"Excuse me, we originated the language!" The effect of speech in "RuPaul’s Drag Race" and on the Croatian drag scene

Rad se temelji na analizi i intepretaciji izvedbi i razgovora drag queens iz reality showa RuPaul’s Drag Race i govorom trandži na hrvatskoj sceni. U uvodnom je dijelu kratak povijesni pregled razvoja ballroom scene koja u mainstream kulturi kulminira pojavom RuPaula. Prvi dio rada posvećen je govoru američkih drag queens s naglaskom na rasnom pitanju. Propituju se nepisana pravila koda, način na koji se govorom postiže željeni učinak i granice koje engleski jezik postavlja queens kojima to nije prvi jezik. Drugi dio donosi kratku analizu temeljnih pojmova draga u hrvatskom kontekstu i odnosa između referencijalnog i gramatičkog roda. Otvara se problem ahistoričnosti hrvatskog draga koji se nalazi na sjecištu američke i postjugoslavenske kulture. U intepretaciji izvedbi ukazuje se na strukturne sličnosti između tih dviju kultura kroz prisvajanje pejorativnih izraza i odabir uzora.The work is based on the analysis and interpretation of performances and conversations of drag queens from the reality show RuPaul’s Drag Race and the speech of trandže on the Croatian scene. The introductory part provides a brief historical overview of the development of the ballroom scene that culminates in mainstream culture with the emergence of RuPaul. The first part of the paper is devoted to the speech of American drag queens with an emphasis on the racial issue. The unwritten rules of the code are questioned, as well as the way in which speech achieves the desired effect and the limits the English language sets to queens to whom it is not the first language. The second part provides a brief analysis of the basic concepts of drag in the Croatian context and the relationship between referential and grammatical gender. The problem of the ahistorical nature of the Croatian drag, which is at the crossroads of American and post-Yugoslav culture, emerges. The interpretation of the performances points to structural similarities between the two cultures through both the appropriation of pejorative expressions as well as the selection of role models