The research project Fiction as Memory Work: Youth Engagement with Yugoslav Wars Through Literary Fiction? examines how generations without direct experience of war think about the 1990s and the Yugoslav wars through the reading and interpretation of contemporary prose. Starting from the premise that fiction can serve as a key tool for understanding the past, the project critically revisits dominant narratives in Serbia, which often tend toward the normalization of violence and ethnocentric interpretations of the conflicts. Through discussions with young people aged 18 to 25, the researchers focused on the in-between space that emerges between readers and literary texts — a space in which new meanings and forms of knowledge are produced, as well as ethical judgments and emotional responses to traumatic historical events. Literary works dealing with the 1990s, together with the very experience of reading, create opportunities for critical reflection and empathetic engagement, thereby enabling the emergence of new understandings of the past.

Rodoljub Jovanović, Research Fellow, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade

Tijana Matijević, Research Fellow, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade

Milica Resanović, Research Fellow, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade

Moderated by Ognjen Obradović, assistant professor, Faculty of Dramatic Arts, University of Belgrade

The project was carried out with the support of the Independent Social Research Foundation (ISRF).