Privileged narratives. Pictures of post-memory in the collection of Auschwitz. Family stories by Mikhail Grynberg Cover Image

Zawłaszczone narracje. Obrazy postpamięci w zbiorze Oskarżam Auschwitz. Opowieści rodzinne Mikołaja Grynberga
Privileged narratives. Pictures of post-memory in the collection of Auschwitz. Family stories by Mikhail Grynberg

Author(s): Anna Kuchta
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Polish Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: postpamięć; Holokaust; trauma; tożsamość; Mikołaj Grynberg; Marianne Hirsch

Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on the analysis of the issue of postmemory (a term by M. Hirsch) on the basis of materials (narrative interviews with persons brought up by Holocaust survivors) collected by Mikołaj Grynberg in the collection Oskarżam Auschwitz. Opowieści rodzinne [I Accuse Auschwitz. Family Tales] (published in 2014). The goal of the text is to present and attempt to interpret the experiences of “the generation after” in the context of the phenomenon of intergenerational transmission of memories, as well as to point out the destructive mechanisms and consequences of postmemory. Searching for an answer to the question about the effect of a wartime trauma on the identity of those who have suffered it and those who have inherited it as postmemory, the author references, among others, the thought of M. Hirsch, H. Raczymow and E. Sicher.

  • Issue Year: 12/2015
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 251-264
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Polish