About
My research explores youth culture and language practices in the Balkans, with a particular emphasis on Bosnia and Herzegovina. Within this diverse and multi-ethnic country, the cultural and linguistic expressions of young individuals emerge as a result of various intersecting influences, including local, regional, global, and historical factors. As a trained Americanist and anthropologist, my work entails examining the interplay between global cultural flows, such as American influences in popular culture, and local language practices deeply rooted in a complex history of cohabitation and conflict. By doing so, I aim to gain a comprehensive understanding of the dynamic composition of youth identity, which encompasses elements from both local and global contexts.
In my research, I delve into these cultural dynamics and investigate their impacts on youth culture and language. Specifically, I analyze how young people increasingly incorporate English words into their everyday speech and explore how they interpret global and local events through social media platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. Employing innovative methodologies within the field of linguistic anthropology, such as studying how youth utilize social media as a scaffolding tool in face-to-face interactions, my objective is to gain valuable insights into the contemporary experiences of young individuals in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This research contributes to the advancement of the anthropology of youth, strengthening the academic subfield.
My research interests span a broad range of topics, including semiotics, language separatism, language ideologies, linguistic purism, migration, race and ethnicity, diasporas, youth language practices, and youth culture.