Whose trauma is it? A trauma-theoretical reading of The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

This article focuses on the depiction of perpetrator’s trauma in Marcus Zusak's novel The Book Thief (2006). The novel depicts a variety of trauma concepts, with an emphasis on the changing discourse between the victim and the perpetrator, as it attempts to confront the effects of both Holocaust memory and German perpetrator trauma. The article suggests that the gradual passing of time after the traumatic events of WWII not only enables a certain return to the very foundations of Caruthian trauma but may also suggest a new direction towards coming to terms with, resolving or healing, the trauma.