Serbian Australians in the Shadow of the Balkan War by Nicholas G Procter

Author:Nicholas G Procter [Procter, Nicholas G]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Australia & New Zealand, Psychology, Social Science, Sociology, General
ISBN: 9781000160512
Google: 8DHvDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-08-26T03:33:33+00:00

Belonging at (to) the Soccer

Serbian Australians used a variety of means to bring about a sense of shared involvements with others. At the soccer ground for example, the excitement and energy of soccer acted as an expression point for the pressure and frustration felt by mainly Serbian men unable to cope with events in the former Yugoslavia. I believe that this contributed to an explanation of how many male participants used the soccer to feel bonded and close to each other, sharing common beliefs about the Serbian point of view.6

At the soccer too, there was a coming together of Serbian history and culture, and an explicit portrayal of the social heritage of the group. Whenever Serbian Australians gather at the soccer ground, customs, language and lifestyle, came together to form a kind of unity which was the result of shared similar background. Along with the unity of these qualities was a love of the game, and a network to find out what was happening in the former Yugoslavia. This informal news network formed purposeful bonds of belonging that may have also encouraged some participants to return each game. Djordje saw it this way:

When I go to the soccer I can see all of my Serbian friends. I can find out what is happening in Yugoslavia. We are all brothers together, (emphasis added, N.P.)

The above quote emphasises that the soccer ground was an important meeting place for some Serbian Australian male participants to feel bonded with each other. The soccer ground provided a space for meeting with social and cultural contacts and knowing that common male bonds of culture and identity traces could be made. Moreover, there was also a common concern for the people and places of the former Yugoslavia that individuals may know. The individual problems of living, brought about by the Balkan war, had feeling dimensions attached to them and, being in the company of empathic others of the same culture may have contributed positively to the process of helping. The common bonds of culture become closely tied to the process of promoting improved individual coping in the face of external conflict and adversity. The weekly soccer game also appeared to be a means of helping to promote positive mental health and wellbeing by facilitating a release of tensions, and securing ‘close-knit’ associations over common interests. Viewed this way, male bonding, and belonging to the sport of soccer and the social interaction it brings, is an example of health as a social and emotional process, involving the sharing of recreational space with others.

Symbols of Serbian culture and national identity such as flags and emblems are essential to this aim and were often seen during the game on the clothing of spectators, for instance a T-shirt design, or a lapel pin. Several T-shirts were branded with the four ‘C’s (‘S’ in Cyrillic script). These four Cs make up the acronym of the slogan Samo Sloga Srbima Spasava. That is, ‘Only unity can save the Serbs’. (trans. N. P.)

The importance

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