This project investigates the role of literary fiction in shaping collective memories of the 1990s among young readers in Serbia, focusing on youth born after 2000 who lack personal memories of the breakup of Yugoslavia and the wars in Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo. It investigates how literature contributes to their understanding and emotional engagement with this historical period, addressing broader theoretical questions about the transfer of historical knowledge. The study considers fiction as an alternative source of memory, recognizing that collective memory extends beyond formal historiography and textbooks, which is a topic that has been quite extensively researched. It examines how fiction integrates data, insights, and emotions, emphasizing the capacity to understand wrongdoing and suffering.
While much research has analyzed portrayals of war in post-Yugoslav literature, little attention has been given to how readers interpret these works and their impact on perceptions of the past. In Serbia, literary consumption remains understudied, particularly regarding how books shape historical understanding. Drawing on theories by Rita Felski (2008, 2015) and Jan Váňa (2020), the project situates literature in the "in-between" space created through interactions between texts and readers, emphasizing the socio-historical context of meaning-making.
The research examines three key questions: (1) What knowledge do young readers derive from literature about the 1990s conflicts? (2) What emotional responses are evoked by literary representations of war? (3) How do literary interpretations align or conflict with other narratives encountered by young readers? This project bridges the gap between literary narratives and other sources of historical memory, including education, family stories, and media, offering new insights into the formation of collective memory through literature. The study is divided into two stages: an empirical inquiry using focus groups with young readers and a workshop to share findings with scholars in the sociology of literature.