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SEMBLANCE OF HOLOCAUST HAUNTING: MYRIADS OF TRAUMATIC
MEMORY IN IMRE KERTÉSZ’S
FATELESSNESS
D . P. Sudhalakshmi
Associa e P o esso , Depa men o English
Vellala College o Women (Au onomous), E ode
sudhalakshmi@ cw.ac.in
D . M. An on Pushpa aja
Assis an P o esso , Depa men o English
Loyola College (Au onomous), Chennai
an onm. [email protected]
h ps://doi.o g/10.5281/zenodo.17283285
Abs ac
The pape explo es he nuanced po ayal o auma and memo y in Im e Ke ész’s Fa elessness (1975),
examining he mul i ace ed mechanisms h ough which he p o agonis Gyö gy Kö es a emp s o
a ionalize he i a ional ho o s o he Holocaus . Th ough he lenses o Jan Assmann’s heo y o cul u al
memo y and Ma ianne Hi sch’s no ion o pos memo y, he a icle del es in o he ex ’s depic ion o he
inexp essibili y o su e ing, he e hical up u e o mo al easoning, and he dis o ed semblance o
unde s anding amid a oci y. The pape asso s ha Fa elessness is a eplica o a pos -Auschwi z na a i e,
exempli ying memo y as agmen ed, de ian , and coupled wi h cul u al e icence and de e ed dic ions.
Keywo ds: Pe manen su e ing, e hnic iolence, auma, incommunicabili y, pu poselessness, agmen ed
memo y
In oduc ion
The esidues o Holocaus p o es o be one o he mos de ining massac es in mode n
his o y. I s impac s we e no es ic ed o he demesne o ins an su i o s bu ha e un emi ing
essence o ouble e hnic and men al memo y, a ec ing he gene a ions o come. Such a agic
e en sheds ligh on li e a u e, poli ics and human igh s. Elle Wiesel, Pail Celan and many
o he s a emp ed o exhibi he silence o dea h and esis he e asu e in ended by he o ende s.
W i e s aced many obs acles o delinea e he agic u h o Holocaus , leading many o usage
allego y, i ony o con e se hei su e ing. Howe e , Im e Ke ész signi ican ly po ays he
Holocaus he condi ion o human exis ence a e wa . In his con ex , Im e Ke ész’s
Fa elessness, o iginally published in Hunga ian as So s alanság in 1975, eme ges as a c i ical
na a i e ha esis s con en ional Holocaus opes. Ke ész, himsel a su i o o Auschwi z
and Buchenwald, does no in ol e he one o sen imen alism o o e accusa ion in his w i ing.
Ye , his p o agonis Gyö gy Kö es’s subdued, almos impe sonal, na a ion o his camp
expe iences challenges eade s o con on he banali y and absu di y o auma.
Unlike memoi s ha clea ly seek mo al cla i y o emo ional elease, Fa elessness p esen s
a con using and disquie ing iew o auma. I mixes de achmen wi h deep despai and
ambigui y wi h indi e ence. The young Kö es, h ough his agmen ed hough s, does no aim
o condemn. Ins ead, he seems o accep he ho i ic expe iences by using eason. This app oach
pushes eade s o e hink he e hics o how we ep esen and emembe such e en s.
The a icle examines how Fa elessness builds and b eaks down memo y using Jan
Assmann’s idea o cul u al memo y and Ma ianne Hi sch’s heo y o pos memo y. I explo es
how auma appea s no only as a pe sonal psychological b eak bu also as a sha ed cul u al
e en shaped by ep ession, ideology, and he di icul y o c ea ing a clea na a i e.
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His o ical Con ex and Na a i e S uc u e
Se in Nazi-occupied Hunga y and he concen a ion camps o Auschwi z and Buchenwald,
Fa elessness is pa ly au obiog aphical bu does no p o ide di ec es imony. The s o y ollows
ou een-yea -old Gyö gy Kö es. He is aken om his home in Budapes and sen o a
concen a ion camp. Unlike o he Holocaus na a i es, Kö es’s accoun is de oid o o e
emo ional exp ession. His oice emains dis u bingly calm and a ional, as i ying o
comp ehend his auma h ough logical explana ions.
This na a i e s a egy is wha Gio gio Agamben e e s o as a “zone o indis inc ion” in his
analysis o he Muselmann— he camp igu e who exis s a he limi o humani y and speech
(Agamben 82). Kö es, hough no ully dehumanized, ho e s nea his zone. His a emp o ind
eason wi hin he un easonable becomes a de ining ai o his auma ic esponse. The
na a i e de ice also signi ies a wi hd awal om classical endo semen li e a u e by si ua ing
Fa elessness as a no el ha coun e a acks cessa ion and mo al inali y.
T auma and he Collapse o Meaning
The Holocaus no only ook millions o li es bu also sha e ed sys ems o meaning. Gyö gy
Kö es, a Holocaus su i o , ic ionalized his hough s on exis ence, a e, eedom, and powe
poli ics. He depic ed he ho o s o e e yday li e o Holocaus ic ims, he b oken amilies, and
he opp essed men ali y in he camps in a clea manne . In Fa elessness, he epea ed a emp s
by Kö es o a ionalize su e ing e lec his epis emological c isis. When an old woman dies on
he ain om dehyd a ion, Kö es ema ks ha i is “unde s andable,” gi en he condi ion. Such
commen s, a once banal and ho i ying, e eal he co osi e e ec s o auma on e hical
easoning.
As Ca hy Ca u h explains, auma is “no loca able in he simple iolen o o iginal e en in
an indi idual’s pas , bu a he in he way ha i s e y unassimila ed na u e— he way i was
p ecisely no known in he i s ins ance— e u ns o haun he su i o la e on” (Ca u h 4).
Kö es’s seeming de achmen is a symp om o such unp ocessed auma. The a ionaliza ions
a e no genuine unde s andings bu mechanisms o psychic de ense, a e usal o collapse unde
he weigh o incomp ehensible iolence.
Fu he mo e, as Dominick LaCap a sugges s, auma ic e en s o en esul in “ac ing ou ”
a he han “wo king h ough.” Kö es’s impe sonal language and mechanical desc ip ions
e lec his mode o “ac ing ou ,” whe ein he auma is compulsi ely epea ed wi hou being
in eg a ed in o consciousness (LaCap a 70).
Cul u al Memo y and Rep ession
Jan Assmann’s concep o cul u al memo y is pi o al in unde s anding how auma in
Fa elessness anscends he indi idual. Cul u al memo y, o Assmann, is he collec i e p ocess
h ough which socie ies emembe o ep ess hei pas s ela ed o he knowledge, cus om and
symbols which is being consciously p ese ed and ansmi ed ac oss gene a ions. I is
ins i u ionalized h ough i uals, ex s, and commemo a i e p ac ices ha ei he p ese e o
dis o his o y (Assmann 128).
A e he Wo ld Wa II, he e was a massi e des uc ion in Budepes ha caused o e hal a
million Hunga ian-jews we e mu de ed. In pos -wa Hunga y, he communis egime o en
silenced o manipula ed Holocaus na a i es o se e ideological pu poses. Kö es’s e u n o
Budapes ma ks a second auma— he e asu e o his expe ience. No one wan s o lis en. The e
is a social impe a i e o o ge , o mo e on. This cul u al amnesia exempli ies wha Assmann
desc ibes as a up u e in communica i e memo y. The pas becomes unspeakable, no because
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i is o go en, bu because i is cul u ally disallowed. Th ough Kö es Im e Ke ész emphases
ha pos wa Hunga y was no a e u n o eedom bu an en y in o ano he o ali a ian sys em.
The no el hus explo es how auma, when denied a cul u al oice, es e s wi hin he
indi idual as isola ed g ie . Kö es’s inabili y o sha e his s o y mi o s a b oade ailu e o
cul u al memo y. In his silence, Fa elessness becomes no jus a s o y o pe sonal su i al bu
an indic men o his o ical ep ession.
Pos memo y and Gene a ional Haun ing
Ma ianne Hi sch’s heo y o pos memo y p o ides a compelling lens o iew he linge ing
echoes o auma in Fa elessness, especially in how i an icipa es in e gene a ional auma.
Hi sch de ines pos memo y as he ela ionship ha he “gene a ion a e ” bea s o he pe sonal,
collec i e, and cul u al auma o hose who came be o e. I is media ed no by di ec expe ience
bu h ough imagina i e in es men , p ojec ion, and c ea ion (Hi sch 22).
Al hough Fa elessness is na a ed by a young boy du ing he wa , i is w i en by Ke ész
decades la e , hus inhe en ly engaging in a pos memo ial econs uc ion. The na a o ’s
ma e -o - ac one and mo al neu ali y a e shaped no only by he immediacy o auma bu
also by he e ospec i e dis ance ha al e s i s a icula ion.
Fu he mo e, pos memo y o en in ol es a bu den o ep esen a ion: he nex gene a ion
mus emembe wha was unspeakable, o en h ough s o ies, pho og aphs, o cul u al cues.
Ke ész, as bo h su i o and au ho , embodies his duali y—he is bo h a wi ness and a
pos memo ial na a o . Fa elessness he e o e unc ions as a ex ha s addles bo h memo y
and pos memo y. I gi es o m o he haun ing echoes o a oci y ha ex end beyond he
li espan o su i o s and esis adi ional na a i e cohe ence.
This pos memo ial quali y comes h ough in he p o agonis 's las e lec ion, whe e he
almos de ends he camps as places whe e “happiness” was possible in small momen s. This
obse a ion deeply dis u bs and challenges wha eade s expec . I does no sugges a
e isionis iew bu highligh s he con usion o memo y, he manipula ion o coping me hods,
and he mixed messages o auma ic es imony.
The E hics o Na a ing A oci y
The e hical implica ions o na a ing he Holocaus a e cen al o he schola ly deba e
su ounding Holocaus li e a u e. The ques ion a ises: how can one ep esen he
un ep esen able wi hou i ializing o aes he icizing i ? Ke ész answe s his h ough
na a i e es angemen . Gyö gy Kö es’s indi e en one and a ionaliza ion a e no simply
naï e; hey a e calcula ed na a i e ools ha expose he e hical ins abili y o unde s anding
genocide.
By ha ing a p o agonis who e uses o speak in mo al absolu es, Ke ész c i iques he
commodi ica ion o su e ing in pos -Holocaus discou se. As Shoshana Felman and Do i Laub
a gue, es imony mus no be con la ed wi h his o y; a he , i should be seen as a pe o ma i e
ac ha ansmi s he wound, no he cu e (Felman and Laub 57). Kö es’s na a i e ne e
p e ends o heal; ins ead, i pe o ms auma’s pa adoxes and impasses.
Mo eo e , he no el e ains om gi ing eade s he com o o judgmen . I does no
condemn he pe pe a o s, no does i sanc i y he ic ims. This e hical ambigui y is whe e
Fa elessness becomes mos unse ling and mos p o ound. I u ges eade s o con on hei own
in e p e i e amewo ks, o ecognize he insu iciency o language and mo ali y in he ace o
adical e il.
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Absu di y, I ony, and he “Unde s anding” o C ema o ia
One o he mos shocking elemen s in he no el is Kö es’s g owing amilia i y—and e en ual
“unde s anding”—o he c ema o ia. As he na a o ema ks, “I unde s ood wha he chimneys
mean , and I accep ed i .” This sen ence is chilling, no only o i s con en bu o he
dispassiona e one in which i is deli e ed. He e, Ke ész en e s in o he e i o y o absu dism,
in he philosophical lineage o Camus and Ka ka.
Absu di y, in his con ex , e e s o he collapse o logical s uc u es in he ace o
unexplainable su e ing. Gyö gy’s easoning becomes inc easingly mechanical, as i o shield
himsel om mo al disin eg a ion. The i ony is ha by seeking unde s anding, he becomes mo e
de ached om his own humani y. This, pe haps, is he deepes o m o auma—no emo ional
b eakdown, bu emo ional mu eness.
Kö es’s e lec ions a e wha Theodo Ado no would call a “nega i e dialec ic.” They
con on he inabili y o concep ual hough o cap u e li ed su e ing (Ado no 361). The no el’s
e usal o p omise edemp ion se es as a c i ique o philosophical and na a i e sys ems ha
a emp o impose cohe ence on Holocaus expe iences. Thus, he “unde s anding” o he
c ema o ia is no unde s anding a all. I is a dis o ed imi a ion o comp ehension ha indica es
he dea h o eason.
Conclusion
Im e Ke ész’s Fa elessness is an impo an wo k in Holocaus li e a u e. I makes i s ma k
no wi h loud accusa ions o melod ama, bu wi h a sub le dis u bance. The book cap u es he
ho o o genocide no only by showing physical su e ing bu also by explo ing he b eakdown
o mo al hinking, he des uc ion o memo y, and he unse ling no maliza ion o he g o esque.
By inco po a ing he amewo ks o Jan Assmann’s cul u al memo y and Ma ianne Hi sch’s
pos memo y, he no el allows eade s o pe cei e he Holocaus no only as a his o ical a oci y
bu as an ongoing haun ing—a ec ing iden i y, cul u e, and language. Kö es’s agmen ed and
mo ally ambiguous na a ion e lec s he impossibili y o ull a icula ion, he inexp essibili y
ha lies a he hea o auma.
The semblance o haun ing in Fa elessness lies in i s e usal o o e closu e, i s uncanny
po ayal o ho o as ou ine, and i s exposu e o he limi s o unde s anding. As such, he no el
becomes no jus a eco d o pas su e ing bu a c i ical e lec ion on how we emembe ,
mis emembe , and li e wi h he spec e s o auma.
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