Preserving Serbian Historical and Literary Heritage: Uncovering Historical and Poetic Dimensions in Desanka Maksimović’s Letters to Russian Translators
Preserving Serbian Historical and Literary Heritage: Uncovering Historical and Poetic Dimensions in Desanka Maksimović’s Letters to Russian Translators

Summary/Abstract: This paper emerged from the author’s collaboration with the Desanka Maksimović Endowment in Belgrade, during which a collection of unpublished letters exchanged between the poet and her Russian translators Ida Radvoljina and Olga Kutasova was prepared for publication. The central objective is to examine the interpretive and historiographical potential of this correspondence through a close content analysis of selected letters, contextualised alongside Maksimović’s late poetic works. Also, the paper examines how her personal correspondence reveals lesserknown aspects of her political views and life experiences. Special attention is given to her reflections on communism, Yugoslav-Soviet relations, and the socio-political tensions of late 20th-century Yugoslavia. The research integrates methods from literary theory, biographical criticism, and new literacy studies, treating the letters as culturally situated discursive practices. The findings may be of interest to scholars in literary studies, Slavic studies, cultural history, cultural memory, literary heritage, and epistolary research, offering a nuanced perspective on one of Serbia’s most influential poets of the 20th century.

• Details
• Contents