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.
Svetlana Tomic is associate professor at Alfa BK University.
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 Gavrilovic, the First Serbian Female Novelist: The Old and New Interpretations 2. Queen Natalija Obrenovic: The Complexity of Her Public Engagements and Her Different Contributions to Serbian Society and Culture 3. Milka Aleksic Grgurova: An Actress Taking on the World of Writing 4. Jelena J. Dimitrijevic, A World-Traveler: The Authority of the New Women's Knowledge II. Some of the Men Who Supported New Women 5. Dragutin Ilic and Queen Natalija 6. Uros Predic and Danica Bandic 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
