著者
クマイ 恭子 Kumai Kyoko
出版者
名古屋大学大学院人文学研究科図書・論集委員会
雑誌
名古屋大学人文学フォーラム (ISSN:24332321)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.3, pp.305-319, 2020-03-31

Previous studies of Number the Stars have centered on the protagonist, Annemarie: as a story of her bravery; her crossing of the conventional border between adults and children due to the unusual situation of the German occupation and ensuing Danish activities to save Danish-Jews; or her story-telling within the story. This paper sheds lights on the other protagonists as well as Annemarie and explores the reading of the recovery processes from trauma incurred by Annemarie's father and mother, and Peter, the fiancé of her older sister, Lise. Lise and Peter were members of the Danish resistance sabotaging German assets; Lise died from being struck by a German military car when she was seen running away from a raid on a resistance meeting. Her death caused trauma symptoms in Annemarie's parents and Peter evidenced by their inability of "speaking the name, Lise." This paper regards the parents' ignorance of how Lise died as another source of trauma. Another focus of this study is how the traumatic symptoms of Annemarie, the main driving forces in the development of the story, are eased. First, this paper defines the terminologies used in the exploration: trauma, remembering, reliving, mourning. After defining the basic concepts and terms, this paper explores how these processes work in the mother, father, and Peter, with the help of Annemarie's brave acts in helping several Danish-Jews escape the Nazis, including Annemarie's best friend Ellen, serving as the double of the deceased Lise, to lead to the integration of the traumatic past; Ellen triggers the remembrance of Lise in the parents. The process of healing involves how the unspeakable death of Lise has become speakable. The paper also probes how the traumatic symptoms of Annemarie brought by the death of Lise and subsequent silence of her parents are healed. This paper distinguishes trauma from traumatic.