Linguistic Construction of Victim Identity in Edith Eva Eger's Holocaust Memoir: From Powerlessness to Agency
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This article investigates the linguistic mechanisms underlying the construction and transformation of victim identity in Edith Eva Eger's Holocaust memoir "The Choice: Embrace the Possible" (2017).Through systematic analysis of grammatical, lexical, and discursive features, the study examines how language reflects the psychological evolution from victimhood to agency, revealing language not merely as a descriptive medium for trauma but as a constitutive instrument of psychological recovery and identity reconstruction following catastrophic experience.The research identifies specific linguistic patterns characterizing traumatic narrative: systematic use of passive constructions, restricted modality, fragmented narrative structure, and lexical fields of fear and helplessness dominate Holocaust sections.At the cognitive level, victim identity is structured through deictic distancing, depersonalization, and temporal disorientation.Comparative analysis of Holocaust narrative and post-liberation sections demonstrates systematic linguistic shift: increased active voice usage, expanded modality, emergence of evaluative language, and metaphors of transformation.In Holocaust testimony, victim identity is constructed through grammatical erasure of agency ("I was taken," "we were stripped"), reflecting total powerlessness and lack of control over one's fate.Postliberation narrative exhibits a shift toward agentive self-positioning ("I choose," "I decide"), marking psychological recovery and restoration of subjectivity.Particular attention is devoted to the symbolic transformation of the ballerina motif: from passive objectification ("I was forced to dance for Mengele") to active self-determination ("Through dance, I found myself").The study applies Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to analyze transitivity, modality, and appraisal systems, integrating Paul Ricoeur's narrative identity theory, Cathy Caruth's trauma linguistics, and Deborah Cameron's feminist linguistics.The article emphasizes language's role in constituting psychological reality, demonstrating that grammatical choices function as mechanisms of identity reconstruction following catastrophic experience rather than mere stylistic preferences.Research findings have implications for trauma-informed therapeutic practice, Holocaust memory studies, and interdisciplinary studies at the intersection of linguistics, psychology, and Holocaust studies.The article offers a replicable methodology for analyzing other autobiographical trauma narratives, contributing to understanding of how survivors linguistically reconstitute subjectivity after genocidal violence.The research identifies specific linguistic patterns characterizing traumatic narrative: passive constructions, restricted modality, fragmented structure, and lexical fields of fear and helplessness dominate Holocaust sections.At the cognitive level, victim identity is structured through deictic distancing, depersonalization, and temporal disorientation.Comparative analysis of Holocaust narrative and post-liberation sections demonstrates systematic linguistic shift: increased active voice usage, expanded modality, emergence of evaluative language, and metaphors of transformation.The study applies Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) to analyze transitivity, modality, and appraisal systems, integrating narrative identity theory (Paul Ricoeur), trauma linguistics (Cathy Caruth), and feminist linguistics (Deborah Cameron).The article emphasizes language's role in constituting psychological reality, demonstrating that grammatical choices function as mechanisms of identity reconstruction following catastrophic experience rather than mere stylistic preferences.Research findings have implications for trauma-informed therapeutic practice, Holocaust memory studies, and interdisciplinary studies at the intersection of linguistics, psychology, and Holocaust studies.The article offers a replicable methodology for analyzing other autobiographical trauma narratives, contributing to understanding of how survivors linguistically reconstitute selfhood after genocidal violence.
Source: Вісник науки та освіти
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7142755673