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<p>The three major novels by Nobel laureate Imre Kertész, despite their dissimilarities, are unified by a&#xa0;common objective: to identify an effective means of articulating the tragic experience of the Holocaust. The aim of this article is to analyse Imre Kertész’s books with a&#xa0;view to elucidating the various ways in which prose fiction can be a&#xa0;medium of testimony. In <i>Fatelessness</i>, in which the narrative is conveyed from the perspective of a&#xa0;adolescent (as Kertész himself was at the time of his incarceration in a&#xa0;concentration camp) in the style of field reportage, the literary space of fiction is replaced with first-hand accounts. In <i>Kaddish for an Unborn Child</i>, the protagonist is a&#xa0;writer engaged in the process of creating work about the Holocaust. In this context, the act of literary labour is equated with the work of memory. In <i>Liquidation</i>, Kertész introduces a&#xa0;negative register of testimony in the story of the suicide of the author writing about the Holocaust. Kertész posits that the task of literature is to capture the impossibility of articulating a&#xa0;tragedy beyond human comprehension.</p>

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Die (Un‑)Möglichkeit der Zeugenschaft

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年6月19日

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  • Oxana Koval,
  • Katharina Kriukov

摘要

The three major novels by Nobel laureate Imre Kertész, despite their dissimilarities, are unified by a common objective: to identify an effective means of articulating the tragic experience of the Holocaust. The aim of this article is to analyse Imre Kertész’s books with a view to elucidating the various ways in which prose fiction can be a medium of testimony. In Fatelessness, in which the narrative is conveyed from the perspective of a adolescent (as Kertész himself was at the time of his incarceration in a concentration camp) in the style of field reportage, the literary space of fiction is replaced with first-hand accounts. In Kaddish for an Unborn Child, the protagonist is a writer engaged in the process of creating work about the Holocaust. In this context, the act of literary labour is equated with the work of memory. In Liquidation, Kertész introduces a negative register of testimony in the story of the suicide of the author writing about the Holocaust. Kertész posits that the task of literature is to capture the impossibility of articulating a tragedy beyond human comprehension.