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The mass rapes of 1945 in German memory : the (gender) politics of metaphor and metonymy
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Stone, Katherine (2018) The mass rapes of 1945 in German memory : the (gender) politics of metaphor and metonymy. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 21 (6). pp. 707-723. doi:10.1177/1367549417718207 ISSN 1367-5494.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1367549417718207
Abstract
This article takes Jenny Erpenbeck’s provocative novel Heimsuchung as an opportunity to consider how the mass rape of German women in 1945 has functioned as a ‘mnemonic signifier’, that is, a symbolic figuration of broader memory discourses. Through a close reading of this work, I show that this mnemonic signifier often dovetails with cultural ‘rape scripts’ that determine whether and how sexual violence is addressed, recognized and understood. Exploring how wartime rape has been remembered thus opens up new perspectives on the social and political salience of memory. This article consequently addresses the need for a ‘mnemographic ethics’ that foregrounds the victims of historical violence and their experiential realities, matters that are all too easily suppressed or transfigured in processes of remembrance and interpretation. It argues that literature can offer a model for such a practice.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||
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| Subjects: | D History General and Old World > DD Germany P Language and Literature > PT Germanic literature |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Arts > School of Modern Languages and Cultures > German Studies Faculty of Arts > School of Modern Languages and Cultures |
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| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Erpenbeck, Jenny, 1967-. Heimsuchung, World War, 1939-1945 -- Women -- Germany, Rape -- Germany -- History -- 20th century, Rape victims -- Germany -- History -- 20th century, Collective memory -- Social aspects, Collective memory -- Political aspects, German fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism | ||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | European Journal of Cultural Studies | ||||||||
| Publisher: | Sage Publications Ltd. | ||||||||
| ISSN: | 1367-5494 | ||||||||
| Official Date: | 1 December 2018 | ||||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 21 | ||||||||
| Number: | 6 | ||||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 707-723 | ||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1177/1367549417718207 | ||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 18 October 2017 | ||||||||
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 19 October 2017 |
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