A postgenocide generation can access history only through representation and their and others' imaginations hence, as those generations then take on the task of further enhancing the representation, the question arises of how their representationsĪffect a new memory and enhance or over-power the history closest to the event. a reality that, without being reality, being distinct and alternative, asserts itself, in the case of successful narratives, due to its power of persuasion, as the real reality, the authentic, secret reality, reflected in literature' (Rebasa-Soraluz and Chaddick, 1997). In the words of distinguished Latin American writer Mario Vargas Llosa, author of Conversación en La Catedral (1969), and La fiesta del Chivo (2000), among other works, 'The originality of a narrative lies not in what it portrays of the real world but rather in what it reforms or adds to it. It lies within the power of literature to complement, enhance, and affect the memory and understanding of history. Holocaust author Henri Raczymow writes empty spaces into the narrative, reinforcing the idea that, although the lack of memory cannot be reconstituted, forgetting is not an option. Second generation Holocaust writers David Grossman ( See Under: Love, 1986 English translation, 1989) and Spiegelman ( Maus, 1986) enunciate in their writings the fragmentation of self-identity, and the acknowledgement that complete answers will be found. The inability to heal the wound increases with time, and second or later generations who inherit trauma without personal memory cannot fill the void with knowledge and experience.

In the case of Philip Roth, representation of the void takes the form of ghosts who embody fantastic revivifications of genocide victims and give the writer an opportunity to return to Bruno Schulz and Anne Frank's thoughts, voice, and vision.

Genocide fiction gives voice to mute victims muteness also emerges as an essential behavioral element aimed at enunciating the use of silence as a method of resistance, and serves to vocalize the speechlessness with which atrocities are remembered. By providing the latter a voice and enabling it to echo throughout the pages of the narrative, the extensive 'imaginative intercession into historical reality-the murdered man's life, fate, and feelings, the tragic indignity and the superfluous cruelty of his suffering' counteracts the victim's 'radical muteness' consigned to him by his assassins (Horowitz, 1997, p. She shows in her fictional rendering 'A Spring Morning' that fiction can serve to deliver multiple perspectives: Her work renders, on the one hand, a surviving eyewitness report, and on the other, the perspective of its murdered victim. Ida Fink, recipient of the Anne Frank Prize for Literature in 1985 and the Yad Vashem Prize in 1995, is the author of A Scrap of Time and Other Stories (1987), The Journey (1992), and Traces (1997), among other works. 24), genocide fiction bridges history, memory, and imagination. Empowered by an agenda to come to terms with the 'unmasterable past,' to search for meaning, and to reveal 'something truthful-about the fragmented self under siege, about memory, about trauma-that may otherwise elude expression' (Horowitz, 1997, p. Holocaust survivors Anna Langfus, Piotr Rawicz, and Elie Wiesel opted for fiction because it facilitates detachment from suffering and allows for the creation of a new personal and collective identity.

59) while the memory is still fresh, and decide on more creative storytelling as atrocities move further into the past. Survivor authors may write memoirs and histories before turning to fiction in an effort 'to establish the historicity of the subject before admitting it to the imagination' (Dekoven, 1980, p. Temporal distance from the historical events has been seen to affect the decision to undertake historical fiction rather than memoirs or autobiographical representation as a medium for communication and reflection about atrocities. Genocide fiction is informed by an effort to promote remembrance, to give voice, to raise awareness, and to deepen a public's understanding of atrocities. Motivations for genocide fiction include the search for meaning of an actuality that is not accessible, and the search for a personal and collective identity of first or later generation survivors as part of an effort of coming to terms with or working through the past. Genocide fiction is written for a reason and with an agenda in mind.

Ida fink spring mornings