Shadows and Silences in Göran Rosenberg’s Memoir: Jewish Postmemory in the Swedish Welfare State

Authors

  • Karin Filipsson

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/scancan223

Keywords:

Jewish minority, postmigrant identity, postmemory narratives, Holocaust memoir, postwar Sweden

Abstract

This article, winner of the 2022 Marna Feldt Graduate Publication Award, explores the concept of postmemory in relation to Sweden’s cultural memory of World War II. Through an analysis of Göran Rosenberg’s memoir "Ett kort uppehåll på vägen från Auschwitz" (2012), translated as "A Brief Stop on the Road from Auschwitz," this article investigates how the representation of postmigrant identity and belonging relates to revisionist historiography regarding Sweden’s positionality during World War II. Furthermore, this article illuminates how exploring the postmemory trauma of the children of Holocaust survivors is relevant to the current discourse in Sweden’s contemporary transcultural society.

Cet article, gagnant du Prix Marna Feldt de publication pour diplomé [graduate], explore le concept de post-mémoire dans la mémoire culturelle de la Seconde Guerre mondiale en Suède. À travers une analyse du mémoire de Göran Rosenberg “Ett kort uppehåll på vägen från Auschwitz” (2012), au titre anglais “A Brief Stop on the Road from Auschwitz” [Un court arrêt au retour d’Auschwitz], cet article examine comment la représentation de l’identité et de l’appartenance post-migratoires se rapportent à l’historiographie révisionnistesur la position de la Suède durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. De plus, cet article illumine comment l’exploration des traumatismes post-mémoriels des enfants de survivants de l’Holocauste est importante à l’heure actuelle dans la société transculturelle de Suède.

Author Biography

Karin Filipsson

Karin Filipsson is a PhD student and teaches Swedish in the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington. Her PhD project explores postmigrant Swedish literature; particularly the connection between cultural memory and postmemory narratives.

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Published

2022-08-17

How to Cite

Filipsson, K. (2022). Shadows and Silences in Göran Rosenberg’s Memoir: Jewish Postmemory in the Swedish Welfare State. Scandinavian-Canadian Studies, 29, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.29173/scancan223