Dositej Obradovic - Part 2

He also encouraged female children to be schooled, which was a very radical stance, as female children often stayed at home and helped other women with housework, while male children were sent to school, manual work, or for an apprenticeship to learn craft. Dositej constructed an image of an ideal Serbienne: an educated, graceful individual, and said: “Let each of you now envision, what joy would be having such daughters, wives, and mothers!” A perfect, educated family consists of educated family members, and thus, it was necessary for woman, “pillar of the household”, to be just as educated.

Another of Dositej’s great achievements was how he changed the way Serbian language is used, especially written language. He believed that scholars should write in a simple, common language that everyone could understand, which would result in all people developing good deduction skills and overall better ability to think for themselves, without needing an authority (e.g. church) to tell them what and how to think. Dositej’s work paved the way for later Serbian language reformers, such as Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, and both understood how having a developed common language could help in overall development and strengthening of a nation and state.

In his written works, Dositej mostly used old church Slavonic, but certain researchers also noticed how his early writing style included many anglicisms and borrowed words with elements of Russian as well. As the time went on, those borrowed words diminished and Dositej began using predominantly Serbian words and phrases. He also emphasized the importance of well-developed and concise grammar rules, which impacted both written and spoken language: he believed that it would be crucial for overall prosperity of Serbian folk in the XIX century. Ideas such as these surely began as early as XVIII century enlightenment beginnings, but in Serbia, they were developed, interpreted and applied in ways that Dositej customized himself.

He wrote quite a few works, some of the most famous (and still parts of elementary school curriculum even today) being “A letter to Haralampije” (Pismo Haralampiju, 1783), “Life and Adventures” (Život i priključenija, 1783), “Councils of Common Sense” (Sovjeti zdravago razuma, 1784), or “Rise, Serbia” (Vostani Serbije, 1804). He spoke many languages, including Italian, Greek, Latin, German, English, and French, and he translated many foreign works into Serbian as well (some of them being Aesop’s Fables, or Francesco Soave’s Ethic).