Copyright © 2026 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

@article{194019,
        author = {Cybele Aishwarya},
        title = {Reconstructing the Past: Transgenerational Trauma in Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything Is Illuminated},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {10},
        pages = {2485-2489},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=194019},
        abstract = {Through innovative narrative structure Jonathan Safran Foer explores about transgenerational trauma in his debut novel, Everything is Illuminated (2002). He tries to bring out the traumatic condition faced by his characters. Jonathan describes his journey to Ukraine in search of the woman, Augustine, who save his grandfather from the Holocaust. While doing so he simultaneously presents a fictionalized history of his ancestral shtetl, Trachimbrod. Readers can understand that through this dual narrative approach he explains about the traumatic memory that remains through many generations, tormenting their memory and which has a great impact in shaping their identity and relationships and most importantly the storytelling itself.  Through this novel, he tries to bring out the truth that trauma is not merely a historical event but a living presence, haunts the memory and which is passed from generation to generation. His grandfather’s suicide has a great impact on him indirectly and feels inexplicably bound to confront. Same as his Ukrainian guide Alex and Alex’s grandfather also carry the same type of complicity, even though they belong to different generations. Through these characters, Jonathan tries to reveal how trauma affects both victims and the bystanders.  The writer’s fragmented narrative style mirrors the disorganized nature of traumatic memory. His way of storytelling becomes a means for transmitting trauma and a great method of working through it.  The devastation of Trachimbrod and erasure of its inhabitants completely represents the historical massacre leaving a deep scar in the memory of many generations. They try to reconstruct identity from fragments and absences.  Eventually, Everything is Illuminated discusses about transgenerational trauma where complete healing remains subtle. Through this storytelling technique, the author brings out the means of bearing witness, preserving it in the memory, and also tries to create a connection between the trauma caused within families, communities and history itself.},
        keywords = {Trauma, Holocaust, identity, generations, history.},
        month = {March},
        }