Poletarac (Fledgling) was a two-year experimental publishing project for children, established through a collaboration between the socialist government of Yugoslavia and its cultural workers. Published from 1973 to 1975, the magazine brought together artists, illustrators, and authors to create imaginative worlds through text and image.
This lecture examines the magazine’s visual language as a tool for literacy, education, and the emancipation of children. Through an analysis of primary sources and editorial notes, the lecture demonstrates how lettering in Poletarac moves fluidly between image and text through both conventional and experimental artistic techniques. Central to the discussion is the magazine’s treatment of Cyrillic and Latin scripts — both officially recognized by the state — as equal and coexisting writing systems. Here, the alphabet emerges not only as a tool of literacy, but also as a site where cultural identity and artistic experimentation converge.
The lecture considers what this underexplored yet regionally beloved magazine reveals about the emancipatory potential of letterforms when art, education, and politics intersect.
Letterform Lectures are a public aspect of the Type West postgraduate program. The series is co-presented by the San Francisco Public Library, where events are free and open to all.