
“Good Morning Jazzwomen – Positioning of Female Instrumentalists in Social Practices of Jazz” is a research published in monography (PhD dissertation) by Orion Art Books (2023). The subject of research is reflected in the problematization of jazz as a musical but also social practice that has traditionally been and remains a field dominated by men, while women are represented as a minority, exception, novelty and Other. In the jazz music tradition and its social environment, musicians apply a patriarchal ideological approach. For that reason, jazz embodies the male collective expression of practice that creates a dominant model of canonization in the jazz narrative. The musical genre of traditional jazz is gendered performative, and masculinity is set as the norm in the jazz genre, creating on the contrary, gender stereotypes of jazzwomen. This holistic research explores, analyzes and presents the creation of identity as a socially constructed subject, i.e. the representation and status of a female instrumentalist through the practice of different styles of jazz as an art form but also cultural, historical and social space. The position of the female jazz instrumentalist is critically examined with a transdisciplinary approach, thus shaping the field of research through the diversity of disciplines of social sciences and humanities, and also artistic research in music. In this work, the topic is problematized on two levels: 1) the way in which jazz is presented (culture, history, social practice) and 2) how the personal experience of the female improviser is identified through practice. The aim is to contribute to scientific discourse by researching gender identity and creation of a hegemonic narrative, and the possibility of deconstructing the stereotype of women in jazz, by questioning the gender issues in jazz practice, not only in Serbia but also on the world scene.
In the first part, the presentation of a short chronological development of jazz and the dominant social context in which jazz developed and originated is a review of the reference framework, mapping the genre as a performative space for the construction of different identities. In the second part, a comparative analysis of traditional, i.e. standard jazz (mainstream) and free improvised music and free jazz, serves for discussion about the structure of relations during the collaborative interaction between the participants within music practice. In the second part, critical analysis of practice, case study (audience perception of female players during the concert), and research of the regional jazz scene (interview of 18 jazzwomen from Balkan cultural space), defines the performativity of gender identity as strategically usable in communications.


“FLIM – Female Leadership in Music“(2021-23) is a scientific project conducted bythe Faculty of Music and the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade with the support of the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia through the PROMIS Program for Support of Outstanding Projects of Young Researchers.The program aims to contribute to research on the contemporary role of women’s music making in various musical practices and scenes, emphasizing today’s participation of women in musical creation, performance and leadership. This project was implemented into the aforementioned monograph.