The experience of the Homeland War (1991–1995) has had a profound impact on contemporary Croatian literature, with war themes being explored across various literary genres, including novels. Starting from the premise that the Homeland War is a key event in recent Croatian history, playing a significant role in national identity formation processes, this paper examines the representations of Homeland War memory and the strategies of shaping national identity in contemporary Croatian novels. The theoretical and methodological foundation of the paper is based on the study of the relationship between memory and identity within the interdisciplinary field of memory studies, with an emphasis on approaches that explore memory in literature, particularly artistic representations of memory. Contemporary theories of nation (modernist, ethno-symbolist, postmodernist), which view nations as socio- cultural constructs, are also relevant to this study. The paper thus investigates the role of Homeland War memory in the shaping of national identity, with a focus on individual, collective, and cultural memory. This paper draws on the theories of several well-known and significant memory theorists. Among them is Maurice Halbwachs, who, in his 1925 study Les cadres sociaux de la mémoire, advocates the thesis that memory is a phenomenon determined by social context, meaning that memory is constructed within specific social frameworks. Pierre Nora (1928), in his book Les lieux de mémoire, theorizes about places of memory and their characteristics, while theorist Jan Assmann develops the concept of cultural memory in numerous studies and works of which the most well-known is the book Das kulturelle Gedächtnis (1992). He examines forms of collective memory, focusing on two types of memory he calls communicative and cultural memory, and explains the characteristics of memory figures. Aleida Assmann explores individual, social, political, and cultural memory, addressing the issue of working on national memory through the concept of German education, and pays special attention to the problem of forgetting in her study Formen des Vergessens (2016). Within memory studies, literary memory studies have also developed as an interdisciplinary field in which theorists and scholars study literature as a cultural medium that plays a significant role in the process of constructing and (re)shaping cultural memory. Theorist Astrid Erll, within the concept of the rhetoric of collective memory, explores the connection between memory and literature through approaches such as literature as ars memoriae, memory of literature, memory in literature, and literature as a medium of cultural memory. In her research, she systematizes five significant modes of memory (experiential, antagonistic, monumental, historicizing, and reflexive modes) along with their corresponding characteristics. Theorist Birgit Neumann, within the concept of memory in literature, promotes the term fiction(s) of memory and, from a narratological perspective, provides considerations of narrative literary texts that deal with the issue of memory. She investigates various formative strategies woven into literary texts with the function of representing the work of memory. Ann Rigney explores the dynamics of recollection through the position of the literary text between monumentality and reconfiguration. She emphasizes the undeniable role of narration in shaping cultural memory, drawing parallels between historiography and fiction, concluding that fiction demonstrates remarkable flexibility in depicting past events. This paper also emphasizes the theories of selected contemporary national theorists. The focus is on Benedict Anderson's reflections on the nation as an imagined community, and on Eric Hobsbawm's theses, who views the nation as a social construct shaped and deliberately designed by intellectual elites. This process involves the invention of tradition, where a specific modern construction is intentionally chosen to transmit an already existing but reconfigured tradition to the masses in the form of a given public culture. Ernest Gellner contemplates the role of will and culture in the nation-building process, while ethno-symbolist A. D. Smith highlights the role of myths, symbols, values, memories, traditions, communication patterns, and ethnicities in studying and understanding the formation of nations. National identity is an essential element in the study of nations and is approached in this paper from the perspective of theorist Zygmunt Bauman, who argues that national identity is characterized by particularity and exclusivity in relation to other identities, and that it is intentionally constructed and propagated by the state and its institutional intermediaries. Its goal is to emphasize differences and draw boundaries between “us” and “them”. For A. D. Smith, national identity is a collective cultural phenomenon, more precisely, a collective cultural identity. Its fundamental characteristics include a historical territory (homeland), shared motifs and historical memories, a common mass (public) culture, shared legal rights and duties of all members of the nation, and a common economy with territorial mobility of its members (Smith, 2010: 29-30). The third important element that needed to be clarified for a valid analysis of the corpus in this paper is national memory. Aleida Assmann defines national memory as a formation of collective memory, occurring when history is employed in the service of (re)constructing identity, when politicians invoke it, and citizens accept it. A. Assmann further explores the various forms of working on national memory and transforming historical experiences into national myths, as well as the role of monuments, ceremonial observances, and holidays in the process of building long-term national memory. The paper emphasizes reflections on the role of memory in shaping national identity, incorporating not only A. Assmann's theses but also the perspectives of theorist John R. Gillis, who attributes significant importance to commemorative ceremonies, particularly the cult of the dead, which he considers ideologically motivated. Following the theoretical and methodological section, the paper presents existing research on the topic of the Homeland War in Croatian literature, with a focus on contemporary Croatian prose. Previous research has largely concentrated on the analysis of autobiographical and non-fictional texts. Literary critics, however, paid more attention to novels with a war theme because these literary texts are characterized by a higher level of narrative organization, a reduced level of factuality, and more pronounced elements of fiction. These are genre- and style-hybrid novels that blend fictional and non-fictional elements while simultaneously (re)shaping various narratives about the war and its consequences. Since this corpus of texts has been less explored, it constitutes the subject of analysis in this paper. The corpus analysis includes thirty war-themed novels published between 1992 and 2015, focusing on identifying diverse ways of representing Homeland War memory in literary texts and strategies for shaping national identity. The selection of novels for this research corpus highlights the effort to include both renowned authors and their works, as well as lesser-known, marginalized works that literary critics have sometimes unjustly overlooked. The research corpus consists of the following novels: Bernard Jan, Svjetla umirućega grada (1992.), Nada Prkačin, Tamo gdje nema rata (1993.), Ivan Slonje Šved, Ne pucaj prvi (1994.), Ivan Slonje Šved, Pakao Vukovara (1994.), Feđa Šehović, Četiri vozača u apokalipsi (1994.), Nedjeljko Fabrio, Smrt Vronskog (1994.), Pavao Pavličić, Diksilend (1995.), Nada Prkačin, Povratak Luke Jurića (1995.), Jurica Pavičić, Ovce od gipsa (1997.), Alenka Mirković, 91,6 MHz: glasom protiv topova (1997.), Igor Petrić, TG–5 (1997.), Eta Rehak, Preobrazba potonule uljanice (2000.), Ivo Brešan, Kockanje sa sudbinom (2002.) Ludwig Bauer, Don Juanova velika ljubav i mali balkanski rat (2002.), Nedjeljko Fabrio, Triemeron (2002.), Jasenka Krilić, Podzemni ljudi (2003.), Tarik Kulenović, Jeleni na kiši (2003.), Robert Međurečan, Prodajem odličja: prvi vlasnik (2008.), Slađana Bukovac, Rod avetnjaka (2008.), Zoran Žmirić, Blockbuster (2009.), Ante Brčić, Ruže na bojnikovu grobu (2010.), Ivana Bodrožić, Hotel Zagorje (2010.), Ivan Pavoković, Miris ugažene trave (2011.), Antun Jozing, Mrtvi se ne vraćaju (2012.), Nevenka Nekić, Jean ili miris smrti (2012.), Miroslav Međimorec, Lovac na generala (2013.), Borislav Vukasović Lončar, Neokaljani (2013.), Ivana Šojat Kuči, Jom Kipur (2014.), Nevenka Nekić, Omerta (2014.), Tanja Belobrajdić, Crni kaput (2015.). The novels that form the research corpus are categorized and analyzed according to thematic macro-groups that depict Homeland War memory as a traumatic experience, memory of romantic experiences in a war environment, memory of the Homeland War as part of familyhistory, as a subject of controversy, and as a fateful event for the nation. The first macro-group analyzes depictions of the traumatic experiences of soldiers on the front lines, utilizing the reflections of theorists and researchers such as George L. Mosse, sociologists Ozren Žunec and Siniša Malešević, and further supported by the theories of trauma theorists (Cathy Caruth) and cultural trauma (Jeffrey C. Alexander). This macro-group also includes the depiction of memories of war experiences from the perspectives of war correspondents and journalists, showcasing the prevalence and diversity of documentary techniques. It also examines the memory of traumatic experiences in concentration camps and raises issues related to PTSD. The second macro-group consists of novels that address the memory of romantic experiences in a war environment, analyzing depictions of overcoming the challenges of wartime reality in relation to the romantic relationships of young women and men, which are temporarily or permanently disrupted by the war. The third macro-group consolidates novels in which Homeland War memory is represented as part of family history. This analysis examines the depiction of various impacts of the war on the family unit, including the fate of specific spaces where the family as a community was formed. It also explores narrative strategies for portraying the disruption of family cohesion due to the loss of members who participated in the war as soldiers, as well as the weakening or strengthening of family bonds during the war period. The fourth macro-group includes novels depicting Homeland War memory as a subject of controversy. This involves representations of "transformation crime, social stratification, redistribution of power, corruption, the general crisis of the rule of law, and moral decay" (Nemec, 2003: 415), issues of war crimes, smuggling, arms trafficking, political party patronage, and the issue of betrayal of the nation. The final macro-group of this paper consists of novels depicting Homeland War memory as a fateful event, or experiencing and portraying the war as a continuum of historical evil. These novels present events such as the war as a grand fateful narrative in the history of a nation, where the destructive force of the rift between yesterday and today is most strongly manifested in the lives of ordinary people, individuals (and groups) who, by chance of origin, time, and space, are caught in the grind of decisive political, social, economic, and cultural changes. This occurs without prior indications or assistance in the process of navigation and the necessary adjustments for the survival of the group. This macro-group also explores the depiction of homeland experiences and the burden of generational memory. In all the novels within the aforementioned macro-groups, the narrative mediation, the time structure, the perspective structure, the semanticization of space, and metaphors of memory have been examined. Attention is focused on complex thematic and motivational complexes as well as modes of memory that indicate a diverse repertoire of ways to represent the past, along with detecting strategies for shaping national identity. The research findings indicate that contemporary Croatian novels on the topic of the Homeland War simultaneously construct and reflect the memory of recent war and post-war experiences of individuals, collectives, and the Croatian national space. The novels provide insights into literary treatments of the theme of memory related to the suffering of soldiers and civilians, experiences of displacement, the destruction and devastation of specific cities and villages, the contemporary relevance of national identification, the establishment of sovereign statehood, the challenges of transition after the war, and the pervasive war consequences, including controversies. The novels reveal numerous and diverse ways of representing memory in relation to war experiences and their consequences. It is therefore not surprising that the most dominant modes of memory in the selected texts are experiential and antagonistic, which are also linked to elements of fictions of memory. Numerous examples of strategies for shaping national identity have been observed and identified (such as characters' awareness of the right to sovereignty and independence, references to myths of chosen peoples known only to the indigenous people, the endorsement of memory landscapes through recollections of recent battles during the Homeland War, national-linguistic self-identification of characters, and evocations of the “golden ages” of the Croatian people), shedding light on the relationship between literature and memory, as well as the impact of memory on the shaping of individual, collective, and national identities. As the relevance of the Homeland War as a theme in Croatian prose literature remains strong, it is confirmed that the corpus of contemporary Croatian war novels continues to grow, and it can be anticipated that there will be a need for new analyses and approaches to studying the (re)shaping of Croatian collective and cultural memory, which in turn affects the (re)shaping of national identity.