From the past to the future through literature: the motif of secrecy in Holocaust literature for children

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper examines children's Holocaust literature as a mechanism for dealing with a traumatic past. The study's corpus includes 131 books, in which secrecy is a central motif. In 51 of these books, hiding is an essential part of the protagonist’s secret. The research approach was qualitative, employing both hermeneutic and content analysis of these texts. Three literary devices were revealed, each of which represents a principal component of the literary construct. These literary devices shape the secrecy-theme, and enable the processing to the traumatic past functions as a tool for distinguishing and distancing the present from the traumatic event.