Historical memory emerges through dialogue between one generation and the next. But what happens to this dialogue if the children speak a different language to their parents? Literary autobiography offers a space to explore the potential forms of memory in the aftermath of inter-generational linguistic change triggered by violent histories, such as the Holocaust, the Second World War, or imperialism. Through an exploration of the autobiographies of the Russian-American writer, Vladimir Nabokov, the French novelist and poet, Georges Perec, and the Caribbean author, Patrick Chamoiseau, Cooper offers a reflection on the role of migration and linguistic change in shaping twentieth and twenty-first century approaches to memory.

Sara-Louise Cooper is a Stipendiary Lecturer in French at Oriel College, Oxford.