Domovina je teško pitanje: fragmenti dnevnika 1991-1993.

This work brings together diary fragments, notes, and essays written during the most dramatic years of the creation of the independent Croatian state and the Homeland War. Rather than conforming to the prevailing unanimity and sentimental rhetoric, Branko Matan expresses a deeply personal yet fiercely critical stance against intellectual conformity, the ideologization of the public sphere, and the misuse of the concept of patriotism. Observing wartime events and destruction, as well as internal political and social upheavals, the author uncompromisingly analyzes the relationship between the individual and the collective, the ethics of public discourse, and the responsibilities of writers and journalists. Through lucid and stylistically polished writings, Matan addresses the suffering caused by the war while simultaneously and courageously raising difficult, unwelcome questions about the war’s darker side, political manipulations, censorship, and moral failings within his own community. Due to its uncompromising and unsparing attitude, the book sparked controversy and was suppressed at the time of its creation. Today, Domovina je teško pitanje (Homeland Is a Difficult Question) is regarded as a valuable insight into the complexities of 1990s Croatia and an outstanding example of intellectual integrity and engaged writing that rejects simple, one-dimensional solutions.