Jelena Bakic
Abstract:
Due to the historical and political situation in 19th-century Montenegro, opportunities for the development of culture were limited. Montenegro (gaining independence in 1878) had been for centuries a strongly patriarchal and warrior society. Written literature – mostly in men’s hands – was a privilege of the few. In such historical and cultural circumstances oral literature was an important cultural factor, which was a privilege of a prince-bishop (“vladika“).
But there were some Montenegrian women who, at the same time, were writing in other languages than Serbo-Croatian (spoken in Montenegro) and who published in more developed countries. They found their own way of coping with imposed norms: they refused them. For example, refusing to marry, Ana Maria Marovi? (1815 – 1887) found in the catholic church in Italy, and in religious life a safe space allowing for writing and painting. Another example is the second queen of Italy, Jelena Petrovi? Njegoš (Elena di Savoia; 1873-1952), who married the Italian king Vittorio Emanuele III, and took an active role in (italian) society. She published some poems, but only in Russian and Italian – so they remained little known in Montenegro and her literary activity has been almost forgotten in her home country.
After these two, and some other, examples I will discuss women’s role in Montenegro, in 19th-century cultural life. They left a little developed country, and went to a more developed world. If their work had any impact in their own country, it was not during their life-time: their work came back to Montenegro from the European literary space only one century later.
SvD, March 2011
- Conferences > NEWW international conferences > Belgrade April 2011 > Bakic