KMT 2021 nr 1 Download PDF

A look at Nelly Sachs’s work – the literary representation of trauma

Cite: , Ein Blick auf das Werk von Nelly Sachs – die literarische Darstellung des Traumas, "Kultura - Media - Teologia", 2021( 44) nr 1, s. 42-59.

DOI: 10.21697/kmt.44.3

The Nobel Prize in Literature 1966 was avarded Nelly Sachs – a German poet, who has lived in Sweden since the war – for her outstanding lyrical and dramatic writing. The main topics of her literary works were: the Holocaust, the suffering of the Jewish people during World War II and also trauma and the fear of evil. Nelly Sachs was born in Berlin 1891, where she lived most of her life. Early in the war she managed to escape and as refugees arrived with her mother 1940 in Stockholm. She was active as poetess, writer, dramatist and translator. Her literary works were popularised in Germany in the late 1950s. She won numerous literary awards. However, after Nelly Sachs’ death in 1970, her literary work became almost forgotten. The Noble Prize winner was the voice of the past and of the Jewish people. She spoke for the dead and for these, who suffered during the Holocaust. Her way of artistic expression of trauma is unique and outstanding.

About authors

Agnieszka Reszka

ORCID: 0000-0002-7340-6525