The odours in Buchenwald. Jorge Semprún's olfactory memory in 'Literature or Life'

Authors

  • David García Cames Universidad Pontifícia de Colombia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/qdfed.21.9334

Abstract

The literature of the nazi camp survivors is usually expressed as a tension between the ethical requirement of testimony and the search for the right word. This paper analyses one of the classic books of Concentrationary Literature, Literature or Life (1994) by Jorge Semprún, from the study of the techniques that the author uses to describe the smells that it was possible to perceive in Buchenwald. The olfactory memory represents a form of construction of otherness whose reminiscence is fixed in writing. The persistence of the sensory memory symbolizes for Semprún the direct experience of death and the ineffable condition of his imprisonment in the Lager.

 

Keywords: Jorge Semprún; Concentrationary Literature; Olfactory Memory; Ineffability; Otherness.

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Published

2016-12-06

How to Cite

García Cames, D. (2016). The odours in Buchenwald. Jorge Semprún’s olfactory memory in ’Literature or Life’. Quaderns De Filologia - Estudis Literaris, 21, 53–65. https://doi.org/10.7203/qdfed.21.9334
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Issue

Vol. 21 (2016): THE CONCENTRATIONARY UNIVERSE: WRITING TO NOT FORGET

Section

Artículos

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