Yu-Mex (a portmanteau of "Yugoslav" and "Mexican") was a style of popular music in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which incorporated elements of traditional Mexican music (such as mariachi and ranchera).[1] The style was mostly popular during the 1950s and 1960s when a string of Yugoslav singers began performing traditional Mexican songs.[2]

History

In the immediate post-war period, Yugoslavia did not have much of a film industry and the majority of films were imported from the Soviet Union. Following the Tito–Stalin split of 1948, Soviet films were no longer shown in the country. At the same time, due to ideological differences, Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito did not want his country to import American films. As a result, he turned to importing Mexican films. The fact that many Mexican films of the "Golden Age" glorified the Mexican Revolution and depicted ordinary Mexicans rising up against the oppressive Mexican state made Mexican films "revolutionary" enough to be shown in Yugoslavia. Many parallels were drawn between the struggle waged by the Yugoslav Partisans in World War II and the guerrillas who fought in the Mexican Revolution.[3]

The first Mexican film to premiere in Yugoslavia was the 1950 drama Un día de vida (One Day of Life, Jedan dan života), which became a huge hit when it appeared in Yugoslav theaters in 1952.[3][4] The plot of Un día de vida, which dealt with the execution of a rebel during the Mexican Revolution, brought many Yugoslav audiences to tears, as they saw a parallel with their own experiences in World War II.[5][6]

Other, less political Mexican films, such as comedies and romances, also became popular, and it was common for many young Yugoslavs to imitate the styles of Mexican film stars, who were seen as embodying everything that was "cool".[7] Because many of the films shown in Yugoslavia in the 1950s–1960s were Mexican, everything Mexican became very popular in Yugoslavia and many musicians started to don sombreros to perform Mexican music, either singing in Serbo-Croatian or in the original Spanish.[8][9] The interest slowly faded after the 1970s.

Some of the well-known Yu-Mex performers of the era were Nikola Karović, Slavko Perović, Ljubomir Milić and his ensemble Paloma (aka Palomci, among them Rade Todosijević[10][11]), Miroslava Mrđa, Đorđe Masalović, Ana Milosavljević, Trio Tividi, Manjifiko, Nevenka Arsova, and others.[12] Other famous singers and musicians, such as Predrag Cune Gojković and Mišo Kovač, also performed Yu-Mex songs.[13]

In the media

Slovenian writer Miha Mazzini renewed the interest in Yu-Mex music after publishing his novel Paloma Negra in 2013. During the research for the novel, Mazzini recorded the stories told by protagonists and made a TV documentary YumMex - Yugoslav Mexico.[14][15]

Croatia Records issues a 4CD compilation of Yu-Mex songs covering the period between 1951 and 2011 titled 101 Meksikanska (101 Mexicana, 101 Canciones Mejicanas).[13]

In 2018, Mexican non-profit organization Stultifera Navis Institutom traveled the Balkans in order to make the project "Kamarones, Jugoslavia." According to their website: "Fed by what has been called yugostalgia or yugonostalgia, 'Kamarones, Jugoslavia' rehearses the possibility of a trip to imaginary Yugoslavia through the geography of an allegorical Mexico."[16]

References

  1. ↑ Čulić, Ilko (16 July 2012). "YU-Mex fenomen: Zbog njih je sombrero bio glavni hit..." 24 Sata (in Croatian). Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  2. ↑ "Zaboravljeni junaci sombrero ere". BETA (in Bosnian). Nezavisne novine. 14 October 2008. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  3. 1 2 McKee Irwin, Robert (2010). "Mexican Golden Age Cinema in Tito's Yugoslavia". The Global South. 4 (1): 151–166 – via Project MUSE.
  4. ↑ Topalović, Manja. "YuMex Craze: How Mexican Film Won Over Yugoslavia". Sigedon Books & Antiques. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "El fenómeno Yu-Mex: Cuando Yugoslavia se inundó de mariachis y rancheras". El Criticiclo (in Spanish). 23 February 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  6. ↑ Muniz, Alvaro Amador (3 April 2022). "Yugoslavia's secret weapon against Soviet influence: YuMex culture". Yucatán Magazine. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  7. ↑ McKee Irwin 2010, p. 160.
  8. ↑ McKee Irwin 2010, p. 160-161.
  9. ↑ Osegueda, Rodrigo. "Yu-Mex, cuando la música mexicana enamoró la Ex Yugoslavia". México Desconocido (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  10. ↑ Đurić, S. (7 February 2011). "Meksikanac na srpski način". Vesti Online (in Serbian). Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  11. ↑ "KVARTET PALOMA - Usamljeni decak - Diskos EDK-3042". ZVUCI JUGOSLAVIJE - SOUNDS OF YUGOSLAVIA (in Serbian). 25 March 2010. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  12. ↑ Mazzini, Miha. "YuMex or Yu-Mex: Mexican music in fifties Yugoslavia". mihamazzini.com. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  13. 1 2 "V.A.- 101 Meksikanska 1951-2011 - Mexican Music From Yugoslavia - Musica Mexicana de Yugoslavia". Lightning Strikes : Music and Whatever Else. 11 May 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  14. ↑ "YuMex, Jugoslovanska Mehika". IMDb.
  15. ↑ Mazzini, Miha (3 February 2022). "YuMex - Yugoslav Mexico". Youtube. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
  16. ↑ "Kamarones, Jugoslavia". Stultifera Navis Institutom. 2018. Retrieved 6 November 2023.

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