Lice i naličje gradjanskog života u porodičnom romanu

LIGHT AND SHADOWS IN BOURGEOIS LIFE IN TWO FAMILY NOVELS Summary The family satisfies the individual’s primary needs, from emotional and sexual to economic ones. Yet according to sociological theory, although it is a place of freedom, it is also a trap in which individuality is lost. In traditional Serbian culture, the family protects the individual from danger and is synonymous with harmonious life. This idealized image has been called into question in numerous works of literature in which the family, a miniature universe, realistically mirrors reality. Beneath norms and rules that appear to be stable, the private sphere is rife with conflict and the defects of family members emerge and collide. This article discusses two contemporary Serbian family novels: Lagum (1990) by S.Velmar Janković and Guvernanta (2002) by I. Ivanji. Written from different narrative perspectives, both analyze the model of the bourgeois family and its mechanisms. The family’s role, the ways its members behave, and their reactions to historical events are influenced by their social status, which war and its consequences radically change. Key words: family, family novels, history, memory, Lagum, Guvernanta.