Language:
English
Year of publication:
2012
Titel der Quelle:
Journal of Modern Jewish Studies
Angaben zur Quelle:
11,1 (2012) 25-38
Keywords:
Morante, Elsa,
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in literature
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Fiction
;
Jews Fiction
;
Jews in literature
;
Italian literature 20th century
Abstract:
Examines how Morante's proclaimed artistic principles, in particular her notion of "poetic truth", affected her depiction of the Holocaust in the novel "La Storia" (1974). The plot is borrowed extensively from several published memoirs about the Holocaust in Rome. However, the historical account of the deportation of Jews from Rome in October 1943 is "poetically" transformed, and bearing witness to the Holocaust is entrusted to characters who are unreliable witnesses - ill, maddened, or hallucinatory. Morante maintained that greater literary realism lies in invention, appealing to the reader's imagination, rather than in dry reportage. Surmises that "La Storia" illuminates the struggle to understand and speak of the Holocaust in an era in which witnesses to the events number ever fewer.
DOI:
10.1080/14725886.2012.646702
URL:
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