This collection of essays is marked by a theoretical interest in the problems of (self)understanding of collective identities in conjunction with research into the phenomenon of trauma. The latter was inevitable in a society embroiled in changes in the decades after the disintegration of Yugoslavia. Therefore, the focus on identity and trauma was combined with the study of the shared cultural and artistic shaping of memory. One of the stated goals of the research presented here was the intertwinement of literature and the societal/ideological/culturalcontext, so the texts appearing in this volume reaffirm the validity of such an interdisciplinary focus. Indeed, the range of covered topics and problems testify to the spread of research and writing scopes into areas well beyond the usual purview of literary history and criticism, which is generally reserved for established writers and so-called mainstream literature. On this occasion, all texts have been translated into English for the international scholarly audience interested in this domain, primarily scholars of Slavic literature and culture, as well as readers and students of Slavic studies worldwide. For those just now becoming familiar with the wealth of Serbian literature, this publication can serve as a starting point that will direct their attention to a variety of authors who wrote in a period in which this national literature achieved remarkable results.
