Poor little Serbia: the first Serbian travelogue about America

Occupation: Associate Professor Department of Slavic Philology
Affiliation: Saint Petersburg State University
Address: St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

Journal name

Slavianovedenie

Edition

Issue 1

Pages

95-102

Abstract

The first Serbian travelogue about the United States «New World: or a Year in America» (1934) was created by Jelena Dimitrijević, who visited this country in 1919. The writer perceives the United States as a progressive country with a rapidly developing economy. She pays special attention to class, racial and gender differences, condemns racism and anti-Semitism, and speaks out approvingly about women's suffrage. Dimitrijević also acquaints readers with everyday details, describes in detail American dwellings, housekeeping, food and drinks, clothes, etc. The travelogue can be considered a hidden autobiography – it contains not only descriptions of the country through which the author moves, the text also contains information about the traveler himself. From the work of Dimitrijević, we learn about her life experience (about numerous travels in the East). The perception of the new occurs by comparing the unknown with the well-known, the «оther» with «the own». Experienced traveler Dimitrijević compares the United States not only with her native Serbia, but also with Turkey and Egypt. Paradoxical is her juxtaposition of women's gatherings in New York with Turkish harems.

Keywords

Serbian literature, Jelena Dimitrijević, women's travel, the Self and the Other, gender, race, class.

Received

24.12.2021

Publication date

28.01.2022

Number of characters

18379

Cite

GOST	Bodrova A. «Poor little Serbia»: the first Serbian travelogue about America // Slavianovedenie – 2022. – Issue 1 C. 95-102 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://slav.jes.su/S0869544X0018092-4-1 (circulation date: 26.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S0869544X0018092-4
MLA	Bodrova, Anna "«Poor little Serbia»: the first Serbian travelogue about America." Slavianovedenie 1 (2022):95-102. DOI: 10.31857/S0869544X0018092-4
APA	Bodrova A. (2022). «Poor little Serbia»: the first Serbian travelogue about America. Slavianovedenie (1), pp.95-102 DOI: 10.31857/S0869544X0018092-4

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