Slavko Bogdanovic was sentenced to eight months in jail by the Novi Sad District Court (Case no. 77/72, 12 May 1972) for violating Article 292a of the Criminal Code and article 116. of the Law on press and other forms of information. Both the District Court and the Supreme Court of AP Vojvodina had found that Slavko Bogdanovic, in his text Poem Underground Tribune of Youth Novi Sad, published in the Student, had presented false news and false claims regarding many events and issues.
Slavko Bogdanović, realization of the cube of Slobodan Tišma, Catholic church yard, Novi Sad, 18. April 1970.
1.
THE UNDERGROUND
comes in three forms
(those are the three that I am interested in
maybe there are more of them but I don’t know about them
because information here is so
scarce
or I didn’t think about them
because they don’t interest me
for this poem)
the commercial underground
the intellectual underground and
the underground
this first one
the commercial
in its commercial nature is not diff
erent from the second listed
the intellectual
both are not within the same category simply because the first one does not have
any other side
it is the broadest spread and it is consumed around the clock by different
generations of consumers
it is not creative
it (is) should be said that it is the bee gees
tease
gather[1]
and shit like that
the intellectual underground besides the commercial
which is secondary
also has an important intellectual dimension
it is a rebellion
it is (the) quality
it is the hope of the bright future of electronic
communism
in essence it is the elite directly juxtaposed against
the destructive forces of civilization
it is a departing avantgarde
leaving behind masses of young follow
ers
confused, drugged and dead
it is an honorable loneliness nevertheless undermined by the
consumer nature of this world
JARY4 AEBY5 ANGELA6 TIM7 and other friends
THE STUDENT TRIBUNE PROBLEMS UJ
SYMPOSIUM[7]
the underground
is a totally non-legal thing which
evolves spontaneously
in a narrow circle
(of friends)
it carries an immediately recognizable quality of
the underground
like when I say L.H.O.O.Q. No. 7
&
9
the underground
periodical
for developing of interpersonal relationships
which I produce for my friends
the underground
like miroslav and like bjela
an armed rebellion that we
dream of
the underground
like my bro bosko[8]
like WITH THE UNIVERSE
privately
2.
TRIBUN-CIK
if the tribune[9] is in the ownership of the official
organization of youths
(henceforth: the association
for
safe keeping of development of the young consumers)
then it’s social
purpose
has been clearly determined by the character as the society for safe keeping…
the tribune of youth of novi sad:
non-elite programme
mass
communication
acculturation of the youth population of the city
to
a consumer outlook to the world
stifling of all forms of creation
provincial ideology
de-individualization
work
fun
loyalty
preserving and protecting the tradition of the nor[10]
comrade isakov[11]
comrade canadanovic[12]
the tribune is a place where workers and
high school students come
by foot or not at all
to listen to domestic pop music
to listen to the speeches of their politicians
to listen to the poetry of their colleagues
to watch the paintings of their colleagues
to watch domestic neretvas and sutjeskas[13]
to comfortably and carelessly spend
free
time consuming coca- cola and a sandwich
the pace of life is getting faster and time is all the more expensive
the tribune thus needs to create those forms of entertainment
which will help (the) consumers (to)
start the next day ready for work and
efficient
work creations
the tribune is a place respectable in every way
the tribune is a trustworthy place
at the tribune no one will get fucked over
at the tribune no one will smoke hashish
at the tribune no one will complain
the tribune is a safe and dependable meeting place for
the youth of our city
the tribune of youth of novi sad is faulty because
it attempts to be something
that the youth in our city gives
a fuck about and that
the adults in our city do not give
a fuck about because they are afraid
because there is not a lot of fun
within indoctrination of socialist ideology of backa[14]
assets of the tribune of youth are disco-club polja[15] and super-intendant laza
a good vision of a good generation will remain
a vision even when the tribune becomes a producer of
mass entertainment and
commercially independent
just hollow air and always
in novi sad
just commercialized underground and political
speeches
3.
BEGINNING WITH DEJAN POZNANOVIC TO THE
RECENT BANNING OF THE ÙJ SYMPOSION IN
NOVI SAD
young men with delicate fingers run with bugged out
eyes already out of breath and behind them
relentlessly with clenched fists stalin comes
speaking through the words of jasa zlobec[16]: you could imagine this
in russia but not in novi sad!
but I am
here! but i am here! but I am here! but I am here!
and then at the congress of cultural action: to shield
of you under my roof now it is clear that in this fucked up city
everyone who wants
to think of something smart and honest and then only tries to
do it
gets fucked over
and the only real chance for guys at the tribune is
like bosko ivkov[17]
in polja
to nurse kitschy socialistic-realism and commercial under
ground surrealism
and nothing more because afar (the) people
will be killed
because this horrible city meticulously reveals it’s
dark soul
the tribune of youth will never become an elite stronghold
of the avantgarde thought
because this damned city does need that
and also because (of that) the tribune is not a real chance but
just some (a) cowardly bullshit
the feeling of social récognition — feeling
like
I ate shit
A MESSAGE TO THE FRIENDS AT THE TRIBUNE
IF THEY EVEN EXIST THERE
listen carefully in novi sad to the “underground
footsteps of the révolution”
carefully to the guerrilla
carefully to those who won’t stop and wait
you won’t be saved by jerking off
you need to fuck
you need to live the rebellion not the surrogate to rebellion and not
for dirty money and strict censorship in the grey house on
the corner slavko bogdanovic
(29 11 71 Bosut)
[1] Tease (Cik) and Gather (Susret) were in the times public periodicals (“yellow print”) , controlled by the public authorities.
[2] John Cage.
[3] Jerry Rubin.
[4] Abbie Hoffman.
[5] Angela Davis.
[6] Timothy Leary.
[7] Tribune (Tribuna), the periodical review of the Student’s ALliance of the Ljubljana University, Problems (Problemi) and Simposion (Ûs Symposion) were at the time cultural periodicals published in Ljubljana (in Slovenian) and Novi Sad (in Hungarian), respectively.
[8] Bozidar Mandic.
[9] Tribune of Youth (Tribina mladih), the cultural institution of the Youth Organization of the City of Novi Sad.
[10] National Liberation War (narodnooslobodilackirat, NOR).
[11] An officer of the Youth Organization of the City of Novi Sad
[12] Mirko Canadanovic, Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Alliance of Autonomous Province of Vojvodina.
[13] The reference is made to the two movies (“Neretva” and “Sutjeska”).
[14] Backa is one ofthe three geographical areas of Vojvodina (other two are Srem and Banat). The reference alludes on the political provinicialism.
[15] Fields (Polja), a cultural periodical published by the Tribune of Youth.
[16] One of the members of the Tribuna (Ljubljana) editorial Bord.
[17] Novi Sad writer, member of the Editorial Bord of Polja.