Heffernan, Valerie
(2017)
Dementia narratives in contemporary German
women’s writing.
Journal of Romance Studies, 17 (3).
pp. 361-378.
ISSN 1473-3536
Abstract
As the population ages and dementia becomes more commonplace, we have
seen a corresponding increase in the frequency and popularity of works of
fiction about this illness. This article looks at two recent German novels that
feature characters with dementia, Katharina Hagena’s Der Geschmack von
Apfelkernen [The Taste of Apple Seeds] (2008) and Kathrin Gerlof’s Alle Zeit
[‘All the Time’] (2009). I explore how literary texts can encourage readers to
engage with the human side of this dementia by allowing them to imagine
what it might feel like to care for a loved one with this debilitating illness
or to develop dementia themselves. I further examine how this insight can
be made even more potent when the writer incorporates particular narrative
strategies and stylistic devices that replicate the confusion and disorientation
that are central to dementia. Ultimately, I make a case for the particular
role that fictional literature can play in promoting empathy for people with
dementia and their caregivers.
Repository Staff Only(login required)
 |
Item control page |
Downloads per month over past year
Origin of downloads
