The Search For Identity In The Exile-a Narrative And Thematic Analysis Of The Novel Shanghai Fern Von Wo From Ursula Krechel

The purpose of this paper is to explore the identity problem of the Jewish migrants in the novel Shanghai fern von wo, which is written by Ursula Krechel, the winner of the German Book Prize 2012. This paper attempts to analyze the narrative techniques and the Jewish exile theme in the novel.In the context of globalization, the cultural exchanges between different countries and different nations are getting more and more frequently. The identity problem in the cultural conflicts attracts more and more writers and scholars. As a nation "without root", the identity topic of the Jewish is remarkable. Shanghai fern von wo panoramicly describes the living circumstances of the 18,000 Jewish migrants during the Nazi time.The core issues of this paper are:How does the novel combine historical facts and fictional elements? Which narrative techniques are used in the novel? Does the identity of the Jewish migrants change from the beginning of the exile to the end? What affects the identity of the Jewish migrants and how?According to the questions above, the second part of the paper introduces the theories of identity, with focus on the cultural psychology of Jerome Bruner, which emphasizes the influence of culture to one’s personal identity. The cultural memory is dependent on four types of media. Therefore, the memory media listed by Aleida Assmann is being presented. The third part of the paper contains a brief introduction of the writer and the novel.The fourth part of the paper is an analysis of the narrative techniques in the novel devided in two aspects:the relationship between reality and fiction and point of view. On one hand, this paper takes a close look on how the writer has achieved a real and vivid picture of the exile life, based upon the historical documents and an audio tape from the novel’s protagonist Lazarus. On the other hand, the paper analyzes the narrative perspective in the novel:the migrant Lazarus narrates in a "First person narrative situation", the writer narrates in an "authorial narrative situation" and in a "figural narrative situation". This multiple perspective enriches the narrative levels.The fifth part discusses the identity problem of migrants. Firstly, the paper tries to explore the identity changes of migrants during the exile, as well as the factors that influence the identity crisis, the loss of identity and identity reconstruction. The joblessness of the migrants leads directly to their identity crisis as well as the loss of cultural traditions, which can only end up with the loss of identity. After the war, the migrants try to reconstruct their identity, but the only possible orientation for them is Europe. Still, the question, where their real hometown is, remains a problem. We can say that the migrants finally fail in their search for identity. Not only because of the realistic factors during the War Time, but rather due to the decisive role of the culture. The memory media are key symbols which reflect the identity. Therefore, the second part for the analysis of identity focusses the aspect of memory media, which have been listed by Aleida Assmann. It includes four memory media:place, script, picture and body, with focus on the place.The conclusion of the paper gives a panoramic picture of the situation of the Jewish migrants in Shanghai and their identity problems and points out how the writer uses narrative techniques to make the reader feel with the novel’s characters. With the help of literary theories, the questions that have been listed at the beginning of the paper are clearly answered.