Yugoslavia and the Literature of Freedom

Catalog description

The country of Yugoslavia existed for less than a century, and in that brief time, it developed a novel socialist system and culture that decisively broke with Stalin's Soviet bloc; formed connections with India, Indonesia, Egypt, Ghana, and other countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America through the Non-Aligned Movement; and fostered some of the 20th century's most exciting and critical literature, cinema, philosophy, and art. For many observers, the legacy of Yugoslavia has been eclipsed by its violent end during the wars and genocide of the 1990s, but scholars identifying with "New Yugoslav Studies" increasingly reject the notion that ethno-nationalism and the destruction of socialist Yugoslavia are the only lens through which its significance ought to be viewed. Yugoslavia's end was no more preordained by fate than were its origins. In fact, Yugoslav literature, history, and culture provides some of the modern world's most gripping reflections upon freedom and self-determination, on both an individual and a collective scale. In this course, we will read literary masterpieces from both the short-lived interwar Kingdom of Yugoslavia (a.k.a. the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes) and the more long-lasting Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia under Tito, as well as some more contemporary texts from post-Yugoslav states and writers from the former Yugoslav diaspora. Authors will include Miroslav Krleza, Ivo Andric, Mesa Selimovic, Danilo Kis, Miljenko Jergovic, Dubravka Ugresic, Masa Kolanovic, and more. Readings and discussion in English with optional Bosnian/Croatian/Montenegrin/Serbian component for those who are interested.