Two Stops on the Itinerary of Anne Frank’s Diary

What is it about?

In this article, I investigate the mnemonic 'travelling' of Anne Frank's diary into the American cultural scene of the 1950's and the Norwegian one of today. I read Philip Roth's novel The Ghost Writer (1979) and Kristian Klausen's Anne F. (2021). I discuss how Roth and Klausen exploit fictional invention, with an emphasis on parody in the first case and spatiality in the second, to reflect on the relationship between literature and history, and the distinctive quality that literature has of causing memories to travel.

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Why is it important?

It helps us understand how literature addresses transcultural remediations and inspires reflection on the very act of aesthetic transformation of memories. Both novels scrutinize how aesthetic articulations not only remember the past and work as memory agents, but may also independently reflect on the mental and mediative processes of remembrance.