On Women's Callings and Social-Political Role of Women in Modern Croatian and Serbian Literature* Cover Image

O ženskim pozivima i društveno-političkoj ulozi žene u novijoj hrvatskoj i srpskoj književnosti
On Women's Callings and Social-Political Role of Women in Modern Croatian and Serbian Literature*

Author(s): Vesna Cidilko
Subject(s): Literary Texts
Published by: Ženska infoteka
Keywords: woman in literature; Croatian and Serbian literature

Summary/Abstract: *The text was published previously in Zeitschrift für Balkanologie (Magazine for Balkanology)34/2 (1998), Wiesbaden, Germany. In the article, the author notices and discusses main tendencies of literature development in modern Croatian and Serbian literature, in the last couple of years. The point is that novel, as a form, both in Serbian and Croatian literature, has turned into a prevailing genre, mostly loyal to national inheritance of one's own nation. She enlists numerous examples in the field of topics and motives, where links with recent pasts, i.e., everything related to it, become fully visible. Through quantitative analysis, she shows blooming of poetry - from patriotic poems of questionable aesthetic value, through mediocre homeland poetry, to real, artistically succesful cover of fear and atrocities, death and destruction, and moral and ethical deterioration caused by the war. She also notices growth of autobiographic and essayistic short prose. There is an absence of satire and comedy. Researching the image of woman, regarding her social and political influence, the author states typology of female characters. In Croatian literature, the role of homemaker and mother is in the first place. The expanded form of this type is present as "luxury lady", on the side of socially involved businessmen. It is followed by profession of language professor, who, after children are born, cease to work in her profession, or, under certain circumstances, translates children books. The variant of this character is shown through the character of unemployed philologist. In material covered in the article, there are also: girl studying in Zagreb to be an actress, pharmacist, tailor, nurse and similar. The situation is similar, if not the same, in Serbian literature. In works of almost all authors, numerous professions are present, and with different qualifications: mother and wife, rural women, waitress, stenographer, office clerk, home-maker, junior clerk, textile worker, phone operator, cashier, prostitute, medical doctor, business woman, bank employee, interpreter, student, painter, young intellectual, school pedagogue, scientist, successful dealer. Only a small proportion of these female characters were portrayed as politically aware and active women. As a rule, there is neither political awareness, nor appropriate active political influence. Furthermore, the author provides a meticulous analysis and a number of examples, from large number of books and texts, and, among others, comes to following conclusion: Woman in literature is portrayed firstly as wife and mother, and she has no business in politics. House and private aspect of life is what is meant for her (i.e. home, love life and sexuality). If she is employed, it usually involves typical women's professions. We rarely encounter women in higher position in society - she either does not belong there or she is being ridiculed and doomed to failure.

  • Issue Year: 2004
  • Issue No: 25
  • Page Range: 17-26
  • Page Count: 10
  • Language: Croatian