The hangman’s testimony

From memory to resentment in As Benevolentes

Abstract

A New Yorker writer that writes a novel in French. A Jewish descendance that twist and turns in a narrative told through the eyes of a nazi officer. We invert the roles in Les Bienveillantes (2006), by Jonathan Littell. We intend to evidence how the studies of memory of a former nazi officer can influence the history of the Second World War, tying and untying knots between memory, history and ficcion. The author brings the history of the human malice camouflaged by the thick robes of war offices. Thereupon, far beyond the studies of the
testimony literature, Jonathan Littell allows his novel to be discussed in various topics. In this work, we will refer to authors such as Seligmann-Silva (2003), Halbwachs (1990), Assmann (2011), Seixas (2004), among others.
Keywords: Memory. History. Testimonial Literature. Resentment. Les Bienveillantes.