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A real woman and women's rights in the literary works of Josip Kozarac

The article A Real Woman and Women’s Rights in the Literary Works of Josip Kozarac first explains the social situation in Slavonia at the end of the 19th century and the accomplishments of the first wave of feminism in order to ensure an informed approach to the analysis of the status of women and the unresolved women's issues. In his works, Josip Kozarac addressed the problem of love and marriage and the relationship between men and women, articulating the women’s right to choose their partner in marriage, to motherhood, regardless of their marital status, to divorce, as well as to true love without legal restrictions. In presenting the women's issues and marital problems, he did not uphold the predominant orientation based on the patriarchal worldview. On the contrary, he affirmed himself as a writer with advanced views and modern orientations, who supported the women’s right to free themselves from predetermined subordination in both society and family, and in their efforts to achieve self- actualization. The analysis of the characters portrayed in the literary works of Josip Kozarac reveals an impressive gallery of rural and urban women, presented and classified herein according to the following key: the most gentle and most feminine female character - Donna Ines ; an ideal “real” woman - Anka Matković from the novel Mrtvi kapitali (Dead Capital) ; entirely negative and odious female characters – Malvina, a femme fatale, and auntie Jula from the novel Među svjetlom i tminom (Between Light and Darkness) ; the most popular and most famous female character – Tena ; and the author’s favorite - Mira Kodolićeva. Such a vast array of female characters and differences among them shows the literary greatness of Josip Kozarac, whose approach to the literary representation of women was neither clichéd nor stereotypical. Finally, it has been concluded that his female characters brought him acclaim, just like he celebrated and praised them in his works. The predominant motif, which can be ascribed to all female characters portrayed in the literary works of Kozarac, is the wish to attain the ideal of family happiness in the warmth of a home.

Josip Kozarac, women's issues, female characters, women's rights, real woman

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