Abstract
The paper is focused on ideological and political conflicts about popular music in Serbia, as a good example of wrong and confused searching for identity. Basic conflict that author is analyzing is about oriental elements and the question if they are legitimate parts of Serbian musical heritage or not. Author is making an analysis of three periods in twentieth century, in which absolutely the same arguments were used, and he's paying special attention to contemporary conflicts, trying to explain why all of the theories are ideologically based. Author is insisting on role market played in development and modernization of popular music in Serbia. The article is ending with some recommendations for better understanding of cultural identity in Serbia, and for recognizing popular music as specific field of interest and research. Rad se bavi ideoloskim i politickim sukobima oko popularne muzike u Srbiji kao odlicnom primeru jednog konfuznog i lose postavljenog traganja za identitetom. Zapravo, sukob o kome je rec, sve vreme se vodi oko toga da li su takozvani orijentalni elementi legitiman deo srpske muzike ili ne. Autor se fokusira na tri perioda dvadesetog veka kada su se potezali potpuno isti argumenti, a narocitu paznju posvecuje aktuelnim sukobima i izlaze zasto su sve tri prisutne pozicije na sceni ideoloski zasnovane. Posebna paznja posvecena je uticaju trzista na razvoj i modernizaciju popularne muzike. Clanak se zavrsava preporukama za jedno bolje postavljeno razumevanje sopstvenog kulturnog identiteta.