W.G. Sebald and Jonathan Safran Foer stem from a different background in cultural, historical and local terms. Whereas Austerlitz is the last work of Sebald, which he finished shortly before his unexpected death, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is only Foer’s second novel, finished at the age of 27. However, both novels do not only both circle the subjects of trauma through war, the loss of parents by the hand of the enemy and the impact of memory. They also both use graphic representations as an autonomous layer in their narratives.
These graphic representations – photographs, maps, drawings, flip-book collections, etc. – are generally used in various ways to visualize meaning. The main protagonists, Austerlitz and Oskar, serve as both the collectors and creators of these representations within the narratives. As different as they are, both Austerlitz and Oskar, as well as Oskar’s grandparents, have suffered traumatic experiences by war and the loss of loved ones. The pictures that have been integrated in the narratives execute various functions on different levels along the way of their stories. On the intrafictional level, they act as visualizations of pain and trauma, proofs of existence and identity, evidence of history, media of documentation and verification, surrogates of experience and means of expression. On the extrafictional level, they serve not only as a means to carry on with the narrative on a visual level, but also as a reminder that pictures are always open to numerous interpretations and do not necessarily contribute to authentication, realization and truth as they are often perceived to do in everyday life. Rather, they give way to fictionalization, and to the construction of one’s very own version of an explanation, which can be either a way of coming to terms with received trauma or of impeded recovery. The aim of this thesis is, on one hand, to closely examine and compare the functions of images in both narratives, whether material or verbal, although the emphasis will be on photographs, and the way they interact with the written text. On the other hand, the thesis tries to educe the statements Sebald and Foer endeavor to make by pursuing intermedial strategies.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Theoretical Background
2.1 State of Research
2.2 Word and Image
2.2.1 Terminology
2.2.2 Mediality
2.2.3 The Nature of Text and Picture
2.3 Intermediality
2.3.1 The Concept of Intermediality
2.3.2 An Abstract of Intermediality in Literature
2.4 Photography
2.4.1 Terminology
2.4.2 The Nature of Photography
3. Intermediality in Austerlitz and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
3.1 The Use of pictures on the intrafictional Level
3.1.1 Memory and Identity
3.1.2 Evidence, Knowledge and Truth
3.1.3 Documenting and Preserving
3.1.4 Surrogating Experience
3.1.5 Communicating and Expressing Oneself
3.1.6 Conclusion
3.2 The Use of Pictures on the Extrafictional Level
3.2.1 Illustration
3.2.2 Narration and Plot Incentives
3.2.3 Authentication
3.2.3.1 Fictionalization of Photographs in Foer
3.2.3.2 Art vs. Documentary
3.2.3.3 Fictionalization of Photographs in Sebald
3.2.4 Reader Involvement
3.2.5 Text Substitution
3.2.5.1 Creation of Atmosphere
3.2.5.2 Omnipresence of Death and Suffering
3.2.5.3 Creation of Blind Fields
3.2.5.4 Pictures and Images of Buildings
3.2.5.5 Picture and Image Networks
3.2.6 Conclusion: Prompting Reflections on the Medium “Photography”
4. Conclusion
Objectives and Topics
This thesis examines the role of intermediality in W.G. Sebald's Austerlitz and Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. The primary research goal is to compare how both authors integrate visual representations—specifically photographs—into their narratives to explore themes of trauma, memory, and the construction of identity. It investigates how these visual elements interact with the written text to move beyond simple illustration and serve as autonomous narrative layers.
- The function of photographs as mediators of personal and collective memory.
- The use of "iconotexts" and the intermedial strategies employed by Sebald and Foer.
- The dichotomy between the photograph as a documentary evidence and as an aesthetic, fictionalized object.
- The impact of visual media on the reader's involvement and the process of constructing reality.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1.1. Memory and Identity
The core motive for Austerlitz’ picture collection lies within the question of identity: “Since my childhood and youth […], I have never known who I really was” (A 60). When he arrived in England, his former name was replaced with the name of “Dafydd Elias” (A 94), bestowing an alien identity upon him. Indeed, the description the narrator reproduces of Austerlitz’ childhood attests to alienation, lovelessness and a sense of being lost: “I have never liked looking back at the time I spent in that unhappy house, which stood in isolation on a hill just outside the town and was much too large for two people and an only child” (A 61). He remembers that on the top floor, the doors to several rooms were kept closed at all times and that sometimes he dreamed that he could step through one of these doors into “a friendlier, more familiar world” (A 61). Verbal and pictorial representations of doors play a principal role in both Sebald’s and Foer’s novel (compare 3.2.5.4 Picture and Image Networks). Doors block the entrance to a secretive, hidden world that is nevertheless there or and, in Austerlitz’ case, the access to his lost identity.
Chapter Summary
1. Introduction: Presents the two authors and their novels, establishing the core focus on how photographic representations in their works relate to war, trauma, and memory.
2. Theoretical Background: Defines the concepts of intermediality, word/image relations, and the semiotic nature of photography, establishing the academic framework for the analysis.
3. Intermediality in Austerlitz and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: Analyzes the dual levels of photographic usage—intrafictional (within the story) and extrafictional (as narrative devices)—exploring themes of memory, identity, evidence, and reader engagement.
4. Conclusion: Summarizes how both novels utilize visual media to address the impossibility of fully documenting history and the subjective nature of recovering memories after catastrophic events.
Keywords
Intermediality, Sebald, Foer, Photography, Trauma, Memory, Iconotext, Identity, Austerlitz, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Punctum, Blind Field, Documentary, Evidence, Visual Culture
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this paper?
The paper examines the intermedial use of photography in the novels Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, focusing on how visual elements navigate themes of trauma and memory.
What is the central research question?
The paper investigates how Sebald and Foer use graphic representations as an autonomous narrative layer to visualize meaning and address the limitations of language when dealing with personal and collective history.
Which theoretical approach is applied?
The author uses a mix of media theory, focusing on the work of W.J.T. Mitchell and Gabriele Rippl, and photographic theory, notably the concepts of Roland Barthes and Susan Sontag, to define and analyze the "iconotexts" in the novels.
How are photographs utilized within the stories?
Photographs act as surrogates for experience, memory triggers, and evidence of existence, helping the protagonists attempt to document their pasts and construct or recover their shattered identities.
What role does the reader play in this analysis?
The reader is viewed as an active participant who must decode the interplay between text and images, filling the "blind fields" of the photographs with their own mental imagery, which is a core component of the novels' narrative strategies.
How do the two novels differ in their use of photography?
While Sebald uses photography more as a documentary-like witness to historical trauma, Foer employs it as a more overtly fictionalized, artistic tool that reflects the protagonist’s attempts to create a "second reality" to master his loss.
Does the paper conclude that photographs provide objective truth?
No, the paper argues that both authors systematically deconstruct the notion of photography as objective evidence, revealing instead how photographs are subjectively selected, arranged, and interpreted to suit specific narrative and emotional goals.
What is the significance of the "Falling Man" in Foer’s novel?
The "Falling Man" serves as a central leitmotif of the trauma associated with 9/11. The paper analyzes how its visual repetition and the reader's knowledge of its context force a confrontation with the ungraspable nature of the tragedy.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Lic. phil. hist/master of arts Stephanie Pabst (Autor:in), 2008, Pain, Trauma and The Need to Visualize, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/151567
