Gender and World War II in the Yugoslav Media

This book analyzes how the cultural memory of women’s participation in the Yugoslav People’s Liberation Struggle (1941–1945), especially female soldiers, was treated in socialist Yugoslavia’s popular printed press, and how it contributed to the creation of the figure of the Yugoslav New Woman.

This book presents an analysis of the cultural memory of women’s participation in the Yugoslav People’s Liberation Struggle (1941–1945), with a particular focus on the figure of the female soldier. It examines how this subject was treated in socialist Yugoslavia’s popular printed press and how it contributed to the creation of the figure of the Yugoslav New Woman. By examining four popular magazines, this volume aims to reveal the variety of understandings of women’s unprecedented level of wartime engagement and its relevance in creating the conditions for the emergence and development of the New Woman in socialist Yugoslavia. The book delves into the roles and societal impact of these women as portrayed in the printed press from the end of World War II until the watershed moment of socialist Yugoslavia’s history: the death of Josip Broz Tito in 1980. This book is aimed at students, scholars, and researchers interested in women's and gender history in state socialist countries. Its examination of print magazines, an understudied aspect of Yugoslav media, will also be of interest to media and communication scholars.