NARRATIVE STRATEGIES FOR EXPRESSING THE PROBLEMS OF BERNHARD SCHLINK'S POST-TOTALITARIAN NOVEL «THE READER»

Abstract

The article examines Bernhard Schlink's novel The Reader in the context of the latest trends in contemporary literary studies, in particular, the issues of memory, trauma and moral responsibility. The aim of the article is to analyse the narrative strategies used by the author to reflect the main themes of the novel, namely the culture of memory, problematisation of historical guilt, moral responsibility and personal choice in difficult life conditions. Particular attention is paid to the interaction of individual and collective memory, historical responsibility and moral comprehension of the past. The article addresses issues that reflect such problems of the society of that time as the justification of a crime through obedience to orders, relationships between people with a large age difference, and illiteracy as a metaphor for ignorance and shame. The work reveals psychological portraits of the main characters, Michael Berg and Hanna Schmitz, which help the author to examine the issue of intergenerational dialogue in German society after the Second World War, exploring how the story of a couple in love reflects the attempt of the wartime generation to comprehend the Nazi past. Particular attention is paid to the issues of guilt, morality, shame, and redemption that run through the novel. The paper demonstrates how individual moral dilemmas reflect a broader collective experience, as well as how the novel's narrative strategies contribute to a deeper rethinking of historical events. The article identifies the following narrative strategies: “I-narrator” (the novel is written in the first person, on behalf of the protagonist), “retrospective narration” (the protagonist tells about events that happened in the past), “chronological division” (three parts of the novel corresponding to three stages of the protagonist's life), “intertextuality” (the novel contains references to literary works) and “linguistic restraint” (the language of the novel is restrained, without emotionality).