Croatology, Vol. 13 No. 1-2, 2022.
Review article
Patriotism, philanthropy, and faith in the Jagoda Truhelka’s novel Zlatni danci as the basis of a new perspective on the study of her work
Izabela Potnar Mijić
orcid.org/0000-0003-0389-2246
; Education and Teacher Training Agency, Osijek
Abstract
Until the middle of the 20th century, Jagoda Truhelka was an important participant in Croatian cultural events, and as an excellent teacher
and director of girls’ schools, she was appreciated for her pedagogical work. She was also a prolific writer and wrote novels for adults and children, and her tetralogy Zlatni danci, consisting of the books Zlatni danci, Bogorodičine trešnje, Dusi domaćeg ognjišta and Crni i beli dani was appreciated by critics and popular among young and old readers. After the Second World War, Jagoda Truhelka’s novels for children are considered part of Croatian civic sentimental, naive and regional literature
with a strong didactic note, which in modern theory is not considered valuable literature. That is why Truhelka was marginalized as a writer after the Second World War, and only the book Zlatni danci is on the wider list of literary works to read in the fourth grade of primary school. Some of the reasons for such a reception are Truhelka’s Christian worldview and the values she represents in her works: love for her own city of Osijek and the homeland of Croatia, love for her close ones and man, and love for God. This paper will analyze the content of the first book entitled Zlatni danci with an emphasis on the motives of patriotism, philanthropy, and faith as the foundation of moral and ethical life that Jagoda Truhelka skillfully introduced into books suitable for readers of all ages and show how they can serve as a foundation for the new perspectives in the study of Truhelka’s literary work.
Keywords
Jagoda Truhelka; children’s literature; motifs; new perspective
Hrčak ID:
281451
URI
Publication date:
19.7.2022.
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