Dizelaši (Cyrillic: дизелаши; singular dizelaš, Cyrillic: дизелаш) was an urban street youth sub-culture popular in the 1990s in Serbia. It has been described as a mainstream fashion and social subculture,[1] that of a working class, similar to the British chav, French racaille [fr] and Russian gopnik.[2] The French movie La Haine (1995) is often mentioned in relation to these subcultures.[3] It was characterized by turbo-folk,[1]hip-hop and dance music (such as Đogani),[1] mass-appeal designer clothes (such as Diesel), embroidered sweatshirts[1] and sportswear[2] (such as Nike Air Max[4] and Reebok Pump[2] shoes and Kappa[2] sweatsuits) and large link chains.[1] Track jackets were tucked into the bottom pants which in turn were tucked into socks, as to conceal goods; it is said that legendary gangster Knele (1971–1992) popularised it, having used it as a tactic ensuring his gun would slide into his socks rather on the pavement when running from the police.[2]
It emerged in Belgrade in the late 1980s and became popular by 1992,[2] in a period of embargoonFR Yugoslavia following the outbreak of the Yugoslav Wars. The youths were stereotyped as gangsters (also called mangupi), involved in illegal activities[1] such as fuel smuggling. The Russian counterpart is the Gopnik sub-culture, with which it is grouped together into "Post-Soviet fashion" that has become popular in recent years.[5][6] In contrast to the dizelaši, the opposing sub-culture was called padavičari, including hippies, rockers, headbangers, metalheads and ravers. A typical dizelaš was seen as:
A youngster, short-cut [hair], in a track suit, with a gold chain around his neck, a mobile phone (possibly a good car), often tied to criminal activities.[7]
The resurge of the fashion has been dubbed Neodizelaši.[8] The 1995 documentary about Belgrade gangsters, Crime that Changed Serbia, is an icon of the culture.
Modern-day subculture closely related to old dizelaši is called gaseri (Serbo-Croatian) / gaserji (Slovene).[9][10]
Papović J., Pejović A. (2016) Revival without Nostalgia: The ‘Dizel’ Movement, Serbian 1990s Cultural Trauma and Globalised Youth Cultures. In: Schwartz M., Winkel H. (eds) Eastern European Youth Cultures in a Global Context. Palgrave Macmillan, London
