The Cemetery of the Sea: the response of a family dynasty to a transgenerational trauma
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| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | In this presentation, I am going to analyse the book The Cemetery of the Sea (Havets kirkegard) by Norwegian writer Aslak Nore. The family saga novel was published in 2021 and received many positive reviews. Even though it is a fictional story, it builds on real historical events – sinking of the ship DS «Prinsesse Ragnhild» during the Second World War. This event marks the beginning of a family trauma and the struggle between truth and loyalty. Seventy-five years after the traumatic event, the head of the dynasty who holds the truth commits suicide, shattering the family once again. In this paper, I would like to focus on how the author portrays and captures responses of the characters, namely family members, to the transgenerational trauma; how they deal not only with the secrets and betrayals but also love loyalty and happiness. I am currently translating the novel into the Czech language; therefore, I would like to concentrate on the text analysis of the given motives. Which techniques does the author use? How does fiction deal with the motive of transgenerational trauma? The influence of the war to the present is topical in Czech literature as well, and I would like to compare the strategies authors employ in contemporary fictional literature. |
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