“The Nonsense that You Cannot Write Poetry After Auschwitz”: Jean Améry, the Interrupted Writer

Abstract

This chapter explores a lesser-known part of Jean Améry: Améry the novelist. Why, after a promising attempt in prewar Vienna, did Améry only twice return to the fictional form, and to little success? The present chapter explores these questions by looking at Améry’s novel-essay Lefeu, as well as his unpublished novelistic fragments written in the immediate post-war period. The picture that emerges suggests an intimate relationship between the historical events that shattered Améry’s life, and his upended vocation. The chapter explores the implications of this connection, in particular, the close affinity it establishes between Améry and a philosopher he loved to hate: Theodor W. Adorno.