Demarginalizations and destination(s) of post-Yugoslav literary canons

Abstract

The focus of our paper is on the changing status of female authors in post-Yugoslav literary canons caused by feminist interventions. We will point to the broader context of the fall of communism and the decomposition of socialist Yugoslavia, its transition to capitalism and the reintroduction of feminism. We will discuss the different aspects of the politicization of the national canon ranging from pointing to its gender bias, and the restoration of female authors, who have not been part of the canon. Then we will point to the political function of the literary canon in (re)constructing post-socialist, post-Yugoslav national identities and the supporting of female authors as part of the process of European-integration, as well as the possibilities of experimental writing in post-Yugoslav literatures. The essential thing will be to point to feminist reception of post-Yugoslav literatures as an important part of the processes of reconciliation after the Yugoslav war in the first part of the 1990s. In the final part of the paper, we will discuss the anxieties caused by feminism and the stance of most female authors who seek the diversification of female literary production which will move between the positions of particularity and universality.