I am Jugoslovenka!: Feminist Performance Politics During and After Yugoslav Socialism

Winner of the Barbara Jelavich Book Prize 2023

I am Jugoslovenka argues that queer-feminist artistic and political resistance were paradoxically enabled by socialist Yugoslavias unique history of patriarchy and womens emancipation. Spanning performance and conceptual art, video works, film and pop music, lesbian activism and press photos of female snipers in the Yugoslav wars, the book analyses feminist resistance in a range of performative actions that manifest the radical embodiment of Yugoslavias anti-fascist, transnational and feminist legacies. It covers celebrated and lesser-known artists from the 1970s to today, including Marina Abramovic, Sanja Ivekovic, Vlasta Delimar, Tanja Ostojic, Selma Selman and Helena Janecic, along with music legends Lepa Brena and Esma Redepova. I am Jugoslovenka tells a unique story of womens resistance through the intersection of feminism, socialism and nationalism in East European visual culture.