Death, suicide and mourning in Herta Müller’s Herztier. Aktionsgruppe Banat and the Securitate
Death, suicide and mourning in Herta Müller’s Herztier. Aktionsgruppe Banat and the Securitate

Summary/Abstract: This essay proposes a close analysis of Herta Müllers novel Herztier, translated into English as The Land of Green Plums, a story of four friends who live in a terrifying society that persecutes them. The article focuses firstly on the notions of death and suicide the way they appear in the novel and secondly zooms out on the reality of communist Romania in the 1980s and the dissident German minority group called Aktionsgruppe Banat. The essay ends with a discussion on violence, mourning and politics the way Judith Butler sees these terms and a comparison of Herta Müllers novel with Assia Djebar’s Algerian White. The essay finally considers the novels function in society.

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