Sestre Janković: pionirski rad na polju etnokoreologije
The Janković Sisters: Pioneering Work in the Field of Ethnochoreology

Author(s): Selena Rakočević, Mladena Prelić
Subject(s): History, Gender history, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology
Published by: Етнографски институт САНУ
Keywords: Ljubica S. Janković (1894–1974); Danica S. Janković (1898–1960); ethnochoreology; traditional dance
Summary/Abstract: Although educated as professors of Yugoslav literature, the sisters Ljubica (Aleksinac, 14/26 June 1894 – Belgrade, 3 May 1974) and Danica S. Janković (Podrinjska Lešnica, 7/19 May 1898 – Belgrade, 18 April 1960) devoted almost the entirety of their professional lives to collecting and studying traditional dances, or folk dances, as they called their subject, and to establishing ethno-choreology as a distinct academic discipline in Serbia. The many years over which the Janković sisters collaborated in field work, beginning in 1934, have produced a wealth of material, mainly from Serbia and Northern Macedonia, which has for the most part been published in a multitude of scholarly works and in a nine-volume capital edition called Folk Dances. The first eight books from this edition were printed in the period from 1934 to 1964, while the ninth book was published posthumously in 2016. Ljubica and Danica Janković can be considered the founders not only of ethnochoreology, but also of ethnomusicology in Serbia. The life story of the Janković sisters can be seen as a story of scientific success and recognition of two talented, educated and dedicated women, despite their still relatively traditional, patriarchal environment. In the final comments, however, we point out the possibility that more or less hidden patriarchal patterns also marked their life path.

• Details
• Contents