"Weight of Memory" and the Second Generation fiction of Anne Michaels , WG Sebald and Bernard ...

238 Pages·2014·5.02 MB·English

PASSING ON:

“The
 Weight
 of
 Memory”
 and
 the
 Second
 Generationn
 Fiction
 of

w
Anne
 Michaels,
 W.
 G.
 Sebald
 and
 Bernhard
 Schlink

o

T

  e
Megan
 Cawoodp

  a

  C

f
o

y

t
s

i
r

e

v

i
n

U

Thesis
 Presented
 for
 the
 Degree
 of

DOCTOR
 OF
 PHILOSOPHY

In
 the
 Department
 of
 English
 Language
 and
 Literature

UNIVERSITY
 OF
 CAPE
 TOWN

April
 2014
n

w
The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No
o
T
quotation from it or information derived from it is to be

published without full acknowledgeement of the source.
p
The thesis is to be used for private study or non-
a
C
commercial research purposes only.

f
o
Published by the Universit y of Cape Town (UCT) in terms
y
t
of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author.
i
s
r
e
v
i
n
U
For
 my
 grandfather,
 Herbert
 Simon
 McKenzie

17
 March
 1922
 –
 31st
 March
 2014

  ii
Acknowledgements:

I
 thank
 my
 supervisors,
 Associate
 Professor
 Carrol
 Clarkson
 and
 Dr
 Sandra

Young,
 for
 their
 encouragement
 and
 support
 throughout
 the
 months
 and
 years
 of

this
 dissertation.
 Their
 penetrating
 criticism
 and
 insights
 on
 all
 my
 drafts
 have

been
 both
 challenging
 and
 invaluable.

On
 the
 other
 side
 of
 the
 globe,
 I
 would
 like
 to
 thank
 Professor
 Lynn
 Szabo
 and

Professor
 Holly
 Nelson
 from
 Trinity
 Western
 University
 for
 their
 generosity
 of

time
 and
 spirit
 both
 during
 my
 research
 visit
 to
 Trinity
 and
 from
 afar.

I
 am
 deeply
 grateful
 to
 my
 family
 for
 their
 continued
 and
 varied
 support
 of
 this

project.
 Special
 thanks
 go
 to
 my
 sister,
 Jo-­‐ann
 Andrejczyk,
 for
 all
 the
 help
 with

proof-­‐reading.
 My
 gratitude
 extends
 also
 to
 those
 true-­‐gift
 friends
 whose

support
 has
 held
 me:
 Katie
 Gemmell,
 Emma
 O’Shaughnessy,
 Yael
 Pritz,
 Karen

Dubé,
 Kate
 Couvaras
 and
 Anne-­‐Marie
 Street.
 My
 thanks
 also
 go
 to
 Bishop
 Geoff

Quinlan,
 for
 being
 a
 different
 kind
 of
 supervisor.

Most
 importantly,
 this
 PhD
 would
 never
 have
 been
 possible
 without
 the

encouragement,
 love,
 patience,
 strength
 and
 sense
 of
 humour
 of
 my
 husband,

Anthony
 Cawood,
 who
 willingly
 joined
 me
 on
 every
 step
 of
 this
 journey.

I
 am
 indebted
 to
 the
 Harry
 Crossley
 Research
 Foundation,
 the
 A.
 W.
 Mellon

Foundation,
 The
 National
 Research
 Foundation,
 The
 Kaplan
 Centre
 and
 the
 UCT

Postgraduate
 Scholarship
 for
 International
 Travel
 for
 generously
 funding
 this

degree.

  iii
Abstract

The
 value
 of
 second
 generation
 fiction
 for
 Holocaust
 studies
 can
 be
 found
 in
 its

self-­‐conscious
 examination
 of
 what
 might
 constitute
 an
 ethical
 response
 to
 the

testimony
 of
 another.
 I
 bring
 together
 the
 fictional
 texts
 of
 three
 authors
 of
 the

generation
 after,
 Anne
 Michaels’s
 Fugitive
 Pieces,
 W.
 G.
 Sebald’s
 The
 Emigrants

and
 Austerlitz
 and
 Bernhard
 Schlink’s
 The
 Reader,
 in
 order
 to
 investigate
 the

textual
 strategies
 each
 text
 employs
 to
 bear
 witness
 on
 behalf
 of
 another
 and

pass
 on
 what
 Sebald
 has
 called
 “the
 weight
 of
 memory”.
 While
 Sebald
 uses
 the

phrase
 to
 describe
 the
 burden
 of
 memory
 experienced
 by
 survivors,
 I
 use
 his

phrase
 as
 a
 point
 of
 departure
 to
 consider
 how
 the
 second
 generation
 responds

to
 the
 burden
 of
 memory.
 Rather
 than
 portraying
 fictional
 examples
 of
 “vicarious

witnessing”
 (Zeitlin)
 or
 “witness
 by
 adoption”(Hartman),
 these
 texts
 present
 a

form
 of
 structural
 witnessing
 that
 models
 how
 one
 storyteller
 can
 carry
 and
 pass

on
 the
 story
 of
 another
 as
 a
 kind
 of
 caretaker.
 I
 argue
 that
 such
 forms
 of

witnessing
 on
 behalf
 of
 or
 for
 another
 comprise
 ethical
 acts
 in
 which
 the
 other’s

story
 is
 accepted
 as
 distinct
 from
 one’s
 own.
 Rather
 than
 simply
 examining
 “the

weight
 of
 memory”
 thematically,
 each
 text
 develops
 strategies
 for
 passing
 on
 this

weight,
 and
 its
 resultant
 sense
 of
 responsibility,
 to
 the
 reader.
 I
 examine
 the

structural
 and
 aesthetic
 strategies
 employed
 in
 these
 four
 texts
 to
 show
 how

these
 devices
 set
 up
 the
 terms
 by
 which
 the
 text
 becomes
 the
 site
 of
 response.
 I

pay
 particular
 attention
 to
 narrative
 structures
 that
 both
 model
 and
 perform

instances
 of
 literary
 address
 and
 which
 create
 layered
 structures
 of
 “proxy-­‐
witnessing”(Gubar)
 within
 the
 space
 of
 the
 text.
 I
 consider
 how
 fragmentation

and
 failure
 inform
 the
 aesthetics
 of
 these
 authors
 whose
 representational

strategies
 may
 be
 considered
 productively
 “barbaric,”
 to
 appropriate
 Adorno’s

misunderstood
 aphorism,
 as
 the
 texts
 present
 narratives
 that
 are
 unsettling
 and

yet
 engaging.
 The
 work
 of
 the
 generation
 after
 is
 that
 of
 carrying
 memory,
 but

not
 so
 as
 to
 appropriate
 it
 or
 unduly
 over-­‐identify
 with
 it,
 but
 rather
 to
 respond

and
 demonstrate
 response
 in
 a
 gesture
 which
 then
 provokes
 alternative
 and

continued
 responses.

  iv
Contents:

Introduction:
 The
 Weight
 of
 Memory
  1

Chapter
 1:
 Textual
 Address
 in
 Anne
 Michaels’s
 Fugitive
 Pieces
  35

Chapter
 2:
 “Language
 is
 broken,
 bulky,
 dissolute”:
 Anne
 Michaels’s
 Aesthetic
 of

Fragmentation
  59

Chapter
 3:
 “A
 Dubious
 Business”:
 Fact,
 Fiction
 and
 Photography
 in
 W.
 G.
 Sebald’s

Austerlitz
 and
 The
 Emigrants
  91

Chapter
 4:
 “The
 Harried
 Paper”:
 An
 Aesthetic
 of
 Failure
 in
 W.
 G.
 Sebald’s

Austerlitz
 and
 The
 Emigrants
  128

Chapter
 5:
 An
 Alternative
 Weight:
 The
 Memory
 of
 Perpetration
 in
 Bernhard

Schlink’s
 The
 Reader
  166

Conclusion:

 The
 Afterlives
 of
 Narratives
  206

Works
 Cited

  221
Introduction:

The
 Weight
 of
 Memory

1.
 Introduction

In
 an
 interview
 with
 Eleanor
 Wachtel,
 W.
 G.
 Sebald
 speaks
 of
 “the
 weight
 of

memory”
 to
 describes
 the
 point
 of
 connection
 that
 brings
 together
 the
 four

stories
 in
 The
 Emigrants.
 Each
 of
 these
 stories,
 Sebald
 explains,
 is
 about
 suicide

that
 occurs
 late
 in
 life
 as
 a
 symptom
 of
 what
 is
 commonly
 called
 “survivor

syndrome”
 or
 “survivor’s
 guilt.”
 “I
 was
 familiar
 with
 that
 particular
 symptom
 in

the
 abstract,”
 Sebald
 tells
 Wachtel,
 “through
 such
 cases
 as
 Jean
 Améry,
 Primo

Levi,
 Paul
 Celan,
 Tadeusz
 Borowski,
 and
 various
 others
 who
 failed
 to
 escape
 the

shadows
 which
 were
 cast
 over
 their
 lives
 by
 the
 Shoah
 and
 ultimately
 succumbed

to
 the
 weight
 of
 memory”
 (Sebald
 and
 Wachtel
 38;
 emphasis
 mine).1
 In
 these

cases
 of
 suicide,
 Sebald
 suggests
 that
 the
 inescapable
 nature
 of
 the
 memory
 of

the
 Holocaust
 leads
 to
 a
 growing
 sense
 of
 burden
 or
 weight.
 In
 his
 essay
 on
 Jean

Améry,
 which
 I
 examine
 more
 fully
 in
 Chapter
 4,
 Sebald
 explores
 the
 link

between
 the
 psychological
 burden
 of
 the
 weight
 of
 memory
 and
 the
 guilt
 of

survival
 (On
 the
 Natural
 History
 of
 Destruction
 167).
 However,
 the
 shadow
 of
 the

Shoah,
 which
 Sebald
 speaks
 of
 here,
 extends
 further
 than
 the
 generation
 of

survivors
 and
 so
 leads
 me
 to
 explore
 an
 expansion
 or
 modification
 of
 the
 idea
 of

the
 weight
 of
 memory.
 This
 thesis
 pays
 particular
 attention
 to
 the
 way
 “second

1

 Many
 of
 these
 survivors
 who
 “succumb[ed]
 to
 the
 weight
 of
 memory”
 are
 incorporated
 in
 my

discussion
 in
 various
 chapters.
 I
 include
 an
 examination
 of
 Paul
 Celan’s
 poetry
 and
 prose
 at

  1
generation
 fiction”
 explores
 the
 possibilities
 of
 using
 textual
 devices
 to
 pass
 on

“the
 weight
 of
 memory.”2

I
 use
 Sebald’s
 term
 as
 a
 point
 of
 departure
 for
 the
 central
 questions
 of
 this

thesis.
 If
 “the
 weight
 of
 memory”
 is
 a
 symptom
 of
 survivor
 syndrome,
 what
 form

might
 it
 take
 if
 it
 is
 transmitted
 to
 the
 second
 generation
 of
 survivors?
 And
 if

suicide
 is
 a
 symptom
 of
 succumbing
 to
 “the
 weight
 of
 memory”—of
 bowing

under
 the
 inescapable
 and
 impossible
 burden
 of
 memory—what
 strategies
 might

one
 employ
 in
 order
 to
 resist
 this
 weight?
 With
 these
 questions
 in
 mind,
 I

examine
 four
 fictional
 texts
 of
 the
 second
 generation
 that
 present
 different

responses
 to
 “the
 weight
 of
 memory.”

This
 dissertation
 argues
 that
 the
 value
 of
 second
 generation
 fiction
 for

Holocaust
 studies
 can
 be
 found
 in
 its
 self-­‐conscious
 examination
 of
 what
 might

constitute
 an
 ethical
 response
 to
 the
 testimony
 of
 another.
 I
 bring
 together
 the

fictional
 texts
 of
 three
 authors
 of
 the
 generation
 after
 in
 order
 to
 investigate
 the

textual
 strategies
 each
 text
 employs
 to
 bear
 witness
 on
 behalf
 of
 another
 and

pass
 on
 “the
 weight
 of
 memory.”
 Rather
 than
 portraying
 fictional
 examples
 of

what
 has
 been
 termed
 “vicarious
 witnessing”
 or
 adoptive
 witnessing,
 I
 argue
 that

these
 texts
 in
 this
 study
 present
 a
 form
 of
 structural
 witnessing
 and
 transmission

that
 is
 best
 explained
 as
 story-­‐carrying.3
 My
 enquiry
 therefore
 departs
 from

theorists
 and
 critics
 who
 suggest
 that
 inheriting
 the
 memory
 of
 survivors
 and

perpetrators
 results
 in
 an
 overwhelming
 of
 one’s
 identity
 by
 the
 stories
 of

another.
 Rather
 I
 explore
 how
 witnessing
 on
 behalf
 of
 or
 for
 another
 comprises

an
 ethical
 act
 in
 which
 the
 other
 and
 her
 story
 are
 accepted
 as
 distinct
 from
 one’s

2
 I
 provide
 a
 detailed
 discussion
 of
 my
 use
 of
 the
 term
 “second
 generation
 fiction”
 in
 the
 next

section
 of
 the
 Introduction.

3
 “Vicarious
 witnessing”
 is
 Froma
 Zeitlin’s
 term
 (1998),
 while
 adoptive
 witnessing
 refers
 to

Geoffrey
 Hartman’s
 notion
 of
 “witness
 by
 adoption”
 (1996).

  2
own.
 My
 main
 concern
 is
 to
 examine
 the
 structural
 and
 aesthetic
 strategies

employed
 in
 each
 of
 my
 four
 main
 texts,
 as
 these
 devices
 set
 up
 the
 terms
 by

which
 the
 site
 of
 the
 text
 becomes
 the
 site
 of
 response.
 Historically,
 aesthetics
 is

the
 term
 used
 to
 speak
 of
 a
 theory
 of
 art
 and
 the
 aesthetic
 is
 defined
 as
 “a
 set
 of

principles
 underlying
 the
 work
 of
 a
 particular
 artist
 of
 artistic
 movement”
 (OED

Online).
 However,
 aesthetics
 also
 refers
 to
 the
 experiences
 of
 the
 senses
 and

speaks
 of
 the
 effect
 of
 an
 object
 or
 work
 of
 art
 on
 the
 senses.
 When
 I
 employ
 the

term,
 therefore,
 I
 bring
 together
 these
 two
 conceptions:
 the
 principles
 and

artistic
 choices
 involved
 in
 the
 production
 of
 the
 artwork
 and
 the
 effect
 that

these
 have
 on
 the
 senses
 of
 the
 recipient.
 Issues
 of
 aesthetics
 are
 therefore

combined
 with
 ethics,
 as
 the
 effect
 of
 the
 work
 of
 art
 creates
 the
 site
 of
 response.

I
 am
 therefore
 interested
 in
 how
 the
 narrative
 structures
 of
 these
 texts,
 and
 the

aesthetic
 strategies
 of
 their
 authors,
 develop
 model
 a
 mode
 of
 reading
 that
 is

careful
 and
 engaged.

I
 am
 interested
 in
 the
 Sebald’s
 use
 of
 the
 term
 “weight”
 as
 it
 connotes

notions
 of
 heaviness
 and
 burdens,
 while
 also
 including
 the
 idea
 of
 a
 certain
 level

of
 seriousness
 or
 solemnity.
 The
 word
 “weight”
 speaks
 of
 a
 sense
 of

responsibility.
 Thus,
 I
 employ
 the
 term
 to
 speak
 about
 the
 idea
 of
 carrying

memories
 as
 if
 they
 were
 burdens
 or
 weights
 placed
 upon
 one.4
 The
 concept
 of

carrying
 is
 important
 to
 this
 thesis,
 as
 I
 argue
 that
 the
 second
 generation
 acts
 of

witnessing
 which
 I
 see
 at
 work
 in
 the
 texts
 I
 examine
 demonstrate
 how
 one

storyteller
 can
 carry
 and
 pass
 on
 the
 story
 of
 another
 as
 if
 they
 were
 a
 kind
 of

caretaker.

4
 Sisyphus
 is
 one
 of
 the
 famous
 mythical
 characters
 in
 literature
 known
 for
 carrying
 a
 heavy

burden
 or
 straining
 under
 his
 heavy
 rock.
 In
 Chapter
 4,
 I
 consider
 how
 the
 figure
 of
 Sisyphus

provides
 avenues
 for
 thinking
 about
 Sebald’s
 approach
 to
 “the
 weight
 of
 memory”
 in
 what
 I
 have

identified
 as
 his
 “aesthetic
 of
 failure”.

  3
2.
 Passing
 On

I
 have
 titled
 this
 thesis
 “Passing
 On”
 for
 the
 very
 reason
 that
 these
 words
 evoke

layered
 concerns
 regarding
 death,
 the
 past,
 memory
 and
 its
 transmission,
 and

testimony
 or
 storytelling
 that
 I
 explore
 in
 this
 study.
 “Passing
 on”
 speaks

tangentially,
 even
 euphemistically,
 about
 death.
 It
 therefore
 conjures
 the
 mass

genocide
 of
 the
 Holocaust
 at
 the
 same
 time
 that
 it
 refers
 to
 how
 those
 who

survived
 it
 are
 “passing
 on”:
 entering
 into
 the
 last
 decade
 or
 two
 of
 life
 at
 this

contemporary
 moment.
 To
 pass
 on
 to
 another
 also
 suggests
 the
 act
 of

transmission:
 the
 way
 in
 which
 memory
 is
 transmitted
 from
 one
 generation
 to

the
 next.
 Passing
 on
 evokes
 the
 drive
 to
 find
 a
 listener
 who
 will
 act
 as
 a
 receptor

to
 and
 inheritor
 of
 memory;
 by
 passing
 on
 memories
 those
 who
 testify
 are

consciously
 or
 unconsciously
 finding
 a
 way
 in
 which
 their
 story
 may
 live
 on.

Their
 telling
 creates
 the
 potential
 for
 the
 afterlives
 of
 their
 narratives.
 W.
 G.

Sebald’s
 character,
 Austerlitz,
 openly
 acknowledges
 that
 he
 had
 been
 looking
 for

someone
 to
 tell
 his
 story
 to.
 The
 more
 he
 uncovers
 of
 his
 traumatic
 past,
 the

more
 he
 realizes
 that
 he
 needs
 to
 find
 a
 listener:
 "[o]ddly
 enough,
 said
 Austerlitz,

[…]
 he
 had
 been
 thinking
 of
 our
 encounters
 in
 Belgium,
 so
 long
 ago
 now,
 and

telling
 himself
 he
 must
 find
 someone
 to
 whom
 he
 could
 relate
 his
 own
 story,
 a

story
 which
 he
 had
 learned
 only
 in
 the
 last
 few
 years
 and
 for
 which
 he
 needed

the
 kind
 of
 listener
 I
 had
 once
 been"
 (Sebald,
 Austerlitz
 59-­‐60).
 This
 passage

leads
 us
 to
 believe
 that
 the
 text
 of
 Austerlitz
 represents
 the
 afterlife
 of

Austerlitz’s
 story.
 It
 also
 speaks
 of
 the
 “kind
 of
 listener”
 that
 the
 narrator
 is
 and

gestures
 towards
 the
 fact
 that
 his
 listening
 develops
 into
 retelling.

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