engleski

The Figure of the Female Teacher in Nineteenth- Century Croatian Literature

In 19th century Croatia the education of women was mainly in the function of educating good wives, nationally conscious mothers and skilled housewives. A woman’s place was in the privacy of the home, while a man’s was in the public sphere. However, even in these – for women – trying circumstances, there were numerous women and some men who advocated equality between men and women and the entry of women to the university. This paper examines the image of the female teacher in 19th century Croatian culture by analysing three literary texts: Ivan Perkovac’s story “Stankovačka učiteljica”, August Šenoa’s novel “Branka”, Ksaver Šandor Gjalski’s novel “urđica Agićeva” as well as different texts about the educational system published in the magazine “Vienac” from 1869 to 1903. From this one can partly gain an insight into the image of the female teacher in the context of the 19th century. In literature the image of the female teacher was characterised by unselfishness, altruism, patriotism, consciousness and emancipation, love for her profession, educating Croatian villagers, as well as a resistance to primitivism, cruelty and unscrupulousness. Such a character is in discrepancy between the private and public space, between idealism and disappointment, between happiness and unhappiness. In shaping the character of the female teacher in Croatian literature of the 19th century, realistic features and morally-didactic tendencies can be recognized.

patriotism, emancipation, education and consciousness, independence

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