Using Neglected Literary Texts to Understand the Evolution of Serbian Society
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
12:00 pm
Marshall D. Shulman Seminar Room (1219 IAB, 420 West 118th St.)
Please join the Harriman Institute and the Njegoš Endowment for Serbian Language and Culture for a talk by Svetlana Tomić, Alfa University (Belgrade).
Tomić will discuss the historical, political, and literary value of four memoirs by Serbian women: Serbia’s Queen Natalia Obrenović, feminists Savka Subotić and Paulina Lebl Albala, and one of the first professional female teachers Stanka Gišićeva. Their autobiographical works came from different localities, social groups, and ethnicities. They focus on self-representation, women’s lives, and perceptions, and offer valuable insights into Serbian history and society.
Tomić argues that, although women’s memoirs have remained culturally marginalized in Serbia, studying the neglected writings of women opens the possibility for a better appreciation of society and its ability to transform. How do female memoirists contrast with male writers such as Đorđević, Milićević, and Žujović? Can we find contradictions in their confessional dramas and see the motives for their writing? What can we conclude by comparing the writings of men and women from the period when the Serbian nation was formed? How can we generalize the difference and use it as an instrument for a better understanding of social developments not only in Serbia but in the wider Western Balkans region?