«Auschwitz, I said to my wife, manifests itself to me in the image of a father»: Queer Approaches to Interpreting “Kaddish for an Unborn Child” by Imre Kertész

Abstract

In line with literary critical interpretations of Imre Kertész’s works as a series of interconnected texts, this study aims to enter into dialogue with Kertész’s novel Kaddish for an Unborn Child and analyze it as a continuation of his novel Fatelessness, where the decision of the protagonist «to continue my uncontinuable life» is elaborated on, and an alternative life path is conceived. Particular attention is paid to textual references to gender roles and identities by drawing on gender research and queer theory, in particular the concepts of queer negativity and queer time. Finally, the study makes a contribution to discussions on the intertextuality of Kaddish by drawing parallels between the novel and the play The Tragedy of Man by Imre Madách with regard to the question of fatherhood.