Specters of the past

  • This paper thematizes the topic of the eyewitness report based on Miriam Katin’s transgenerational point of view on the Holocaust, which has a cathartic impact on the author through self-reflexivity. In \(\textit {We Are On Our Own}\), Miriam Katin draws on her own cultural and transgenerational memory, which is heavily influenced by her mother. The author unveils her parents’ story and elaborates on how she, as the child of Holocaust survivors, has dealt with the atrocities of the Holocaust throughout her life. In her second memoir, \(\textit {Letting It Go}\), Katin expands this point of view and not only addresses the Holocaust from the view of the second generation, but adds another layer to dealing with the Nazi past, namely the point of view of the third generation. Accordingly, it is through Katin's son, Ilan, that Miriam learns not to encounter Berlin stereotypically and embittered anymore. Modern day Berlin welcomes Katin and her family with open arms and is not comparable with the former capital of National Socialism anymore. Therefore, both graphic memoirs can be regarded as a process of coming to terms with the trauma of the Holocaust through the technique of self-reflexivity.

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Metadaten
Author:Andrea SchlosserORCiDGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hbz:294-74383
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy4020053
Parent Title (English):Genealogy
Subtitle (English):transgenerational memory in Miriam Katin's Graphic memoirs \(\textit {We are on our own}\) and \(\textit {Letting it go}\)
Publisher:MDPI
Place of publication:Basel
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2020/08/12
Date of first Publication:2020/04/23
Publishing Institution:Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsbibliothek
Tag:Hirsch, Marianne; Holocaust; Katin, Miram; graphic memoir; postmemory; second generation; self-reflexivity; third generation
Volume:4
Issue:2, Article 53
First Page:53-1
Last Page:53-18
Institutes/Facilities:Englisches Seminar
open_access (DINI-Set):open_access
Licence (English):License LogoCreative Commons - CC BY 4.0 - Attribution 4.0 International