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Scientific review paper

UDC 316.75:7.011.3(497.1)195/ ; 316.72(497.1)195/

Assistant Professor Dragan alovi, PhD*


Graduate School of Culture and Media, Megatrend University, Belgrade

SERBIAN CULTURAL HERITAGE


AND SOCIALIST REALISM**
Summary
The new political orientation of the late fifth and early sixth decade of the twentieth
century encouraged a change of attitudes towards the cultural heritage of the early socialist period in Yugoslavia. Perceived primarily as an expression of political dictates and
rejected ideological conceptions, the art of this period was seen as evidence of wrong political decisions that need to be corrected. The marginalization of the art and cultural heritage from this period continued in the following years, as part of the confirmation of the
new political ideas. The demolition of socialist ideals during the 1980s and 1990s opened
new perspectives for cultural policy, defining the relation of authorities to the cultural heritage from recent history. Acceptance of new values was accompanied by the introduction
of cultural policies that did not see an interest in the protection of the national cultural
heritage from this period. Although significantly politically directed, the development of
Yugoslavian art from the early postwar period nevertheless appears as an important part
of the national cultural heritage. It serves not only as testimony of past political views in
Yugoslavia, but also of the ideals of an era, of the accepted values and artistic aspirations
that marked the fifth decade of the 20th century in this region. This paper explores the
conditions for establishing a different reading of early post-war art in Yugoslavia, towards
a more comprehensive critical observation and redefinition of attitudes towards the cultural heritage of this period.
Key words: cultural heritage, socialist realism, socialist Yugoslavia
JEL classification: P27, Z10

1. Introduction
The changing of social circumstances in post-World War II Yugoslavia paved
the way for the setting a new framework for the development of artistic theory
and practice in the country. Thanks to changes on the cultural policy plane,
*
**

E-mail: dcalovic@megatrend.edu.rs
This paper was produced within Project no. 47004, financed by the Ministry of Education
and Science of the Republic of Serbia.

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social themes and left-oriented theoretical-artistic strivings became included


in a broader process of social transformation and attained an official character. By institutionalizing party influence in the implementation and planning
of cultural policy, as well as through party-directed artistic criticism, a strong
mechanism of state influence on artistic life was constructed, securing the subordination of artistic theory and practice to prescribed political, i.e., party goals.
The new art was supposed to express the peoples thoughts and desires and
portray the efforts expended in the building of a new, socialist society, as well as
furnish a new iconography for the coming era. Such an engaged art was partly
a continuation of the leftist tendencies of the engaged art of the pre-war period,
but much more a consequence of specific cultural frameworks that resulted from
the establishment of political ties with the Soviet Union.
The influence of the Soviet Union and calls to accept socialist realism in
art were noticeable in Yugoslavia even in the pre-war period, before all through
the work of the Communist Party and the artists that were in some way linked
to it. Still, until the establishment of the new state, following the defeat of the
Axis Powers, as the official art of the international workers movement and the
USSSR, socialist realism caused polemical reactions in Yugoslavia. Some wholly
accepted its ideas, while others rejected it, considering it to be unsustainable.
However, this power balance changed already in the first post-war years. The
newly established authorities demanded a redifinition of relations in all spheres
of social life. The role of art was seen in the glorification of the revolution and
socialist construction. The demands placed upon it were that it be thematically
clear and ideologically pure in order to achieve the greatest possible effects.
2. Art in the function of Party ideology
Seen as a powerful means of shaping citizens conciousness, art was charged
with the task of supporting the newly established ideology, being viewed as a
reflection, explanation and document of contemporary reality.1 Art was supposed to be accessible and easily understood, while artists were expected to act
pedagogically, raising the socio-political consciousness of all citizens. Still, this
documentation of reality rejected all possibility of naked naturalistic depiction or a free interpretation of social changes. There were established norms and
conventions through which reality was to be shown. The artist was expected to
express a clearly affirmative stance toward the process of socialist construction
and show faith in the progressivity of the Party ideology.
Party-directed criticism demanded that artists go out into the field, connect their work with the reality that was taking place outside atteliers and libra1

Proglas Saveza likovnih umetnika Jugoslavije (Declaration of the Association of Artists of


Yugoslavia), Beograd, 1949

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ries, become chroniclers of a time that was promising great changes. They were
expected process actual reality, communicate contemporary historical events,
the countrys renewal and industrialization, scenes from public works actions,
political manifestations, to depict the image of the new man, scenes from the
liberation struggle, the horrors of the concentration camps and other related
things. Works that expressed such contents and communicated them through
an easily readable form were considered to be high-minded. In that way, in the
minds of Party ideologues, art was gaining a pedagogical character. Not only
that it was being included in the ideological struggle for the achievement of the
goals set down by the Party.
In post-war Yugoslavia art criticism was often seen as a tool of political
guidance of artistic activity and, thus, placed in the function of achieving political, rather than artistic demands. Criticism was the domain of authors loyal to
the Party. Among these, especially active in the early post-war period in Serbia
were Radovan Zogovi, edomir Minderovi, Jovan Popovi, Branko otra and,
more rarely, Milovan ilas. Art criticism was to be a vehicle of Party ideas and
to direct artists work. Everything that ventured outside the framework imposed by the Party was evaluated as formalism, decadence, art for arts sake,
bourgeois tradition, etc.
The influence of directed art criticism was supported by a planned cultural
policy and state control of cultural institutions. In addition to the work of professional artists associations, which was guided by the Party, the work of publishing houses, galleries, theaters and other cultural institutions was also harmonized with the official party line. Control of cultural-artistic work was, in the first
place, achieved through legal regulations, then through a hierarchically arranged relationship of institutions through which cultural policy was being carried
out and, finally, by placing people loyal to the Party in responsible functions
within the established institutional system.2
Cultural policy among workers was carried out through the United Labor
Unions organization.3 An apparatus consisting of educational sections was built
within the labor union organizations, from where publishing, mass-cultural
work, theoretical-pedagogic work, etc. were run, while all work within the labor
union was directly subordinated to the Party Agitprop apparatus. According to
the First Five-Year Plan, the cultural policy towards the working class had the task
of explaining to the workers the significance of their participation in the overall
process of economic and state renewal. In that context, artists were to include
themes from workers lives in their work. According to Ljubordag Dimi, these
works were primarily intended for the working class, their task being to mobilize
the laboring masses and provide them with an example that the working class
2

Lj. Dimi, Agitprop kultura. Agitpropovska faza kulturne politike u Srbiji 19451952, Rad,
Beograd, 1988, p. 49
Ibid, p. 77

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could accept as its ideal.4 In addition, a cultural policy carried out in a planned
way was supposed to develop the workers ideological consciousness, as well as
increase the working class general cultural level. This was to a great extent carried out through the inclusion of workers in amateur cultural-artistic societies,
as well as the organization of numerous appropriate cultural manifestations
that were supposed to stimulate working lan, enthusiasm and satisfaction with
the initiated state reforms.
The development of post-war art in Yugoslavia was to proceed in step with
the initiated political changes. In a time of great social shifts, art was seen as
an inseparable part of the general course of events. On the symbolic plane, it
was supposed to wage the same battle as the official ideology in changing existing social relations. Directed by the official art theory and art criticism, art was
becoming a battle formation of Party policy in the cultural sphere.
Already at the beginning of December 1947 in Zagreb, the First Congress
of Visual Artists of FPR Yugoslavia reflected the changed position of artists and
art as a whole. ore Andrejevi Kuns headline presentation, On the Possibilities, Tasks and Prospects of Our Art, emphasized that the Five Year Plan
provided Yugoslavian artists with new themes and inspirations: They have the
honorable role of expressing and immortalizing this historic movement.5 This
kind of standpoint was best manifested in works such as: Exploring the Terrain
in New Belgrade (1948) by Boa Ili; Construction (1951) by ore Andrejevi
Kun; Construction of the Bridge in Bogojevo (1947) by Milan Konjovi; View of
New Belgrade Under Construction (1948) by Predrag Milosavljevi; Maiden with
Sickle (1949) by Milivoje Nikolajevi; The Worker Heroes of the Aleksinac Mines
(1950) by Mihailo Petrov; Rade Stankovis sculptures Electrical Workers (1948)
and Longshoreman (1952); Boko Karanovis lithographs from the Youth Railway;
the painting Youth Constructing Railway (Us Constructing Railway c. 1949) by
Boa Ili; etc.
To a lesser extent, the construction theme was also expressed in literature,
before all in the works of younger authors. An example of poetic glorification of
work and the construction of the country is found in the verses of the Song of the
Vranduk Miner, by Miroslav Mitrovi, published in Mladost magazine no. 6 in
1947, as well as in the poem The Danube-Tisa-Danube Canal, by Bogdan ipli
(1949), where the building of the Canal is connected with the transformation of
Vojvodinas landscape from a swamp to an idyllic region, covered by fields of
grain and new settlements.
The publication of works on the construction of the country were supported through visual and literary media, as well as through intensive photograp4
5

Ibid, p. 85
. Andrejevi Kun, O mogunostima, zadacima i perspektivi nae likovne umetnosti,
paper presented at the First Congress of Visual Artists of FPRY, 1947

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hic reports on the initiated mass process.6 This created a specific atmosphere of
optimism around the new socialist society, with the authors themselves being
included in the work on glorifying the enthusiasm and the achieved results in
the renewal of the war-torn country.
Demands for artists more intense engagement in post-war Yugoslavia were
mixed with evocations of the wartime horrors and casualties suffered by the
Yugoslavian peoples, as well as emphasis of the role of the Communist Party
and the Partisan movement in the liberation of the country. Among the most
striking examples of the use of wartime themes in art were the paintings Witnesses to Horrors (1948) and The Column (1946) by ore Andrejevi Kun, and the
graphics Old Herzegovina, The Column and Battle Station by Branko otra, Sutjeska by ore Teodorovi, and From the Fifth Offensive by Voja Dimitrijevi.
Monumental sculpture played a special role in glorifying the liberation
struggle in Yugoslavian post-war art. On the occasion of the announcement of a
contest organized by the Peoples Republic of Serbia for draft sketches and project
designs for monuments in Jajnici, Kragujevac, Titovo Uice, Bela Crkva, Kraljevo, Pritina and on Mt. Fruka Gora, Oto Bihalji Merin wrote in his text On
Monuments Worthy of Immortal Deeds (1948) that these monuments were to
achieve, in stone and bronze, an artistic materialization of examples of ... heroism, human greatness and courage in the struggle for national liberation and the
achievement of socialism. 7
Thanks to numerous state-financed projects, post-war Yugoslavia was turned into a huge construction ground. Monuments glorifying the Partisans liberation struggle and ossuaries devoted to the wars victims were sprouting in all
parts of the country. They were meant to preserve the memory of the heroic
history of the Yugoslavian peoples, but also to instruct newer generations in the
spirit of Yugoslavian patriotism. One of the first monuments devoted to the
national liberation struggle was made by Antun Augustini in Batina Skela on
the Danube. Work on it began at the beginning of 1945, and lasted a little more
than two years. Raised in remembrance of the meeting of Yugoslavian Partisan
forces and the Red Army forces, it was a monumental depiction of the unbreakable friendship between the Yugoslavian and the Soviet peoples, as well as a
symbol of the establishment of the new ideology on Yugoslavias territory.
Wartime themes were equally present in literary works, of which the following were undoubtedly among the most prominent literary depictions of the
liberation struggle: Daleko je sunce (Distant Is the Sun, 1951) by Dobrica osi;
Zapisi iz oslobodilakog rata (Notes from the War of Liberation, 1946) by Rodoljub olakovi, written as a form of chronicle of events in Partisan units during
6

On more details regarding the use of photography as propaganda, see: M. Todi, Fotografija
i propaganda: 19451958, JU Knjievna zadruga, Banja Luka, Helicon, Panevo, 2005
O. Bihalji Merin, O spomenicima dostojnim besmrtnih dela, in: Knjievne novine, No.
21, yr. I, July 6, 1948, p. 2.

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the initial war years; the diary Za Titom (After Tito, 1945) and the story Oblaci
nad Tarom (Clouds Above the Tara, 1947) by edomir Minderovi; and Istinite
legende (True Legends, 1944; second supplemented edition 1948) by Jovan Popovi, a literary treatment of certain episodes from the liberation war.
A result of the Partys powerful influence in all spheres of social life, the
ideologically interpreted perspective of social development directed the development of the domestic art of the observed period, making it a vehicle for the achievement of Party goals, as well as for the glorification of the anti-fascist struggle
of the Yugoslavian peoples, while providing support for the ideals put forward by
the new society. A special role in setting the new course of Yugoslavian art in the
early post-war period of all-encompassing struggle to implement social transformation was played by the First Congress of Writers of Yugoslavia, held in 1946,8
which established the Association of Writers of Yugoslavia as the supreme
forum and regulator of literary and book life. In his speech, Ivo Andri saw the
founding of the Association of Writers of Yugoslavia as active participation on
the part of writers in the process of general state renewal, and their contribution
to the construction of a peoples state.9 Of special significance in that sense was
Radovan Zogovis paper A Look at Our Literary Situation and Tasks (1946),
which in a certain sense defined the framework of literary activity in liberated
Yugoslavia. In his paper, Zogovi expressed the view that progressive writers
are interested in depicting testimonies from the Partisan struggle and from occupied territories and portraying work and creative enthusiasm and testimonies of
Slavic peoples brotherhood and unity, along with producing so-called manifests
on the struggle for the liberation of all Yugoslavian provinces. In recognizing such
interests as progressive strivings, Zogovi called upon Yugoslavian writers to be
even more productive in portraying the characters of fighters, workers, enemies,
and women and child-participants of the liberation struggle, in offering an artistic portrait of the agrarian reform and the spread of culture, to write about the
Red Army (referred to as the liberatrix) and, ultimately, to portray the character of the new Yugoslavian man.10
Zoran Mii also demanded a certain dose of documentarity, achieved by
experiential proximity to the treated events. In his text A Few Remarks on
Beginners Works (1947), he mentioned essential separation from depicted
events as a frequent mistake made by young writers. This primarily referred to
authors who sought to portray the construction of the country and youth public
works actions. He demanded that the authors themselves also take part in the
8

10

The congress was held on November 17 and 18, 1946, in the big hall of Kolarac University
in Belgrade.
I. Andri, O statutu Saveza knjievnika, in: Naa knjievnost, no. 12, yr. I, December
1946, p. 506
R. Zogovi, Osvrt na nae knjievne prilike i zadatke, Paper at the First Congress of Writers
of Yugoslavia in Belgrade, in: Republika, No. 1112, yr. II, Nov.-Dec. 1946, pp. 868-869

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construction process, in order to be able to portray those events in their works


in the most successful way. That would allow young writers to offer a ... living
and inspired portrait of the new youth and, through genuine experience rather
than acceptance of hollow phrases, take in the greatness and the beauty of
the new age.11
The general tendency to have the Yugoslavian literatures develop in the tightest connection with the socialist construction and the countrys overall economic, political and cultural development was also expressed at the plenum of the
board of the Association of Writers of Yugoslavia, held on November 23-24, 1947
in Belgrade. The basic tasks placed before Yugoslavian writers in the presented
papers included work on advancing the unity of the Yugoslavian peoples, as well
as on intensifying the development of creative literary-artistic and social activities of all Yugoslavian writers.
Jovan Popovi was another one to demand that the new reality be portrayed,
asking writers to note all the important moments of reality and incorporate
them in their creative work. Great victories seek their literary witnesses, the characters of heroes and workers, characters made for songs, seek their bards, wrote
Popovi.12 Contemporary Yugoslavian writers were asked to express the entire
dynamic of current events, the huge accomplishments and changes that were
happening in society, to express workers feelings, thoughts, hardships, problems,
passions and convictions. In his text For a Theoretical Uplifting of Cultural
Cadres and Increasing the Quality of Literary-Artistic Works, published in the
Literary Newspaper in 1949, Popovi called upon writers to even more strongly
express ... lan in the construction of socialism, the growth of our industry, in
which our workers and experts are waging battle for the plan, the process of the
transformation of villages.13 In fact, these were precisely the tasks which, by his
own admission, were not at all easy that Popovi identified as the main tasks
that were placed before contemporary Yugoslavian writers and artists.
In the text The Party and Literature (1948), Popovi recognized party-mindedness as the basic characteristic of so-called progressive literature, i.e., as the
category that makes writers into peoples writers.14 In his opinion, the Party is
the one that inspires writers in the new Yugoslavian society, the one that extends
help in the ideological guidance of literary life and the proper acceptance
of the cultural heritage. Relying on Lenin, Jovan Popovi defined party-mindedness as the ... enrichment and strengthening of literary creation; it enables
writers to interpret reality in a true and prescient way, to, inspired by progressive
11

12
13

14

Z. Mii, Nekoliko napomena o poetnikim radovima, in: Mladost, no. 7 - 8, yr. III,
JulyAugust 1947, pp. 100-101
J. Popovi, Re knjievnika, in: Knjievne novine, No. 1, yr. I, February 17, 1948, p. 1
J. Popovi, Za teorijsko uzdizanje kulturnih kadrova i poveanje kvaliteta knjievnoumetnikih dela, in: Knjievne novine, No. 1, yr. II, January 4, 1949, p. 1
J. Popovi, Partija i knjievnost, in: Knjievne novine, No. 20, yr. I, June 29, 1948, p. 1

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science, deeply fathom and artistically perfectly express reality, to draw strength
from the people and instruct the people for socialism, to construct genuine heroes
from life and create heroes in life to belong to the people and to humanity as a
whole precisely because they are party-minded.15 Party-mindedness was seen
as an important attribute of literature and art in socialist society because, as he
went on, only socialist party-minded literature ... expresses the historical path
of the working class at the head of the working people and genuinely points to
the future.16
Basing his standpoint on Lenins text Party Organization and Party Literature, Popovi accepted the view that literature must not be an individual
thing.17 In addition, Popovi did not see Lenins view of literature as a cog and a
screw in the social-democratic mechanism as a whole as a degradation of literature but as its orientation toward a new perspective of development, within which
party-mindedness is placed as the basic direction marker of literary creation.
Popovi interpreted Lenins definition of party-mindedness as an enrichment and
a strengthening of literary creation, linking the principle of party-mindedness
with the basic principles of socialist realism. To Popovi, this principle became
a unifying principle, which encompassed not only the demand that art should
harmonize itself with the Partys goals and program, but also the demand that art
be a reflection of reality, as well as its interpretation, that it play a pedagogic role,
that it offer the image of the new man the hero of socialist society.
In presenting a review of the development of Croatian literature in his text
Literature Faced with New Tasks (1945), Marin Franievi highlighted the
tasks that stood before domestic writers under the new circumstances, but also
on the basis of established tradition.18 The basic task being imposed upon contemporary literature was to, while relying on the realist tradition (of Croatian
literature, as well as that of other brotherly peoples) and properly evaluating
current reality and the magnitude of the events in our homeland, treat current
reality and serve as a document for future generations. It was expected to ...
shape and artistically vivify the gigantic struggle and the heroic image of our
man....19 Before all, that meant that literature should offer a portrayal of the ...
image of our hero-leader at the front and behind the lines, to paint the image of
the hero-worker, the enthusiasm of our youth, the sacrifice of our mothers, to
paint the image of the peoples strength in its creative ascent, to besing and paint
15
16
17
18

19

Ibid, p. 1
Ibid, p. 1
Ibid, p. 1
In his text Franievi was primarily concered with analyzing the development of post-war
Croatian literature, but his views are indicative of the accepted guideline for development,
which other Yugoslavian literatures were expected to follow as well.
M. Franievi, Knjievnost pred novim zadacima, in: Pisci i problemi, Kultura, Beograd,
1948, p. 216

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the creation of our peoples brotherhood and unity, the love for the homeland
liberated with the blood of its best sons, to nurture it and elevate it to the highest
pedestal.20 Writers were expected to take an active part in contemporary events,
to be participants, not observers in the great social changes, to confidently and
decisively take up their new position and participate in the development of the
taste of the broad masses.21
The development of theoretical understandings was moving in the same
direction in the visual arts as well. In his text The Question of Art among Us
(1946), written for the First Congress of Visual Artists, Sreten Stojanovi expressed the view that their lack of political consciousness had separated artists from
the people and subordinated them to the will of the bourgeoisie.22 According to
Stojanovi, such a relationship lay at the root of the lack of ideas, helplessness and
aimlessness that characterized the great majority of artists.23 He emphasized that
the significance of the contemporary age lay precisely in the ... peoples political
struggle for power and its taking of economic goods into its own hands. Every
artist has to know this. He has to participate in this struggle, because he is also
a part of the people, and has to contribute to this struggle with his works.24 Stojanovi went so far as to make the artists participation in the peoples struggle
an important criterion in the evaluation of a work of art.
Stojanovi thought that it was necessary to view current social occurrences in a general context, as a mass movement of struggle for freedom and justice. And, according to Stojanovi, precisely this struggle contained a huge and
inexhaustible source of beauty and strength, which should serve to stimulate
artists and writers. And artists had to possess a certain political grounding in
order to be able to draw closer to the significance of the entire process. Only in
that way, he went on, would the artist be able to absorb himself in the peoples
strivings, to become one with the people and its paths and, ultimately, to identify
himself with it.25 Stojanovi concluded his text by emphasizing the importance
of understanding the spirit of the times and of political unification with the
people. This ideal was to be achieved through artists constant political education, in their acceptance of the themes of the Yugoslavian peoples liberation
struggle, as well as themes connected with current Yugoslavian reality, its character and the character of the soldier-worker.26
20
21
22

23

24
25
26

Ibid, p. 216
Ibid, pp. 216 - 217
The text was not made public due to the objections that came, of which the most energetic
were those coming from the Association of Visual Artists of B-H.
S. Stojanovi, Pitanje umetnosti kod nas, in: O umetnosti i umetnicima, Prosveta,
Beograd, 1952, p. 95
Ibid, p. 96
Ibid, p. 96
Ibid, p. 101

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Grga Gamulin was another one who demanded that the new art be built on
the foundations of the initiated social changes. In his text Art at a Turn (1947),
Gamulin contrasted bourgeois art, which he tied to the conditions of bourgeois
society, with the new, socialist art, which was being produced in a society ...
which has an open perspective toward the future, in a people that approaches
work and life with passion.27 Thus, when speaking of socialist realism, he was
referring before all to the passionate reality of creative work, which should not
only be realistically depicted in painting and sculpture but also molded ... in
its passion, vivacity and fighting optimism.28 In Gamulins view, in order to
truly attain socialist art and restore true human meaning to their work, artists
should find a way to realize the romantic side of reality. He believed that this
was the only way that contemporary Yugoslavian art would be able to turn itself
toward the future.29 Such interpretations of socialist realism brought Gamulin
closer to its Stalinist-Zhdanovian interpretation as revolutionary romanticism,
founded in support of the ideals of the new society set down by the Party.
The change in the countrys political direction, brought by the conflict with
the Cominform, also brought changes in cultural policy. Rejection of foreign
organizational models and models and a return to domestic experience, but
without a deeper analysis of work in the cultural and scientific fields, was already demanded at the Second Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in January 1949, and subsequently affirmed in Edvard
Kardeljs speech before the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts in mid
December of that year.30 One of the key events for the spread of the new ideas and
for liberation from the exclusive cultural influence of the Soviet Union was the
Third Congress of Writers of Yugoslavia. The congress condemned the dogmatic character of previous creative work and the influence of Stalinism on Yugoslavian cultural life. In his presentation, Miroslav Krlea sharply condemned
the limitations of creative freedom in artistic, cultural and public life, emphasizing that, by taking an independent road to socialism, Yugoslavian reality was
acquiring specific characteristics and contents, which would inevitably reflect
on artistic creation as well. In addition, Krlea appealed for a revision of all the
previous judgments regarding art and a redefinition of relations, both regarding
works from the past and contemporary artistic accomplishments.
At the beginning of the 1950s, art criticism began to more and more openly
free itself from Soviet influence and the principles of socialist realism. In writing
27
28
29
30

G. Gamulin, Umjetnost na zaokretu, in: Republika, No. 4, yr. III, April 1947, p. 251
Ibid, p. 251
Ibid, p. 25.
At the Second Plenum of the CPY CC, of special significance were the speeches of
Aleksandar Rankovi and Milovan ilas, along with the Resolution of the II Plenum of
the CPY CC on the Current Organizational and Agitation-Propaganda Tasks of the Party
(Texts published in: Partijska izgradnja, No. 1, yr. I, March 1949, pp. 3-46).

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about the VIIth Exposition of Bosnian-Herzegovinian Artists, Branko otra lauded the fact that the presented works contained no trace of the vulgar, naturalistic understanding of socialist realism that characterized Soviet art.31 The
official rejection of soc-realist experience was also expressed in the Resolution
of the Second Congress of the Association of Visual Artists of Yugoslavia, which
pointed to the need to resist the uncreative naturalism of Soviet art. This turning
to new paths was subsequently manifested in Yugoslavias participation at the
XXVth Venetian Biennial, its first after liberation.32
The literature of this period produced works that represented an attempt
to synthesize revolutionary topics and freer expression. A division was formed
among writers, between the realists gathered around the Literary Newspaper
(Knjevne novine) and the modernists gathered around Youth (Mladost) magazine. Book publishing saw an increased turning toward domestic and Western
authors and the loss of primacy of Soviet literature. The thematic plans of the
literary publishing houses became much more varied, and the number of published titles increased at the expense of circulation.33
However, the loosening of reigns in artistic production and book publishing
did not mean that the reigns were removed. The Party continued its sharp opposition to everything that departed from the official view of cultural policy, and
all works that overstepped the set boundaries of creative freedom were rejected
as reactionary and opposed to the revolutionary development of the country.
The rejection of the Soviet cultural model was being carried out through the
negation of Soviet artistic theory, but not through an abandonment of Partycontrolled cultural policy. Under the changed social circumstances, portrayals
of reality were to serve as the most obvious denial of the accusations that were
arriving from the Eastern bloc. Art retained its fighting, propaganda character, with only the aims of its struggle being changed.
3. Turn on the plane of artistic theory and practice
Initiated by the change in the CPYs political course, the turn on the plane of
artistic theory and practice in Yugoslavia was indicative of a change in the approach
to the subordination of art to political goals. The rebellion against the dogmatization of art and Party control over artistic creation that intensified at the beginning
of the 1950s, having been initiated and controlled by the Party itself, did not herald
an end of the process of politicization of the aesthetic in post-war Yugoslavia, but
31

32

33

B. otra, Sedma izloba Udruenja likovnih umjetnika Bosne i Hercegovine, in:


Knjievne novine, No. 52, yr. II, December 27, 1949, p. 3
At the Venice Biennial, Yugoslavia was represented by: Kos, Lubarda, B. Ili, Mujezinovi,
Augustini, Krini, Radau, Baki, K. A. Radovani.
Lj. Dimi,ibid., p. 260

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rather a redefinition of the political tasks placed before artistic theory and practice
in changed socio-historical circumstances. Thus, the departure from Zhdanovism
and Stalinist culture did not yet mean a total liberation of artistic thought. Still,
the turn on the political plane directed to a great extent subsequent readings of
early post-war Yugoslavian art. Seen primarily as an expression of political dictate and rejected ideological views, the art of this period was seen as a testimony
of wrong political decisions, which should be discarded. The change in political
views of the late 1940s and early 1950s sparked a change in the way in which the
cultural heritage of the early socialist period in Yugoslavia was treated. The marginalization of artistic works and the cultural heritage of this period would continue
in the years that followed, as a part of the process of the affirmation of the new
political standpoints. The destruction of socialist ideals that occurred during the
1990s has opened up new perspectives for cultural policy, defining the authorities
relationship toward the cultural heritage from recent history. Art that celebrated
the revolution and the building of a new society was interpreted as an expression
of an ideological consciousness that would not hinder future social development
only if it was to be relegated to oblivion. Thus, the acceptance of new values was
accompanied by a conception of cultural policies that did not see an interest in
protecting the national cultural heritage from more recent history.
The marginalization of the cultural heritage from the early post-war period
was carried out not just in the field of cultural policy but in the theoretical field
as well. The art and art theory developed in the early post-war period in Yugoslavia was viewed exclusively as an expression of political-ideological dictate,
which meant that the need for its deeper examination was rejected. However,
in recent years, thanks to research done in the domain of art theory, there has
been a change in the view by which Yugoslavian art of the early post-war period
does not deserve the closer attention of researchers. In that direction, especially
important has been the contribution of the historical-theoretical research done
by Milanka Todi, Aleksandar Kadijevi, Lidija Merenik and others.
And, thus, more than half a century after the beginning of the project of
transforming domestic art in the spirit of planned socialist development, the
question of the perception of the found cultural heritage has been opened. Yugoslavian art of the early post-war period, to a great extent politically directed,
represents an important segment of the domestic historical heritage, testifying
not only to past political world views but also to the ideals of a specific age and
its accepted values, as well as to the artistic strivings that marked the period.
Hence, a definition of the relationship toward the art theory and practice of this
period would have to be founded on a critical analysis of the preserved materials
and their comprehensive evaluation.
It is possible to recognize the justification for this demand just on the basis
of an analysis of the basic guidelines by which the development of the artistictheoretical understandings of the early post-war period was defined. Understood
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Serbian cultural heritage and socialist realism

327

as an activity that influences overall social progress, art in post-war Yugoslavia


was supposed to be included in the initiated process of social reform and socialist construction. This meant the imposition of a Party-determined development
perspective upon Yugoslavian art theory and practice. Art was supposed to support the official ideology and, with its tendencies, actively participate in contemporary events; to achieve the Party-imposed vision of Yugoslavian reality; to,
following the principle of optimism and expressing a clear (socialist) world view,
influence the countrys revolutionary development; to express the greatness
and beauty of the new age and emphasize the importance of the initiated social
reforms. The acceptance of such views determined to a great extent the perspective of artistic development in the country. However, as art has never in history
been free of ideological influence, an achieved politicization of the aesthetic cannot stand as sufficient reason for marginalizing the artistic practice of the early
post-war period, much less for neglecting its research.
On the other hand, the inclusion of artists in the process of changing social
relations also assumed the imposition of demands to portray, by way of art, the creation of the brotherhood and unity of the Yugoslavian peoples, thus contributing to
the establishment of stable interethnic relations in the country. Art was also supposed to be a vehicle for supporting the initiated process of construction and industrialization of the country on new foundations. Art was to present testimonies from
the Partisan struggle and from the occupied territories, to show the heroism of the
fighters and glorify the liberation struggle of the Yugoslavian peoples during World
War II. Although the treatment of wartime themes emphasized the role of Josip
Broz Tito and the Communist Party in the countrys liberation, the portrayal of the
war with all its sufferings and horrors also served as a tribute to the heroic efforts of
the Yugoslavian peoples in the struggle for the liberation of the land.
4. Conclusion
Subordinated to the demand of supporting broader social reforms, Yugoslavian art of the early post-war period was supposed to contribute to the victory
of socialist construction. Art was supposed to transmit the posited ideals of the
era in which it was produced. It was supposed to support hope for a better world,
express the humane strivings fortified in belief in a possible future society, built
on the foundations of the anti-fascist struggle. Although it came about under the
cover of a strong political dictate, early post-war Yugoslavian art was supported
by a faith in the possibility of building a new, more humane society. It is precisely these humane strivings, although ideologically supported, that are opening
up the space for a rereading of early post-war Yugoslavian art. Born out of the
revolutionary struggle, the art of socialist realism represents a testimony of great
ideals and the ruling zeitgeist of mid 20th century Yugoslavia. Regardless of the
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Dragan alovi

question of the justification of the ideological views that supported its development, the art of this period represents a part of the cultural heritage that bears
testimony of the beliefs that determined the course of events in the more recent
past of these parts. Thus, its critical understanding can be seen as a key to a better understanding of the national cultural identity.
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Paper received: August 29th, 2011


Approved for publication: September 5th, 2011
Megatrend Review

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