Published 2026-06-30
Keywords
- World War II,
- literary tradition,
- contemporary fiction,
- realism,
- Erlebnis
How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2026 Alberto Casadei
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
This contribution updates the essay Novels of Finisterre: Narrating War and the Problems of Realism, published in 2000. Over the past twenty-five years, many paradigms governing the representation of the Second World War have changed, making it necessary to address works such as Austerlitz by Winfried G. Sebald, Europe Central by William T. Vollmann, The Kindly Ones (Les Bienveillantes) by Jonathan Littell, as well as the graphic novels by Art Spiegelman. Drawing on these new investigations, the essay identifies significant shifts in the conception of literary realism, examined also in relation to the writings of Fredric Jameson and others. It furthermore offers an updated overview of the relationship between the written and the visual, with extensive references to more recent film production.