Хероизација сликарке Надежде Петровић (1915–1941)
THE HEROIZATION OF THE PAINTER NADEŽDA PETROVIĆ (1915–1941)

Summary/Abstract: Heroization constitutes one of the key mechanisms through which collective memory is structured, allowing individuals to occupy a place within the symbolic order of a community and to embody its ideological and identity narratives. This article examines the formation of the cult of Nadežda Petrović, focusing on the selection and interpretation of memory and on its institutional valorization in the interwar period. Particular attention is devoted to public representations in which Petrović was portrayed as an “apostle” of Yugoslavism, an early figure of modernist transformation, and a symbol of women’s emancipation, as well as to the ritualization and partial militarization of her cult during the transfer of her remains to Belgrade in 1935. For a long time, her artistic work remained overshadowed by the narrative of patriotic sacrifice and was only gradually incorporated into the national modernist canon on the eve of the Second World War. The case of Nadežda Petrović demonstrates how the heroization of individuals, cultural policy, and the canonization of art become intertwined in the broader process of shaping modern national cultures.

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