In order to define the term »immigrant literature«, we must first ask ourselves what falls under this label. More specifically, whether immigrant literature is about the authors having an immigrant experience, or about their literary work thematizing immigration through the issue of identity – which has appeared in literature since its beginnings, it is therefore not surprising that the central theme of the collections of short stories Dvoživke umirajo dvakrat, Dobrodošli and Kaj bi ti govoril, Ivan!, published in Slovenia over the last twenty-three years – or the lives of immigrants and their ethnic minority status, adoption of a new language, non-majority religious affiliation etc., or both. In the aforementioned collections of short stories, Zoran Knežević, Vesna Lemaić and Vladimir Vekić raise similar questions in different ways, but with the same goal – they set an example for readers of how, with the help of literature and indirectly reading, we can help to create a more inclusive and cohesive society, in which relations should be built on intercultural dialogue instead of deepening tensions between individual nations, religions and cultures through our differences.
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