Children at War and the Supportive Role of Diaries. The Case of "Zlata's Diary. A Child's Life in Sarajevo"

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Didactics - English - Literature, Works, grade: 3,0, University of Constance, language: English, abstract: This essay examines the important supportive role diaries can play for children in coping with war and experiencing war at first hand. In particular, it is concerned with the diary of Zlata Flipovic's autobiographic work "Zlata's Diary. A Child's Life in Sarajevo" and the Yugoslav Wars". Therefore, the author begins by giving background information on the Yugoslav Wars and a short general introduction to the diary itself, before describing the diary and it's content more extensively. Here, the authors puts special emphasis on the potential therapeutic effects of journal writing, especially when suffering under PTSD. In a third step, she further examines the specific techniques of writing within the context of the diary. Finally, a short conclusion based on the aforementioned facts is drawn.