The Second World War and the representation of the child-soldier in Ralf Rothmann’s "Im Frühling Sterben" (2015) and Biyi Bandele’s "Burma Boy" (2007)
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Date
2016
Authors
Oni, Olurotimi Kehinde
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Abstract
Recently, narrating the experience of the underage soldier in the Second World War has become a major part of the discourses about the Second World War. Particularly, an empathetic approach to the experience of the underage soldier during the war is a new means of understanding the war. This thesis examines this development in two novels comparing and contrasting the German and the African collective memories of the war: Ralf Rothmann’s "Im Frühling Sterben" (2015) and Biyi Bandele’s "Burma Boy" (2006). Whereas, the thesis can show differences in how the child soldier topic contributes to each cultural memory of the war, e.g. it allows for the entry of the West African story of the war into public discourse, the child soldier topic links both discourses by emphasizing universal human tendencies in war, which can be seen in concepts such as sympathy and empathy, guilt and responsibility, as well as multidirectional memory.
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Second World War, Child-soldier, Germany, Nigeria, Cultural memory, 21st century, Novel, Ralf Rothmann, Biyi Bandele