The problem of finding appropriate ways to represent the Holocaust has been haunting Holocaust literature ever since Theodor Adorno's famous dictum that there cannot be any poetry after Auschwitz. In fact, the uniqueness of the Holocaust raises serious ethical questions whether there can be any appropriate representation of these atrocious events at all. As the horror of Auschwitz goes beyond human imagination, the problem boils down to the one question: How can you imagine the unimaginable?
Martin Amis's novel Time's Arrow or the Nature of the Offence (1991) has a rather bold answer to this question: by narrating it backwards. In the novel, the story of the Nazi doctor Odilo Unverdorben is narrated vice versa, following his life from end to start through the eyes of a ghostlike narrator who emerges at the point of his death. As the technique of backward narration distinguishes Time's Arrow from almost any other Holocaust fiction, in the following my focus will be on the novel's use of narrative reversal to represent the Holocaust. I will argue that the technique of backward narration offers a way to make sense of the Holocaust and Nazism in general, thereby showing that the novel's form and content are inseparably linked. In order to do this, I will first go over some of the negative criticism that Time's Arrow was exposed to, focusing on the problem of form and content. I will then show how backward narration offers a solution to specific problems in Holocaust literature and how it helps to avoid the danger of aestheticising Auschwitz. After that, I will point out that backward narration can help to understand the Holocaust, exploring the connections between Nazism and the temporal and moral reversal effected by narrative reversal. Finally I will examine the influence of Robert Jay Lifton's The Nazi Doctors on Time's Arrow. By applying Lifton's theory of psychological doubling to the novel, the close connections between form and content will once again be highlighted.
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction
- Criticism and the Form-Content Problem
- Narrative problems in Holocaust literature
- The danger of Aestheticising Auschwitz...
- Making sense of the Holocaust
- Temporal Reversal.
- Moral Reversal.
- Robert Jay Lifton's The Nazi Doctors and Time's Arrow ..
- Doubling
- The Healing-Killing Paradox.
- Conclusion......
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This essay explores Martin Amis's novel Time's Arrow, focusing on its use of backward narration to represent the Holocaust. It aims to demonstrate how this narrative technique offers a way to make sense of the Holocaust and Nazism in general, highlighting the inseparable link between form and content. The essay argues that the technique of backward narration addresses specific problems in Holocaust literature, avoids aestheticising Auschwitz, and helps to understand the connections between Nazism and temporal/moral reversal.
- The challenges of representing the Holocaust in literature.
- The use of backward narration in Time's Arrow.
- The relationship between form and content in the novel.
- The impact of Robert Jay Lifton's theory of psychological doubling on the novel.
- The ethical considerations of non-Jewish authors writing about the Holocaust.
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
- Introduction: The essay introduces the problem of representing the Holocaust in literature, citing Theodor Adorno's famous dictum that there cannot be any poetry after Auschwitz. It presents Time's Arrow as a bold attempt to tackle this challenge by narrating the story of a Nazi doctor in reverse chronology.
- Criticism and the Form-Content Problem: This section examines the critical reactions to Time's Arrow, highlighting criticisms regarding the choice of the Holocaust as the novel's theme and the use of backward narration. Critics argued that Amis prioritises stylistic experimentation over moral concern and that his choice of subject matter might diminish the importance of Jewish voices.
- Narrative Problems in Holocaust Literature: This section addresses the inherent narrative challenges in Holocaust literature, particularly the lack of suspense due to the reader's pre-existing knowledge of historical facts. It argues that backward narration in Time's Arrow addresses this issue by disrupting the usual narrative order, making the story more intriguing and preventing desensitisation.
- The Danger of Aestheticising Auschwitz... This section focuses on the potential for Holocaust narratives to inadvertently aestheticise the atrocities. The essay suggests that Time's Arrow's use of backward narration helps to avoid this trap by forcing the reader to constantly engage with the reversed narrative and compare it to their own knowledge of the historical events, thus intensifying the horror rather than lessening it.
- Making Sense of the Holocaust: This section explores how backward narration in Time's Arrow helps to understand the Holocaust. The essay highlights the connection between Nazism and the temporal and moral reversal effected by narrative reversal. It argues that this reversal can be interpreted as a reflection of the distorted logic of Nazism.
- Robert Jay Lifton's The Nazi Doctors and Time's Arrow...: This section examines the influence of Robert Jay Lifton's theory of psychological doubling on Time's Arrow. By applying Lifton's ideas to the novel, the essay further reinforces the link between form and content, suggesting that the narrative technique is essential to understanding the novel's themes.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The essay focuses on the intersection of literature, history, and ethics, exploring key concepts such as backward narration, Holocaust representation, narrative form, and the influence of Robert Jay Lifton's theories. It delves into the complexities of representing historical atrocities, the ethical considerations of authorial perspective, and the potential for narrative techniques to reveal deeper truths about the nature of evil.
- Quote paper
- Thomas Neumann (Author), 2007, Making Sense of the Holocaust by Means of Backward Narration, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/91353
