The transference of memory within the works of Delbo and Modisane

Through close examination of two memoirs, Auschwitz and After by Charlotte Delbo and Blame me on History by Bloke Modisane, the human experience of surviving trauma proves to be the same regardless of class, race and sexual identity, and in effect, the very entity that connects all communities. This paper assesses the way in which trauma memory transfers from one state to another while shaping the intellectual oppressed identity and consequently, identity as a collective. While under the state of oppression, memory transfers from a survival mechanism to a mode of self-destruction until finally finding its way to the healing process through postmemory.