“Living Dead” motif in the trauma dramaturgy by Gintaras Grajauskas and José Sanchis Sinisterra

Abstract

These texts, written after the end of ideological regimes, offer insight into how contemporary literature conveys the complex experiences of the past and their impact on culture. Dramaturgy is a particularly suitable type of literature for developing a narrative of cultural trauma, as the trauma depicted is always linked to current issues. Dramas, like other traumatic texts, are characterized by certain motifs to convey the trauma in question. One such motif, the resurrected dead, is explored in this article by comparing contemporary Lithuanian and Spanish dramas that reveal the trauma caused by communist and fascist regimes. A comparative study allows us to highlight the manifestations of a culture influenced by the ideology of communism in literature and to identify what is typical of post-Soviet and post-Franco texts, and what is typical of European trauma drama in general. In this case, the motif of the resurrected dead was found to be a characteristic of both Lithuanian and Spanish drama, and its use adds drama, allows for a comparison between the past and the present, and can be a metaphor for collapse.