Nenad Baković a judge at the Basic Court in Kragujevac, describes contemporary Serbian society through the lens of a metaphor he calls the “black vaudeville”. This concept captures the farcical yet tragic deterioration of public life, where citizens witness a grotesque performance of power but remain complicit through silence.
The Black Vaudeville as Societal Framework
Baković argues that in Serbia, political authority functions more like a staged performance than a traditional government. Citizens are cast as part of the audience, forced into roles whether they like it or not. The regime operates with a combination of:
- Narcissism – a relentless desire for admiration and validation.
- Machiavellianism – pragmatic, cold-blooded manipulation, measured by efficiency, not morality.
- Psychopathy – a lack of empathy or remorse, with no internal limits on the use of violence.
This “dark triad” of power, combined with infantilism – impulsive behavior, vindictiveness, and repetitive routines – makes leadership both grotesque and dangerously familiar, allowing authoritarianism to persist under a veneer of absurdity.
Mechanisms of Control and Repression
The essay highlights how repression is methodical, not accidental. State power uses instruments such as:
- Surveillance, intimidation, and dismissals of dissenters.
- Public defamation and ritualized lies to obscure accountability.
- Psychological tactics like projection inversion, framing protesters as aggressors.
Baković emphasizes that violence and institutional pressure are normalized, creating a system where legality and coercion merge to protect entrenched interests.
The Role of the Citizenry
Baković categorizes the audience into three groups:
- Compelled observers – those who recognize the absurdity but remain in place for survival.
- Affirmative supporters – those who admire the leader, seeing strength rather than grotesque excess.
- Silent enablers – bureaucrats, officials, and judges who rationalize their inaction to protect themselves.
The “black vaudeville” persists because of collective passivity, but Baković identifies student and civic movements as the first cracks in the façade. These movements reject infantilization, act with solidarity and rational organization, and challenge the artificiality of authority.
The Path to Civic Empowerment
Student-led protests and civic activism represent a qualitative threat to authoritarian control:
- They transform citizens from passive spectators into active participants in their own lives.
- They disrupt the psychological dominance of the regime by fostering collective agency, responsibility, and dignity.
- They demonstrate that the collapse of the “black vaudeville” is not inevitable, but contingent on public engagement and moral courage.
Baković concludes that the “black vaudeville” is not destiny, but a self-imposed compromise with passivity. Its demise is imminent once society collectively rejects the absurd theater of authoritarianism and reclaims agency.
