Shadows of the past in Sebald’s fiction: literature and transitional justice

Abstract

The shadows of the past are represented as postmemory in the literary works of Sebald, German author born in 1944. Through his long prose fiction writings, the author reveals how the “second generation” received memories of traumatic events experienced during the Second World War. Taking Sebald’s works as an example, this paper has the purpose of indicating possible interactions between literature and transitional justice, with the understanding of this term as a means to transform a society which has passed from a dictatorial regime to a Democratic State of Law. The methodology employed was qualitative, and the study focused on the analysis of the books published by Sebald between 1988 and 2001, establishing a theoretical framework based on Marianne Hirsch’s ideas on postmemory. As a result, it becomes clear that Sebald’s fiction restores a repressed past which must come to light for the reconstruction of reality, so that both the children of the persecuted survivors and of the human rights violators can deal with the experiences of a traumatic past. In conclusion, literature which focuses on postmemory presents itself as a key hermeneutic element in the search for understanding in the process of transitional justice.