SEMBLANCE OF HOLOCAUST HAUNTING: MYRIADS OF TRAUMATIC MEMORY IN IMRE KERTÉSZ'S FATELESSNESS

The paper explores the nuanced portrayal of trauma and memory in Imre Kertész’s Fatelessness (1975), examining the multifaceted mechanisms through which the protagonist György Köves attempts to rationalize the irrational horrors of the Holocaust. Through the lenses of Jan Assmann’s theory of cultural memory and Marianne Hirsch’s notion of postmemory, the article delves into the text’s depiction of the inexpressibility of suffering, the ethical rupture of moral reasoning, and the distorted semblance of understanding amid atrocity. The paper assorts that Fatelessness is a replica of a post-Auschwitz narrative, exemplifying memory as fragmented, deviant, and coupled with cultural reticence and deferred dictions.