The role of literary allusions in Hélène Berr’s journal
https://doi.org/10.26907/2782-4756-2025-81-3-113-118
Abstract
The aspiring French writer Hélène Berr’s “Journal”, which she kept in 1942–1944, is one of the most expressive personal testimonies to the tragedy of the Holocaust. The article analyzes the semantic and structural features of the journal in which, on the one hand, the author’s biographical facts and psychological reactions are refracted in the prism of experiences prompted by reading literary works; on the other, they determine the sequence of their selection and interpretation, unfolding the tragic plot of her life. From the first page of the text, it is clear that Hélène Berr’s testimony cannot be separated from her literary interests. The author’s diary repeatedly refers to the works of French, English and Russian writers. The closest to Hélène Berr is John Keats, a romantic poet, the interest of her future undone dissertation. The life of the journal’s author becomes a text just like other people’s texts become the author’s life, mastered by her as metaphorical embodiments of her fate, thereby acting as a way of self-creation of the author’s “Self”. In 1942–1944, Berr became acutely aware of the gap between the usual form of life and the new inhuman reality that was increasingly penetrating everyday life. This awareness is refracted through literary works.
About the Author
D. V. DemianenkovaRussian Federation
Demianenkova Daria Viktorovna, graduate student,
48 Moika Embankment, St. Petersburg, 191186
References
1. Berr, H. (2017). Dnevnik. 1942–1944 [Journal. 1942–1944]. 224 p. Moscow, Al'bus korvus. (In Russian)
2. Lejeune, Ph. (2011). Le Journal d’Hélène Berr dans Bruno Curatolo et François Marcot, Ecrire sous l’Occupation: du non-constentement à la résistance, France-Belgique-Pologne, 1940-1945. 424 p. Rennes, Presses universitaires de Rennes. (In French)
3. Bracher, N. (2010). Éthique et esthétique dans le Journal d’Hélène Berr. No. 4, pp. 150–163. L’Esprit Créateur. (In French)
4. Martin du Gard, R. (1987). Sem'ya Tibo [The Thibaults]. Vol. 3, 736 p. Moscow, Pravda. (In Russian)
Review
For citations:
Demianenkova D.V. The role of literary allusions in Hélène Berr’s journal. Philology and Culture. 2025;(3):113-118. https://doi.org/10.26907/2782-4756-2025-81-3-113-118