New Patriotism in Serbian TV drama: Case study Civil servant

The subject of this paper is analysis of the Serbian TV drama "Civil Servant". The goal is to test the hypothesis that this show is potentially establishing a new patriotic discourse. If we accept the stance that modern TV shows are not just "mirroring" reality but also influencing it, we can discuss the intentions of show runners to use a popular genre and TV drama format in order to re-establish new optics on modern Serbian history, as well as to provide us with possible answers to numerous challenges faced by the Serbian state and society in the current geopolitical context. This paper is based on an analysis of the show "Civil Servant" as well as other related media and academic texts, focusing on three theoretical aspects: trans-textuality and intertextuality, memory studies, and ideology and representation. In the introduction, the show is positioned within the framework of the current media content, notably TV shows and films from the spy thriller genre. The main part of the paper focuses on the analysis of various aspects of the show (content, artistic approach and especially context), through the lenses of the aforementioned theoretical approaches. If the hypothesis turns out to be right, we are opening an interesting area of possible conclusions as well as a new field for future research of current media texts in this region.