A Past That Never Was: Memory, Nostalgia, and Identity in Contemporary German Post-Migrant Literature

• In Event: Our Past Is All but Fragments: Collective Memory in Contemporary World Literature by Writers of Post-Soviet Origin

Abstract

This paper explores how contemporary German post-migrant writers Lena Gorelik (Die Listensammlerin / The List Collector, 2013) and Katja Petrowskaja (Vielleicht Esther / Maybe Esther, 2014) reconstruct a Soviet past they never personally experienced, engaging with collective memory through imagination, documentation, and narrative. Their works blur the line between history and memory, bringing to life childhood aspirations, school routines, and family traditions with compelling authenticity. By examining their approaches, this paper examines how literature can recreate lost histories, evoke nostalgia, and shape cultural identity within the new society the protagonists must navigate.

Author

• Natalia Managarova, U of Auckland (New Zealand)