Perpetrators and Victims Blurred in the Soundscape of Wartime Mass Rallies: The Third-Generation Perspective in Marcel Beyer’s The Karnau Tapes and Kateřina Tučková’s Gerta

Abstract

This article investigates the use of sound at mass rallies during World War II, a topic that has not been explored in depth. By using the concepts of sound memory and soundscape, the article examines how contemporary literature represents past war events, specifically focusing on how national groups and individuals are portrayed in relation to other people, places, events, and axiological systems. The analysis centres on the perspectives of third-generation authors, allowing for a deeper understanding of how the identities of perpetrators and victims are constructed and negotiated differently at the collective and individual levels. To achieve this, the article examines two literary works, Marcel Beyer’s German novel The Karnau Tapes and Kateřina Tučková’s Czech novel Gerta, using a combination of sound studies and literary studies. The article argues that the sensory aspects of memory and oblivion can shed light on the soundscape created by mass rallies during wartime and how this has shaped Czech and German cultural memory. However, even the third generation is not immune to the pressure of silence on certain issues, dictated by a collective need to preserve and consolidate a particular image of the nation.