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Abstract / Summary

TITLE: The Young Women’s Association. DESCRIPTION: This unsigned article discusses two newly established Young Women’s Associations (Devojačko udruženje) in Novi Sad (Újvidék) and Velika Kikinda (Nagykikinda), Vojvodina. The Vojvodina belonged to the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia which enjoyed a considerable degree of autonomy within the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen, or Hungary, in the dual Monarchy (from 1867) of Austria-Hungary. Serbian was one of the dominant languages spoken in the Vojvodina. The article was published in Ženski svet. List dobrotvornih zadruga Srpkinja (Women’s World. Journal of the Charitable Cooperatives of Serbian Women). The journal was published between 1886 and 1914 in Novi Sad (Újvidék), the Vojvodina, by the Charitable Cooperative of Serbian Women from Novi Sad (Dobrotvorna zadruga Srpkinja Novosatkinja). It was edited by Arkadije Varađanin, a man who was an active proponent of women’s rights and was a teacher and director of the Serbian High School for Girls established in Novi Sad, in 1874. The article describes the main function of the Young Women’s Associations as the preservation of the national language and identity. The young women from the associations would meet two times a week and read Serbian national literature or texts about the history of Serbs. The reason why these associations are considered important is the Hungarian culture that endangered Serbian culture, as the text laments and implies. The article begins with a glorification of culture and cultural progress, but also with a warning that for smaller and culturally weaker nations, the general cultural progress (meaning, the culture of the culturally “stronger” nations) might be dangerous. The text laments against foreign influences (implying Hungarian influences) in culture and everyday life, when the individual characteristics of certain nations are erased by the “foreign element.” The culture of the Serbian people is endangered, and the changes in Serbian culture include, among other things, the changes in color and shape of the national clothing in certain areas, as well as the change in the Christmas customs. The Young Women’s Associations in Velika Kikinda (Nagykikinda) and Novi Sad are established as an answer to these problems, and aimed at preserving the national identity. The goal of the association is to help the members cherish their friendship and stay nationally minded after they would get married. The text reminds the reader that the two organizations are established exactly 500 years after the defeat of the Serbian people in (the Battle of) Kosovo (1389), giving a “sparkle of hope for a more glorious future.” For responses to the establishments of these associations, see Anđelija Kuzmanovićeva, “Pozdrav devojačkim udruženjima [Salute to Young Women’s Associations],” Ženski svet, January 5, 1889. KEYWORDS: Women and Nation within Empire; Young Women’s Associations; Women and Nation within Empire; Women and Nation-Building; Women and Relationship Between Nations in the Empire; Women and Struggle Between Nations in the Empire; National Identity; Women Challenging Empire; Women and Statehood; Political and Human Rights; Social and Cultural Rights; Women and Education; Education in National Languages; Education as a Source of Women’s Emancipation; Habsburg Empire; Hungary; Vojvodina; Novi Sad; Velika Kikinda; Nagykikinda; Serbia; Hungary; Ženski svet

Field of Interest

Women and Social Movements

Collection

Women and Social Movements, Modern Empires Since 1820

Corporate Author

Charitable Cooperatives of Serbian Women

Content Type

Periodical article

Duration

0 sec

Format

Text

Page Count

3

Publication Year

1889

Source Title

Ženski svet, Vol. 4, no. 4, January 4, 1889, pp. 97-102

Subject

Women and Social Movements, History, Women and Education, Mujer y Educación, Mulher e Educação, Austria-Hungary (Historical Place), Imperio Austrohúngaro, Império Austro-Húngaro, Kikinda, Yugoslavia, Nagykikinda, Yugoslavia, Nagykikinda, Hungary, Kikinda, Serbia and Montenegro, Nagykikinda, Serbia (Country), Hungría, Charitable Cooperatives of Serbian Women, Arkadije Varađanin, fl. 1874, Austro-Hungarian Empire (Historical Place), Serbia (Country), Kikinda, Vojvodina Province, Novi Sad, Vojvodina, Hungary, Political and Human Rights, Women and Immigration, Women, Colonization, Empire, and Post Coloniality, Women and Education, Social and Cultural Rights, Nationality Rights, Nationalism and Independence Movements, Indigenous Languages, Education as a Source of Women’s Emancipation, Serbians

Topic

Social and Cultural Rights, Nationality Rights, Nationalism and Independence Movements, Indigenous Languages, Education as a Source of Women’s Emancipation

Keywords and Translated Subjects

Mujer y Educación, Mulher e Educação, Austria-Hungary (Historical Place), Imperio Austrohúngaro, Império Austro-Húngaro, Kikinda, Yugoslavia, Nagykikinda, Yugoslavia, Nagykikinda, Hungary, Kikinda, Serbia and Montenegro, Nagykikinda, Serbia (Country), Hungría