Following the Trail of Ancient Greek Tragedy in Imre Kertész's The
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Following the trail of ancient Greek tragedy in Imre Kertész’s The Pathseeker Exploring the intertextual use of Greek tragedy in Holocaust fiction, and its contribution to the discussions on the (in)adequacies of language and literary fiction in representing the Holocaust. MA Thesis Name: Rowie van Hagen ANR: 210785 / Student number: U1252294 MA track: Art, Media and Society Department of Culture Studies School of Humanities Date: November 2017 Thesis supervisor: Dr. P.A. Bax Second reader: Dr. I.G.M. van de Ven 2 What do I call a fate? Certainly the possibility of tragedy. - Imre Kertész, in Galley Boat-Log (entry May 1st, 1965) They are dead – and those alive bear the responsibility for those who’ve died. - A Messenger, in Sophocles’ Antigone (line 1173) O my soul, be still! Beginn'st thou now to tremble and to doubt? lonely shelter on the firm-set earth Must thou abandon? and, embark'd once more, At random drift upon tumultuous waves, A stranger to thyself and to the world? - Iphigenia, in Goethe’s Iphigenie auf Tauris (Act 4, Scene III) 3 4 Abstract This study focusses on the intertextual use of ancient Greek tragedy in literary fiction about the Holocaust, and its contribution to ongoing discussions within Holocaust historiography regarding the inadequacies of language and fiction in representing the Holocaust. The late Hungarian Holocaust survivor and author Imre Kertész established a connection between ancient Greek tragedy and literature about the Holocaust, based on their shared linkages to art and morality. He expressed his hope that Holocaust literature inspired by Greek tragedy may in due time give rise to redemption; the spirit, catharsis. The question remains how this cathartic process would come about in the context of traumatized Holocaust survivors and whether the author in his literature believed a catharsis or redemption to be possible in the first place. The main research question of this thesis therefore initially focusses on positioning Imre Kertész in the two discussions within Holocaust historiography regarding the use of language and fiction in Holocaust representation, based on his intertextual references to ancient Greek tragic plays in his novella The Pathseeker (1977). However, additional research was done into the concept of catharsis in the context of Holocaust survivors, related to the role of the survivor-witness and the possibility of trauma treatment in Kertész’s novella The Pathseeker. Previous studies on the connection between fictional Holocaust literature and ancient Greek tragedy have barely been conducted, as most of the existing literature focussed either on the combination of combat trauma among veterans and the cathartic process of ancient Greek tragedy, or on Euripidean tragedy in recent instances of literary fiction dealing with political themes that indicated rival subjectivities and the issue of narrative control. In both cases, the existing research failed to address the Holocaust and its survivors in particular, and in several cases the characteristic elements of Greek tragedy (in form and plot) were undertheorized or neglected altogether. This study therefore seeks to combine developments in Holocaust historiography with a more in-depth look at the characteristics and goal of ancient Greek tragedy, to determine commonalities between the two that may affect discussions on the (in)adequacies of language and fiction in Holocaust representation. This is done through a literary analysis of Imre Kertész’s novella The Pathseeker, from which specific passages with explicit references to Greek tragic plays are extracted for a close-reading and subsequent analysis and interpretation. This study demonstrates how Greek tragedy, as a source of archetypical stories on the human condition and the world of morality, offers a universal language that helps counter the perceived inadequacies of language and fiction in Holocaust representation when used in literary fiction about the Holocaust. In addition, the close-readings and literary analyses performed on specific passages from Kertész’s The Pathseeker show how the author used intertextuality in his novella to make harsh claims about the role of the Holocaust survivor-witness. Kertész employed references to Greek tragedies such as Sophocles’ Antigone and Euripides’ Iphigenia among the Taurians to address a Holocaust survivor’s desperate search for catharsis; an unattainable and illusory redemption seen as a last resort in resolving the traumas that remained after the war. 5 6 Acknowledgements Looking back on the period of time during which I first started working on my MA thesis, I remember the enthusiasm with which I managed to combine two topics that were of great personal interest to me into one solid research focus: the presence of ancient Greek tragedy in Holocaust literature. I also vividly remember the continuous struggle of feeling the weight of a deep-rooted sense of responsibility that made me want to do justice to the delicate subject matter and to the late Hungarian author in whose literature I had fully immersed myself at that time. Back then, I would never have imagined that I would be this proud of the research I have done over the past several months, which has now resulted in a MA thesis that lives up to all my expectations. Of course, there are several people whose advice, inspiring words and continued support undoubtedly contributed to this personal achievement, and I would like to take a moment here to express my gratitude. First and foremost, I would like to thank the members of the Exam Committee, dr. P.A. (Sander) Bax and dr. I.G.M. (Inge) van de Ven, for agreeing to take up the functions of thesis supervisor and second reader respectively. Without your support – and especially your patience – over the past several months, I would never have been able to finish this research project on my own terms and according to my own personal standards. You have given me the time and space I needed to put all my energy and creativity into this research, which has resulted in something that I am truly proud of. I would like to thank Sander Bax in particular for all the time and effort he invested in helping me through the process of writing my thesis. Your pieces of great advice, your feedback, your generous compliments on my written work and your continued faith in my ability to do well on this research project have proven to be an invaluable source of inspiration and motivation to me. Secondly, I would like to thank prof. dr. A.J.A. (Arnoud-Jan) Bijsterveld and dr. D.J.M.S. (David) Janssens for their inspiring lectures on the subjects of the Holocaust and Homeric epic / ancient Greek tragedy respectively. I have had the pleasure of attending your courses during my Liberal Arts and Sciences BA program at Tilburg University a few years ago, and it may well be said that your lectures laid the foundation of knowledge on which the research for my MA thesis was built. Your lectures have inspired me to pursue my topics of personal interest in academic research, and I look back on them with fond memories. Furthermore, I would like to thank three of my closest friends for the countless times they asked me how my thesis was going over the course of the past couple of months. To Elisa Oh, Romy Dimitrovski and Suzanne Glaudemans: thank you for pulling me away from my desk and laptop every now and then to go out and do something fun – these distractions have been more than welcome! Additionally, I wish to thank my godparents, Ton and Beate Vermaak, for their continued moral support and their genuine interest in how my studies and MA thesis were progressing. Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents, Eduard and Mariëtte van Hagen, and my younger brother, Jerom van Hagen, for their unwavering love and support. I wish to express my gratitude towards my parents in general for providing me with the opportunity of attending university, which I know meant a great deal to them too. Throughout four-and-a-half years of higher education you have always been there to cheer me on, to motivate me to keep going and never give up, and to support me in all the decisions I made. I would therefore wish to dedicate this MA thesis to you. 7 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... 5 Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................ 7 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ 8 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 11 1.1 On the connection between Holocaust fiction and ancient Greek tragedy ......................... 11 1.2 On the inadequacies of language and fiction in representing the Holocaust ..................... 13 1.3 The main research focus: Greek tragedy in Holocaust fiction ............................................. 15 2. A short biography of Imre Kertész ................................................................................. 21 2.1 Imre Kertész: Holocaust survivor, author and Nobel Prize laureate .................................... 21 2.2 The literary works of Imre Kertész: a brief overview ............................................................. 22 3. Theoretical and contextual framework ........................................................................