Is there room to talk about equality in times of crisis? This question will be asked several times through various activities that the Swedish Embassy is planning during the fall within the project “Let’s talk about equality”.
The aim of the project is to look at the role of women in society from different angles and point out the fact that today’s women are between several different roles: professional, parental, friendly and partner, with special emphasis on the manifestation of these roles in global times of crisis.
The project started in Novi Pazar with the digital presentation of the novel “Find Yourself” by the Swedish author Agnes Lidbek, in the studio of TV Sandžak and through social networks. The presentation of this novel, just published in Serbia, was organized by the Swedish Embassy in cooperation with the web magazine for literature Eckermann from Novi Pazar, where the equality project will continue from October, the equality study program, in cooperation with the OSCE Office in Novi Pazar and Forum 10.
Ambassador of Sweden to Serbia H.E. Jan Lundin, who was a guest on the program through the digital channels, said: “The topic of gender equality is very common in Swedish society. “Sweden is a gender-equal country, but it is this book that speaks of a woman carrying a greater burden than is recognized.” He added that the culture and values of a country can be presented through literature, because getting to know different cultures can build trust. “That is the job of a diplomat, to spread his own and get to know other cultures,” he said.
The guest of the program was also the author of the novel “Find Yourself”, who participated in the program via Skype. She pointed out that Sweden has gone through a difficult journey to achieve gender equality and that the roles of men and women are slowly changing. “Male domination has been present for a long time and we need to have patience and accept that privileges change, as well as roles in society,” said Agnes Lidbeck.
The presentation of the novel was led by the editor of the web magazine for literature Eckermann Birsena Džanković, as well as her fellow writer Enes Halilović, who spoke with guests from Belgrade, Novi Sad, Stockholm and Vienna via Skype.
“Literature is almost as important as love, and love is the key to all locks,” said Enes Halilović. He added that it is about cause-and-effect relationships between people. “It can be seen that the author patiently observed the world in which she lives,” said Halilović.
The novel by the Swedish author “Find Yourself” was jointly published by the publishers Treći Trg and Srebrno drvo, and translated from Swedish by Svetlana Tot.