing and mobilizing concerned citizens. Analytical data is collected from 2017 to 2022. on social networking platforms and consist of various expressive materials created and shared digitally. One of the primary themes that pervade numerous and genre-diverse units of digital protest folklore of eco-activism in Serbia is we : them dichotomy, i.e., people/folk vs. private investors and local politicians. For example, in internet memes and other pieces of photoshoplore, environmental activists are depicted as new folk heroes. At the same time, domestic and foreign private investors, politicians, and local authorities are perceived as the main culprits for a (potential) environmental disaster. The main objective of this paper is to explain these processes of heroization and villainization in the digital eco-activism practices in postsocialist Serbia. Also, this paper tries to point out the importance of visual communication, as well as the role of humor, satire, and parody in the creation of new folk heroes.