Proof of Life: A Discussion Of Dori Laub's “Traumatic Shutdown of Narrative And Symbolization”

Since the late 1960s and early 1970s a genre of nonfiction literature has emerged—first person narratives about bearing witness to horror. The authors tell how they survived massive genocidal trauma. This can be seen in the work of Terrence Des Pres who described in detail a certain kind of person that he called a survivor, one with singular skills that permit him to carry on in the face of catastrophic life-threatening events. This literature gained in popularity through the works of Primo Levi (1986), Alexander Solzhenytsin (1963), Yevgeny Kogon , and Jacobo Timmerman (1987). It is characterized by an obsessive attention to detail by a narrator writing in the first person. At times it is repetitive, and seemingly has too much memory for the reader to absorb, but not more memory than the narrator has to offer (Zuckerman, 1993). It is as if the executive editing capacity of the narrator is somewhat lacking.

At times the text is so graphic that readers cannot help but feel they are invading the author's privacy, and at other times that the author is invading the reader's privacy. The author bears witness and gives testimony. In contrast to the vivid details, there are also gaps in the narration due to a traumatic loss of memory. At times, a glaring lack of affect accompanies vivid scenes of sadness. It is as if the feelings have been replaced by abundant detail. It is not uncommon for the reader to become uncannily overwhelmed by a sense of intrusive, claustrophobic anxiety from within the self. These stories evoke powerful and passionate responses in the reader, who can be awe-inspired by the courage of the author who reaches out from hell, using the beauty and civility of words to engage him. The authors are using narration in an attempt to transform unspeakable atrocity into mentionable tragedy. In doing so, they evoke powerful empathic reactions in their readers. These writings have addressed such trauma as the Nazi Holocaust, Russian slave labor camps or Gulags,