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Settled in the nineteenth century, a period of national liberation, this book presents facts about the contribution of women to Serbian culture. The story is, however, of an equal contemporary as well as of historical relevance: work of these authors remained hidden as they were neither adequately evaluated in school curriculums and textbooks, nor recognized by the general public. Does the absence from textbooks and literary histories imply their literature is not worth reading? Or, that the histories of literature are simply biased and inadequate? The answers to these questions are elaborated in this book. The author carefully investigates the strategies of historians and official politics of remembrance, arguing that the link between women's education and emancipation of the society has yet to be properly explained. The reader, whether a student, researcher, social scientist, or an intellectual interested in the history, social development, literature, or politics of Serbia, or the Balkan in general, will benefit from the numerous original sources consulted. This book is a reminder that understanding society means uncovering the hidden and giving voice to the ignored, providing evidence that contradicts dominant theories, rather than simply repeating what we are told.
List of contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Recovering the Historical Facts and the New Women in Serbian Culture
I. The New Women and Their Cultural Contributions
1. Draga Gavrilovi¿, the First Serbian Female Novelist: The Old and New Interpretations
2. Queen Natalija Obrenovi¿: The Complexity of Her Public Engagements and Her Different Contributions to Serbian Society and Culture
3. Milka Aleksi¿ Grgurova: An Actress Taking on the World of Writing
4. Jelena J. Dimitrijevi¿, A World-Traveler: The Authority of the New Women's Knowledge
II. Some of the Men Who Supported New Women
5. Dragutin Ili¿ and Queen Natalija
6. Uroš Predi¿ and Danica Bandi¿
III. The Construction, Reconstruction, and Deconstruction of Memory of New Women
7. Rediscovering Serbian Women's Memoirs: Gendered Comparison in a Historical Context
8. A Bibliography: A Tool for Reconstructing the History of Women Translators
9. From a Ruined Tomb to the First Public Monument Dedicated to a Woman: Constructing the Memory of the First Serbian Poetess
10. The Remembering Project: The First Album of Famous Women in Serbian Culture
Conclusion
Bibliography
About the Author
About the author
By Svetlana Tomic
Summary
Toward a New History of Literature. This book examines a group of educated women appearing in the nineteenth century and their contribution to Serbian literature and society. Tomic analyzes the literary values of their works and contrasts them with official evaluations, presenting their different social engagements and showing that there is abundant evidence challenging the canon.
