Existence and uniqueness of a solution for a parabolic quasilinear problem for linear growth functionals with $L^1$ data

We introduce a new concept of solution for the Dirichlet problem for quasilinear parabolic equations in divergent form for which the energy functional has linear growth. Using Kruzhkov's method of doubling variables both in space and time we prove uniqueness and a comparison principle in $L^1$ for these solutions. To prove the existence we use the nonlinear semigroup theory.