Memory as resistance: A study on the literary importance of new forms of representation in confronting and commemorating the experiences of genocide

Abstract

In light of a new generation of individuals discounting the genocides—the Holocaust being one of many—the need to remember the atrocities, the need to hand over the responsibility of the memory of the atrocities, has become increasingly pressing. The transfer of memories to a generation which has not experienced the trauma of genocide is vital to prevent the watering down of experience to a myth, and most importantly, to work towards the prevention of a repeat of the genocide. The first part of the paper discusses the original ways of approaching the field of genocide studies, the genre of Historical Realism being predominant. The next part of the paper focuses on selected texts—Ezhathu Kavithaigal, Shyam Selvadurai’s Funny Boy, Art Spiegelman’s Maus etc. to respond to the criticisms against postmodern approaches and the deviation in the way genocides have been recorded. The field of genocide studies has, in recent years, been on the receiving end of new approaches to further the understanding of the events that have transpired. Texts emerging in the postmodern era are a welcome difference from the monolithic approach to this field of studies. New forms of art and literature have taken on the responsibility to transfer the memory and experience of genocides, becoming the channels of resistance against misrepresentation of trauma. The third and final part focuses on the components from the above-mentioned selected texts that enable dialogue between the reader and the text, commemorating past trauma and paving the way to human rights discussions.