In search of lost memory: Preservation and ruination in the works of Jorge Semprún

Abstract

This article explores Jorge Semprún’s wish, first expressed in 1963, to see Buchenwald consumed by nature. It contextualises this desire first in relation to Semprún’s wider corpus and the distinction that he draws between being on either the ‘inside’ or the ‘outside’ of the traumatic experience, and second in relation to Charlotte Delbo’s articulation of the difference between ‘looking’ and ‘seeing’. Through this exploration, this article demonstrates the evolution of Semprún’s thought and argues that both his original desire and the eventual contrary stance that he adopts, are equally symptomatic of his humanist beliefs, his commitment to the preservation and transference of memory and his desire for an ethical and empathetic approach to the site of trauma, the politics of remembrance and the ruins of memory.