Familial Inquest: Building the Case against the Father in Évelyne Le Garrec's La Rive allemande de ma mémoire

Abstract

Évelyne Le Garrec's La Rive allemande de ma mémoire is what the author calls an ‘auto-reportage’ undertaken in the hopes of healing a lifetime of marginalization. Her mother's German heritage, combined with her collaborationist father's admiration of Hitler's Nationalist Socialism, meant that her self-image was intertwined with les années noires. Through historical documents and interviews with people who knew her father, Le Garrec gathers ‘evidence’ in an effort that resembles a coroner's inquest, thereby bringing to light a multi-generational trauma. Using recent criticism on postmemory and trauma testimony, I examine how Le Garrec's parents' trajectories determine her own.