Original scientific paper
Dissidents liked Pretty Girls: Nudity, Pornography and Quality Press in Socialism
Biljana Žikić
Abstract
Communist regimes considered pornography to be an exclusively ‘Western’
phenomenon and interpreted it as a sign of moral decay caused by the capitalist
mode of production. Yet if we broaden the notion of pornography to include
“soft” or “modest” erotica, then we have to acknowledge the existence
of numerous pornographic images on the pages of various socialist magazines,
daily newspapers and current affairs journals. This paper examines the phenomenon
of socialist erotica in the context of socialist Yugoslavia. It starts by
providing a general overview of various Yugoslav periodical publications
containing pornographic and nude images, and outlines some of the key traits
of official cultural policies and attitudes related to such publications. This is
followed by a close examination of Start magazine, published from 1969 until
1991 in Zagreb, and widely acclaimed among the Yugoslav intellectual elite
for its sharp criticism of political and social affairs. Start was the first Yugoslav
magazine of a ‘hybrid’ nature, meaning that it combined the characteristics
of a tabloid newspaper, with erotic and pornographic elements, with those
of a high-brow magazine containing progressive, emancipatory and critical
analysis of current affairs. The analysis is limited to the period between 1961
and 1981, and is driven by three questions: How did the conceptual blend of
photographs of nude women and serious, critical articles of high quality come
about? What was the reaction of its readership and social establishment? How
is it related to the West and to post-socialist transition? Using frame analysis,
the paper identifies the key frames evident in the textual commentaries surrounding
nude images, and shows how these frames helped legitimize the publication of nude images. Among other things, the analysis demonstrates how
sexual liberation became semantically associated with liberalization and progress,
and how naked female bodies functioned as symbols of Yugoslavia’s
progressiveness.
Keywords
communist regimes; socialist erotica; Yugoslavia; periodical publications; Start
Hrčak ID:
58283
URI
Publication date:
25.7.2010.
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