The witness indiscreet window: Primo Levi and surrealism after Auschwitz

Abstract

Primo Levi, renowned for his testimony of Nazi camp (If This Is a Man, 1947), published a collection of short stories entitled “Natural Tales”. He uses the surrealistic elements and plots to imagine the paradoxical consequences of human rationality. “Angelic Butterfly” relates to the theme of genetic experiments during Nazism and stands out for horror elements and drama. This tale’s re­lation to the post-Auschwitz reflection lies firstly in its structure which raises the question of the wit­ness; secondly, in the uncertain effect of the “imaginable” as it questions the fragile boundary be­tween real, possible and fantastic; thirdly in the narrative organization based on the connection of the ideas of trace, fragment and testimony. In my analysis I will expose how this text is marked by one of the most traumatic events of the twentieth century.