The history of Serbian literature positions Veljko Milićević as one of the forefathers of modern Serbian fiction. His most acclaimed work, the novel Bespuće (Wasteland), was received as an expression of the modern age human spirit, “modern both in theme as well as structure and expression” (Deretić). Considering the extremely favourable and recognized status of Milićević’s first novel, it should be interesting to examine the culturological aspect of his narrative fiction that preceded that novel and the fiction that followed it. Researchers usually discuss two phases of his storytelling work – the first ends with 1906 and the publication of some parts of Bespuće, and the second starts with that year, when the writer returned to Serbia.

The aim of this paper is to show how the image of the city woman, i.e. city man in Veljko Milićević’s narrative opus. The opposition between country and the city is among the fundamental ones in Serbian prose of the late 19th and early 20th century. Therefore, it should be of interest to examine how one of the earliest representatives of the modernization of Serbian fiction relates to city culture and how he shapes the image of the city and of city dwellers in his narrative work.