| My work examines a specific literature that has emerged in a strictly defined time and space---in Central Europe during the communist era that followed World War II and the Holocaust. My central thesis is that the violent historical events that plagued this area over this period have given birth to a distinct literary genre. This dissertation investigates a body of writing that is defined as Central European literature and that is represented by such authors as Milosz, Kis, Konrad, and Kundera. The reason for my approach lies in these authors' perceptions of the geographical and cultural unity of this area despite its ethnic and linguistic diversity, and in their vision of their countries' common fate and spiritual heritage. It is my contention that the new Central European genre is deeply rooted in Holocaust literature. Both literatures were born under the pressure of violent history. Both are weighed down by pain and suffering, as their respective poetic worlds center around the hurting body. However, while Holocaust literature focuses sharply on the brutally imposed deaths in the camps, I have found, that Central European literature more broadly portrays life under Soviet-imported totalitarianism. My investigations reveal that the literature of this area is connected by common themes and narrative strategies. Through the landmark novels of these authors, I shall demonstrate that their work is unified by such thematic commonalties as the torture of the body, remembrance of the dead, and the loss of the father, etc., and I will also illuminate those common innovative strategies (condensation and the mixture of fact and fiction, etc.) that are shaped to expose oppressive history. I will illuminate that, while closely linked to Western literary experiments, the literature I am examining is tied to the unique conditions of Central Europe. Analyzing these authors' novels, I will show that, unlike various postmodern strategies, the Central European genre reflects upon the external world and on historical events rather than on the act of writing itself. Because of the political and moral nature of this literature, my methodology is not based on the widespread value-neutral formal treatments modern critics use to evaluate contemporary literature. Since the standard methodologies such as deconstructive and constructivist modalities are unsuitable tools for analyzing a literature that takes the torture and dehumanized death of millions as subject matter, I will use my own critical measures for the evaluation of this literature. Basing my analysis on the vagaries of history in Central Europe, I will explore these works' underlying metaphors, images, and structural devices as expressions of horrific human experiences. Thus, my interdisciplinary methods bring relevant issues in twentieth-century Central European history and Eastern and Western literary criticism, as well, to bear on the novels' narrative structure and imagery, yielding insights that have been hidden until now. |
