'Live. And remember': History, memory and storytelling in young adult holocaust fiction. Issue 2 (November 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Saxena, Vandana
• Is Part Of: Literature & history. Volume 28:Issue 2(2019)
• Page Start: 156
• Page End: 174
• Publication Date: 2019-11
• Subjects: Young adult fiction -- Holocaust -- memory -- trauma -- history; English literature -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Literature and history -- Periodicals; Literature -- History and criticism -- Periodicals; Ideology and literature -- Periodicals; Politics and literature -- Periodicals; Literature -- Periodicals; 820.9
• DOI: 10.1177/0306197319870380
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0306-1973

Abstract

Young adult fiction has emerged as a crucial pedagogical tool for Holocaust education. According to scholars and writers, it promotes empathy and also encourages the readers to become a part of the process of remembering. However, this field of storytelling also grapples with the dilemma of traumatic subject matter and its suitability for young readers. The humanist conventions of young adult fiction are often in conflict with the bleak and horrifying core of Holocaust literature. Young adult novelists have tried to deal with these problematic aspects by using multiple narrative strategies to integrate the memories of genocide and human rights abuse with the project of growth and socialisation that lies at the heart of young adult literature. This paper examines the narrative strategies that make young adult fiction an apt bearer and preserver of the traumatic past. Specifically, these strategies involve fantastical modes of storytelling, liminality and witness testimonies told to the second- and third-generation listeners. These strategies modify the humanist resolution of young adult narratives by integrating growth with collective responsibility.