Jelena Đurović
Jelena Đurović (Cyrillic: Јелена Ђуровић) (born 13 July 1973) is a journalist, writer and political activist. She advocates changes to the cultural policy of the Government of Serbia, Serbian acceptance of the responsibility for recent wars in the Balkans and re-affirmation of the Second World War anti-fascist movement in Serbia.
Biography
Jelena was born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, into a Jewish-Montenegrin family with strong civic tradition. She is a daughter of Vukašin Đurović, successful Belgrade lawyer who died in a car accident in 1983, and Svetlana Davidovac. Aunt of Jelena’s grand grandmother Serafina was Lotika Zellermeier. She was the inspiration for the main character from the 1961 Nobel Prize winner Ivo Andrić's novel The Bridge on the Drina.
Literary work
Jelena is a graduate of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade, Department of Theater and radio production. In mid nineties she took part in several projects in Belgrade theatres but decided to cease her involvement due to widespread[citation needed] corruption and nepotism[1]. Her bachelor thesis, "Theatre in the shadow of the gallows" ("Pozornica u senci vešala") explored the programming policies of Belgrade theaters during the Slobodan Milošević era. Excerpts from her thesis were published in the Teatron magazine. During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, Jelena lived in Budapest, Hungary, where she started work on her novel "Kingdom"[2] published in November 2003, excerpts from which were published in the book Voices from the faultline, A Balkan Anthology[3].
Kingdom
"Kingom" is the book that elaborates influence of historical events in the life of an individual. It plays with three sequences - literary genres and uses a fragmentary approach, but the basic idea, well hidden among its pages, is the understanding of the art.
It is almost impossible to retell "Kingdom", as none of the nine parts can be read separately from the whole book. The choice of the nine most significant dates in Yugoslav history, the plot of the story that unfolds amongst these dates, as well as the genres of each of the chapters in "Kingdom" form a unique literary experiment that hasn't previously been published.
Style
In her own words, her strongest literary influences were works by American writer Bret Easton Ellis. She often refers to Danish director Lars von Trier’s movies Dogville and Element of Crime, as well as J.G. Ballard’s novel Running Wild, as the most important works that shaped her understanding of literary forms. She wrote several articles about von Trier and Ellis. She also often mentions[citation needed] Croatian writers Miroslav Krleža and Slobodan Šnajder as the source of inspiration. She is fascinated with[citation needed] anti-utopia/dystopia, satire and transgression and those literary forms are noticeable throughout[citation needed] her novel Kingdom.
Politics
By her own testimony, Jelena is active in Serbian politics since 1991[4] but she actively takes part in day-to-day politics since 2006 when she became member of the Liberal Democratic Party. After parliamentary elections in Serbia in May 2008, she was elected councilor[5] in the Belgrade borough of Vračar. Reading her published articles and listening to her radio shows one easily [citation needed]understands that she campaigns for the wide range of rights for ethnical minorities, establishment of strictly secular state and arrest of remaining Serbian war criminals that are still at large. However, her work is mainly related to cultural establishments and popular culture[citation needed], both in Serbia and in Great Britain [citation needed]where she spends considerable amount of time[citation needed].
Journalism
In mid nineties Jelena attended a 6-month journalism course organized by the Soros Fund Yugoslavia. In 1994 and 1995 she worked at one of Belgrade’s most popular radio stations "Studio B"[6], as author and editor of the weekly radio show "Time In". This show was sponsored by Soros Fund Yugoslavia. Since October 2005 she is the author and editor of "AgitPop"[7] blog. Its motto is a citation from the letter written by Sigmund Freud to Albert Einstein in Vienna in September 1932: "Meanwhile we may rest on the assurance that whatever makes for cultural development is working also against war..."[8]. At the same time Jelena writes for several Serbian newspapers and magazines[9][10][11] and became a part of the editorial team of the "Novi Radio Beograd"[12][13]. She hosts daily show on Wednesdays, campaigns for immediate arrest of Ratko Mladić, criticizes the influence of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Serbia, advocates reconciliation between Serbs and Kosovo Albanians and often provokes nationalists and Euro-skeptics. Since May 19 2009 Jelena's original daily show is aired on Tuesdays from 9pm to 11pm under the name Agitpop. The format of the show remains largely unchanged.
Personal life
Jelena Đurović was married to Serbian painter Miron Mutaović from 2004 to 2008.
On 31 January 2009 Jelena marries Tomica Orešković, a descendant of the Second World War Croatian national hero Marko Orešković. Since February 2009 Jelena lives between Belgrade and Richmond, London.
External links
- Interview with Jelena Đurović (in Serbian) for Belgrade daily newspaper Glas
- Jelena on BalkanWriters.com
- "Kraljevstvo" on WorldCat.org
- Slavic and Eastern European Collections at UC Berkeley, New Acquisitions from and about Eastern Europe (except Poland), page 53
References
- ^ An interview for Gay-Serbia online magazine: http://www.gay-serbia.com/intervju/2004/04-07-05-jelena-djurovic/index.jsp?aid=1437
- ^ http://www.jelenadjurovic.com/index_eng.html
- ^ http://www.zayupress.com/voices.html
- ^ http://agitpopkultura.blogspot.com/2007/04/graani-i-graanke-na-rubu-nervnog-sloma.html
- ^ http://www.ldpvracar.org.rs/srpski/clanovi_OO.html
- ^ http://www.studio-b.co.yu/radio/
- ^ http://agitpopkultura.blogspot.com
- ^ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1310/is_1993_March/ai_13886280/pg_7/?tag=content;col1
- ^ Articles written and/or edited by Jelena for CAMP, FAAR and Glas magazines: http://agitpopmagazine.blogspot.com/
- ^ http://arhiva.glas-javnosti.rs/arhiva/2006/02/01/srpski/K06013103.shtml
- ^ http://faarmagazine.com/
- ^ http://www.noviradiobeograd.com
- ^ http://www.blic.rs/kultura.php?id=59598