Item #55383 [THE FIRST MODERN SERBIAN NOVEL, WITH LGBT THEMES – ZENITISM AND AVANT-GARDE – PHOTO-MONTAGE] Terazije: roman posleratnog Beograda [Terazije Square: a novel of post-war Belgrade ]. Boško Tokin, author and artist.

Tokin, Boško, author and artist.

[THE FIRST MODERN SERBIAN NOVEL, WITH LGBT THEMES – ZENITISM AND AVANT-GARDE – PHOTO-MONTAGE] Terazije: roman posleratnog Beograda [Terazije Square: a novel of post-war Belgrade ].

Beograd: Izdavačka Knjižarnica Gece Kona, 1932. Octavo (19.8 × 13 cm). Original pictorial wrappers with a photomontage by Tokin; 153, [2] pp. Signed and inscribed by the author to front free endpaper (to one Vučević); light wear to edges and spine extremities; still about very good. Item #55383

Rare first edition of this novel, published by a key figure of the Serbian avant-garde and a co-author of the manifesto of Zenitism. The book is written in a laconic, newspaper-like style and presents a kind of montage-like kaleidoscope of life in modern Belgrade. Not only is it considered by some critics to be the first modern Serbian novel. Tokin's work also touches on a number of controversial subjects shocking at the time, such as drug addiction, sexual promiscuity, cross-dressing and homosexuality. Indeed, one recent scholar refers to the novel as a "homosexual novel" and reads Tokin's characterizations of interwar Belgrade as a city in flux, attempting to build its own identity, as mirroring his exploration of the fundamental instability of gender and sexuality. A particularly interesting protagonist in this regard is Rista, "who represents new type (sic!) of characters in the interwar Yugoslav literature, and beyond. Introduced in a turn of phrase characteristic of city gossipmongers as 'a typical degenerate with homosexual leanings' who socialises and goes out with 'the young men of ill repute', Rista tries to avoid complications and successfully hides his homosexuality from his family. In spite of that, he manages to live the way he wants to, so the novel tells us that he gladly dons female underwear and makeup, as well as attends private gay parties thrown by Petite Marietta, Corporalette, Maruška, Fatima, Ramona, Rio Rita and other homosexuals who communicate with each other on the 'scene' by using their female crypto-pseudonyms of choice" (Jelena Petrović, Women's Authorship in Interwar Yugoslavia, 2019, p. 162).

Tokin (1894–1953) was a Serbian writer, journalist, translator and critic, who was particularly interested in film and one of the first film critics in Serbia. He was close to the Zenitist movement and one of the publishers of the legendary journal "Zenit" (1921-1926). Fusing Expressionist, Futurist, and Dadaist tendencies, "Zenitism lasted until 1926, when the journal was banned by a court in Belgrade. Zenit was conceived as a meeting ground for the most important artistic trends in the Balkans and Europe, and was very much in line with representative models of progressive European avant-garde periodicals" (International Yearbook of Futurism Studies, 237). The photo-montage on the front wrapper was created by Tokin; a printed note at the back of the book credits the photographs whose works he incorporated.

See Mladen Gojković, "Slika Beograda u romanu Terazije Boška Tokina", in Ulaznica 2019 (https://www.zrbiblio.rs/images/ulaznica/ulaznica-255k-web.pdf; Miloš D. Mihailović, "'Seks-apel“ u međuratnom Beogradu: rodno čitanje Terazija Boška Tokina", in Lipar 83, pp. 69–82.

As of January 2026, KVK, OCLC show two copies outside former Yugoslavia, both in North America.