The Year 2 students’ Serbian and History lessons in June focused on the project about the greatest epic hero of our region, Marko Kraljević. Though he is considered to be an exceptionally popular hero, the question arises regarding the relation between his epic biography and the historical importance he actually had. That dilemma was precisely the goal of Marko Kraljević between history and myth project, created by Sanja Bogdanović, history teacher, and Mirjana Vasić Adžić and Zorana Putniković, the Serbian language and literature teachers.
Do we need heros in a contemporary society?
During the lessons, students discussed interesting video programmes about Marko Kraljević, talked about his historical role and analysed the literary works in which he is mentioned. Through dialogue and debates on the differences between his historical merits and the way he was portrayed in literary works, the conclusion was reached that there is a significant discrepancy between the mythical and historical dimension of this character. The discussion dealing with the reasons why our people needed a hero with such traits led to another important project – exploring the role of a hero and searching for an answer if heroes are necessary today.
Using a aforehand designed questionnaire, the students compared and contrasted the historical and literary character of Marko Kraljević. The most interesting task was drawing a modern hero and defining the traits the way the students see him.
The photo gallery presents their works and the atmosphere of the lesson.