An unresolved memory: Post-Holocaust generations and the question of identity

Abstract

This paper reflects on the concept of identity and relates it to the intrinsically inherent notion of personal narrative, which is closely interwoven with one’s capacity to self-representation. As self-representation is essentially based on processes of recalling experienced or learnt events, the question of memory as a collective phenomenon that directly influences identitary processes becomes an emergent topic. Here I will link these issues to the generations of individuals that were born in the aftermath of Germany’s National-Socialist dictatorship and, therefore, these are subjects that have had to deal with an historical inheritance that has influenced the formation and consolidation of their identity. This reflection articulates data from different academic fields (such as Social and Human Sciences and Psychology) with the literary work and personal perspectives of contemporary German and Austrian writers, whose texts represent the concepts of trauma, identity and (post)memory in central Europe’s historical, political and social context.