Bosnian Children Speak War: Narrating Trauma in Zlata’s Diary: A Child's Life in Wartime Sarajevo and My Childhood under Fire: A Sarajevo Diary

Abstract

This paper attempts to explore the Bosnian war diaries, Zlata’s Diary: A Child's Life in Wartime Sarajevo (2006) by Zlata Filipovic (1980- ) and My Childhood under Fire: A Sarajevo Diary (2006) written by Nadja Halilbegovich (1979- ). Both diaries provide an insight into the Bosnian genocide and the everyday life of children amid war. Both Zlata and Nadja bear witness to the horrific events in their country and create a concrete collective memory of the Bosnian war. Drawing on trauma theory and diary writing, the paper examines their traumatic childhood and suffering at a unique moment of Bosnian history and highlights the role of diary writing and testimonial narration. War diaries create a counter-discourse to war and horror and allow them to document their traumatic lives amid war. The two diaries reveal how children in that war zone were denied their basic rights to live peacefully and enjoy their childhood. Through narrating their painful experience, they try to make sense of their traumatic experience as well as reach the outside world calling for intervention. Testimony allows them to step into the center and have a voice.