On the First Socialist Men and Women in Novi Sad (1868–1873)

This paper analyzes the political-ideological plans of a group of the socialists, led by Svetozar Marković, who, as refugees in the 1970s in Novi Sad, determined political, economic, and social changes in the Serbian Corps north and south of the Sava and Danube. The aim of the research presented in this paper is to analyze less-explored topics in the historical science through the new reading of selected texts of the first socialists, published either as separate papers or newspaper articles in Radnik, Mlada Srbadija, Zastava, Matica, and the Srpski omladinski kalendar za prostu 1869, which present what the refugee socialists wrote about Novi Sad, its citizens, society, the political situation, and attitudes on women's liberation. Also, the aim is to compare, by the method of critical discourse analysis, the views on women's liberation held by the liberal political and cultural elite in the Serbian Vojvodina community at the end of the 19th century with those of the first socialists, but also of Draga Dejanović, Draga Gavrilović, and Milica Ninković, and to identify whether Draga Dejanović's and Draga Gavrilović's views women's emancipation can be considered close to the socialist platform. The results of the research indicate the need for a new evaluation of women's contribution to the socialist platform among Serbs.