COMING BACK HOME: POSTMEMORY IN NOVELS BY ALEXANDER CHUDAKOV, KATJA PETROWSKAJA, AND MARIA STEPANOVA

Abstract

This study explores postmemory as a way of “coming back home” to one’s roots and reimagined identity. It is particularly important within the context of the recent turn to prioritizing personal memories over the official, collective memory to process traumatic historical experiences of the 20th century, such as the war, Stalinist purges, and the Holocaust. The thesis presents a comprehensive analysis of three contemporary novels — Alexander Chudakov’s A Gloom Is Cast Upon the Ancient Steps (Lozhitsia mgla na starye stupeni, 2000), Maria Stepanova’s In Memory of Memory (Pamiati pamiati, 2017), and Katja Petrowskaja’s Maybe Esther (Vielleicht Esther, 2014). The study uses the theory of postmemory, developed by Marianne Hirsch, to research how different generations of survivors engage with stories and objects of memory, such as family photographs, letters and archival documents to access the experience of their ancestors. The thesis uses the methods of literary analysis and close reading to discuss, through the question of genre, connections between literature, memоry, and the enduring impact of catastrophic historical events on subsequent generations.