The Conscience of Humankind : : Literature and Traumatic Experiences / / edited by Elrud Ibsch, Douwe Fokkema, Joachim von der Thüsen.

• Superior document: Textxet: Studies in Comparative Literature ; 27/3
• TeilnehmendeR: Fokkema, Douwe,; Ibsch, Elrud,; Thüsen, Joachim von der,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden; , Boston : : BRILL,, 2000.
• Year of Publication: 2000
• Language: English
• Series: Textxet: Studies in Comparative Literature ; 27/3.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (431 pages)
• Other title: Literature and Traumatic Experiences
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• ISBN: 9004484086
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: edited by Elrud Ibsch, Douwe Fokkema, Joachim von der Thüsen.

The traumatic experiences of persecution and genocide have changed traditional views of literature. The discussion of historical truth versus aesthetic autonomy takes an unexpected turn when confronted with the experiences of the victims of the Holocaust, the Gulag Archipelago, the Cultural Revolution, Apartheid and other crimes against humanity. The question is whether - and, if so, to what extent - literary imagination may depart from historical truth. In general, the first reactions to traumatic historical experiences are autobiographical statements, written by witnesses of the events. However, the second and third generations, the sons and daughters of the victims as well as of the victimizers, tend to free themselves from this generic restriction and claim their own way of remembering the history of their parents and grandparents. They explore their own limits of representation, and feel free to use a variety of genres; they turn to either realist or postmodernist, ironic or grotesque modes of writing.