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Pisma iz Soluna
U leto 1908, srpska književnica Jelena Dimitrijević (1862-1945) se zaputila u Solun, tada još uvek pod turskom vlašću, kako bi se lično uverila u istinitost napisa iz evropske štampe da su se turske žene "razvile", nakon uspešno izvedene "Mladoturske revolucije" koja je izbila upravo u Solunu 23. jula 1908. Sa tog putovanja nam je ostavila deset pisama koja su važna i trezvena svedočanstva ne samo o "ženskom pitanju" na Balkanu, nego i o razvoju našeg građanskog liberalizma.
218 pages, Unknown Binding
First published December 3, 2014
13 people want to read
About the author
Jelena Dimitrijević
21 books6 followersJelena Dimitrijević was a serbian short story writer, novelist, poet, traveller, social worker, feminist, and a polyglot.
Dimitrijević travelled widely, describing her experiences of Greece, India, Egypt, and America in a series of books. She devoted her energies in quite early life (1881–1898) to the study of Muslim women, and published in 1897 her Pisma iz Niša o haremima. Among her achievements were gaining an understanding of the lives of Turkish women, including access to the private world of the harem, and undertaking a journey round the world in her sixties. Such portraits are a valuable counter to the narrow conceptions of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century feminism which sees it firmly rooted in north-west Europe and North America. Her most important novel Nove (New Women); deals with the dilemmas facing educated Muslim women in the twentieth century in relation to their traditional way of life. For Nove Dimitrijevic won the prestigious Matica Srpska prize for literature in 1912
Dimitrijević travelled widely, describing her experiences of Greece, India, Egypt, and America in a series of books. She devoted her energies in quite early life (1881–1898) to the study of Muslim women, and published in 1897 her Pisma iz Niša o haremima. Among her achievements were gaining an understanding of the lives of Turkish women, including access to the private world of the harem, and undertaking a journey round the world in her sixties. Such portraits are a valuable counter to the narrow conceptions of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century feminism which sees it firmly rooted in north-west Europe and North America. Her most important novel Nove (New Women); deals with the dilemmas facing educated Muslim women in the twentieth century in relation to their traditional way of life. For Nove Dimitrijevic won the prestigious Matica Srpska prize for literature in 1912
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 2, 2024
"Because for men - travellers, or at least for one of them, some Calypso would be found, if not all of them would find a grave in the sea. I have not yet heard of any god who would save women - passengers during a shipwreck; nor did I read about any god who would keep them in his cave after the disaster."
This is a very interesting lady.
She is the first woman in modern Serbian history to publish a work of travel related prose in 1894, after her trip to Ottoman occupied Niš. During the years 1926 to 1927 she travelled throughout Greece, India, Egypt, America, the Far East, East Asia, and India, where she was the guest of Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore.
She suffered from a childhood eye injury that forced her to leave school, but ignored medical directives that forbade her from reading and taught herself to speak French, English, Russian, Italian, Greek and Turkish.
She was a frequent and valued guest in the homes of prominent Turkish women in Skopje, Constantinople, Thessaloniki, and Niš, gaining knowledge of the secretive lives of Muslim women. She used this in her writing, having dedicated her literary life to gaining an understanding of harems, and Muslim women in the twentieth century in relation to their traditional way of life.
As it happens, all her poems, travelogues, and letters are dedicated to one single dominant theme: woman, and her position in society - what's more, she does not shy away from expressing her astonishment at the obvious injustices and inequalities that she witnesses and cannot accept:
"In the garden are their sons, their brothers, their fathers, and worst of all - their husbands. Never have they seemed so worthy of pity. In them I saw the entire female gender humiliated. It is better that they are forbidden to come here, by the fence, when they are forbidden inside. And I started protesting; but if I was warned that it was better to remain silent, when I saw that I could do absolutely nothing for 'our Muslim sisters', as Madame Verand says, that I could do nothing for subdued and humiliated women, from whom their husbands demand duties without giving them rights, and which, for their misfortune, in order to bear the humiliation harder - I cried. You know, my Louise, that I'm not quite a woman in this, I don't cry for anything..."
This is a very interesting lady.
She is the first woman in modern Serbian history to publish a work of travel related prose in 1894, after her trip to Ottoman occupied Niš. During the years 1926 to 1927 she travelled throughout Greece, India, Egypt, America, the Far East, East Asia, and India, where she was the guest of Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore.
She suffered from a childhood eye injury that forced her to leave school, but ignored medical directives that forbade her from reading and taught herself to speak French, English, Russian, Italian, Greek and Turkish.
She was a frequent and valued guest in the homes of prominent Turkish women in Skopje, Constantinople, Thessaloniki, and Niš, gaining knowledge of the secretive lives of Muslim women. She used this in her writing, having dedicated her literary life to gaining an understanding of harems, and Muslim women in the twentieth century in relation to their traditional way of life.
As it happens, all her poems, travelogues, and letters are dedicated to one single dominant theme: woman, and her position in society - what's more, she does not shy away from expressing her astonishment at the obvious injustices and inequalities that she witnesses and cannot accept:
"In the garden are their sons, their brothers, their fathers, and worst of all - their husbands. Never have they seemed so worthy of pity. In them I saw the entire female gender humiliated. It is better that they are forbidden to come here, by the fence, when they are forbidden inside. And I started protesting; but if I was warned that it was better to remain silent, when I saw that I could do absolutely nothing for 'our Muslim sisters', as Madame Verand says, that I could do nothing for subdued and humiliated women, from whom their husbands demand duties without giving them rights, and which, for their misfortune, in order to bear the humiliation harder - I cried. You know, my Louise, that I'm not quite a woman in this, I don't cry for anything..."
August 20, 2017
Iako se spremala da se mužem pođe ka zapadnoj Evropi, nakon što se zbila Mladoturska revolucija i proglašen ustav, Jelena Dimitrijević se odlučila da ipak otputuje za Solun, i sama se uveri u priče koje su se tada pojavile u zapadnoj štampi da su se Turkinje "razvile" - to jest - da su se otkrile, skinule burke i feredže. Dospela je u Solun u avgustu 1908. godine tokom tih prvih nedelja velikih promena i slavlja, i susrela se sa mnogim "novim" Turkinjama, imućnim i često visoko obrazovanim. Priče o otkrivanju, međutim, nisu bile istinite i većina tih žena joj je govorila da im pokrivenost propisuje vera a ne politika, i da su za zadržavanje svih starih otomanskih običaja, uključujući i život zatvoren u kućama, i haremima. Međutim, ipak je bilo i nekoliko suprotnih glasova, koje je Jelena, feministkinja, tražila i podsticala. To je bilo vreme kada je feminizam zastupao stanovište da su pokrivanja devojaka i žena ne samo zastarela, već i zločin prema ženama i ljudskosti - za razliku od sada, kada se feministkinje bore za "pravo" da ga one nose, čak i na zapadu. Ova knjiga se prvenstveno bavi ovim ženama onako kako ih je Jelena Dimitrijević videla, a ona je Turkinje i muslimanke intimno poznavala i od pre, i bila među retkima koje su i u haremima bile rado viđen gost. Na taj način, ova knjiga je dragoceni istorijski i kulturološki dokument.
Solun koji ona, sasvim uzgred, opisuje - više praktično i ne postoji. Sve do 1912. on je pripadao Otomanskom carstvu, i po svemu bio pravi turski grad; Jelena ga poredi sa Carigradom. Nedugo pošto je prešao u grčke ruke, 1917. godine izbio je strašan požar, koji je skoro potpuno uništio stari otomanski grad. Francuski arhitekta Ernest Hébrard je nakon požara od tog otomanskog, urbanistički potpuno neplaniranog Soluna napravio jedan pravi evropski grad. Najposle, tokom II svetskog rata iz Soluna je nestalo i 56 000 Jevreja koji su do tada činili čak jednu trećinu stanovništva, i koji se i kod Jelene dosta pominju - i preobraćenici u islam, i oni koji to nisu bili. Tako da je Solun Jelene Dimitrijević grad koji skoro pa da uopšte više ne postoji, mada se još uvek mogu naći takozvana Bela kula i crkva sv. Dimitrija koje ona, doduše, samo ugred pominje. Pre svega je ovo knjiga o Turkinjama i drugim muslimankama u Solunu, neposredno nakon Mladoturske revolucije.
Solun koji ona, sasvim uzgred, opisuje - više praktično i ne postoji. Sve do 1912. on je pripadao Otomanskom carstvu, i po svemu bio pravi turski grad; Jelena ga poredi sa Carigradom. Nedugo pošto je prešao u grčke ruke, 1917. godine izbio je strašan požar, koji je skoro potpuno uništio stari otomanski grad. Francuski arhitekta Ernest Hébrard je nakon požara od tog otomanskog, urbanistički potpuno neplaniranog Soluna napravio jedan pravi evropski grad. Najposle, tokom II svetskog rata iz Soluna je nestalo i 56 000 Jevreja koji su do tada činili čak jednu trećinu stanovništva, i koji se i kod Jelene dosta pominju - i preobraćenici u islam, i oni koji to nisu bili. Tako da je Solun Jelene Dimitrijević grad koji skoro pa da uopšte više ne postoji, mada se još uvek mogu naći takozvana Bela kula i crkva sv. Dimitrija koje ona, doduše, samo ugred pominje. Pre svega je ovo knjiga o Turkinjama i drugim muslimankama u Solunu, neposredno nakon Mladoturske revolucije.
November 7, 2023
"Revolucija mladoturaka je s belim zastavama; revolucija mladoturkinja biće s krvavim... Najstariji starci pridružili su se mladoturcima, pa zajedno pljeskaju kad se uzvikne: Živela sloboda! Najstarije starice pridružiće se mladoturkinjama, nama novim, kad... Madam! Nećemo više da smo apsenice! I nećemo doveka da smo: muškoj deci majke, a ženskoj maćehe!"
Pisma iz Soluna sam odabrala potpuno proizvoljno. Jer volim Solun i njegova istorija mi se čini vrlo interesantnom. Jer sam htela da isproban još neku našu spisateljicu. I sad, eto, moram da potražim još Jelene Dimitrijević.
Pisma iz Soluna sam odabrala potpuno proizvoljno. Jer volim Solun i njegova istorija mi se čini vrlo interesantnom. Jer sam htela da isproban još neku našu spisateljicu. I sad, eto, moram da potražim još Jelene Dimitrijević.
April 3, 2024
Sadržajno delo, ipak ostavilo je mlak utisak. U svakom slučaju obiluje informacijama i interesantno je prikazano mišljenje i vidjenje obe strane kada je u pitanju "razvijanje" žena posle mladoturske revolucije 1908.
Jelena u 10 pisama opisuje i žene, i hareme, i Solun i ljude, ali na kraju mislim da je bilo previše svega. To mi se nije dopalo.
Svakako, čitaću u narednom periodu Pisma iz Niša, intrigira me već godinama (a, za divno čudo, uospte ne uzeh da pročitam). Sve u svoje vreme, izgleda.
Jelena u 10 pisama opisuje i žene, i hareme, i Solun i ljude, ali na kraju mislim da je bilo previše svega. To mi se nije dopalo.
Svakako, čitaću u narednom periodu Pisma iz Niša, intrigira me već godinama (a, za divno čudo, uospte ne uzeh da pročitam). Sve u svoje vreme, izgleda.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews