Memory and Destruction: A Psychiatric Approach to Understanding Literary Depictions of Air Raids in World War II

It is in the context of these psychiatric and political issues that this dissertation explores the bombing literature and their authors. Contrary to Sebald's assertions, the air raids have indeed been a topic of German literature and several narratives are discussed in the thesis (Nossack, Borchert, Ledig, Kluge, Kempowski, Forte). In addition, German-Jewish accounts of the bombings (Kemperer, Biermann), displaying the mixed view of them as both horror and signs of freedom, reveal the complexity of the issue. Interestingly, some of the best literature about the air raids comes from non-German authors (Vonnegut, Mulisch, Coulonges), who offer artistically and intellectually challenging texts, exploring both German guilt and psychological trauma. This dissertation offers new insight into an important period of German history and literature, and provides new pathways for exploring war and trauma literature in general.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Comparative Literature

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Vees-Gulani, Susanne Heike

Contributors dc:contributor

• Blake, Nancy
• Palencia-Roth, Michael

• Literature, Germanic

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3030486

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/87280