Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

This paper explores Serbian bird narratives, from folkloric admiration to media absence and illegal hunting. It traces how shifting discourses frame birds as either symbolic agents or expendable resources, exposing Serbia’s ecocultural identity ruptures.

Paper long abstract

Birds hold a prominent place in Serbian folklore, appearing as sacred messengers and carriers of moral knowledge. Cultural figures like the cuckoo, stork, and sparrow reflect a longstanding intimacy between human identity and avian life. These narratives, passed down through proverbs, epic poetry, and children’s stories, have helped shape a national worldview rooted in coexistence and codependence.

The reverence extends beyond oral tradition into national symbolism: the two-headed eagle, emblematic of sovereignty and vigilance, adorns Serbian flags and coats of arms. Yet today, Serbia hosts only three nesting pairs of the eastern imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca), one of the most endangered birds in the region.

In contemporary Serbian media, birds are largely absent—except when portrayed as victims of illegal hunting or reduced to biodiversity statistics. These portrayals are shifting from relational storytelling to transactional reporting, where birds are framed almost exclusively through discourses of crime and decline. With an estimated 200,000 birds illegally killed each year, including protected species, Serbia’s avian crisis reflects a concerning disconnect between cultural heritage and environmental responsibility.

This paper examines how folkloric, literary, and media narratives position birds as either symbolic agents or expendable resources. Through ecological discourse analysis and two purpose-built corpora, it explores how storytelling mediates ecocultural identity and our evolving relationship with other living beings.