History and Collective Memory
Abstract
Giwi Margwelashwili (1927-2020), a German-born Georgian writer, and Herta Müller (1957), a Romanian-born German novelist, lived in different cultural spaces under totalitarian regimes. Margwelashwili and Müller demonstrate the ways in which totalitarianism shapes individual human life and consciousness. Individual and collective memory are key concepts in their writing.
The present paper focuses on the life in concentration and labor camps and the tragedy of generations under totalitarian regimes as depicted in the texts of Margwelashwili and Müller. The study takes into account the literary-aesthetic views of Margwelashwili and Müller, shaping the constellation of imagery, structure and narrative style of their fiction.