Everyday Existence in Anna Seghers’ Novels
In preparation for my Black Expatriate Writers in France class last spring, I read Nicolas Hewitt’s Wicked City: The Many Cultures of Marseille and came across a reference to Anna Seghers’ novel Transit. Hewitt’s book deals with Marseille’s history during the nineteenth century to the present, not spending much time on specific literary works; however, he does provide a few pages Seghers’ novel in relation to refugees escaping the Nazis in Marseille, the port on the edge of Europe. Hewitt’s discussion, along with reading Julie Orringer’s The Flight Portfolio, led me to Seghers’ novel, and after reading it, I knew I wanted to teach it at some point. That is why I’m including it in my syllabus for this fall.
This summer, as I prepare for my fall course, I decided to read Seghers’ The Seventh Cross before rereading Transit, and as I read each of these novels, I kept seeing the ways that Seghers, amidst all of the turmoil and upheaval of the Nazi regime, continually highlights the mundane nature of existence and the ways that life continues amidst so much violence. These moments remind me of the way that Helen Fehervary writes about Seghers’ importance, especially in this moment. Feherevary points out that Seghers’ anti-fascist writings “evoke the spirit of her time in ways that most histories and documentaries cannot” and that in order “to know how people seeking justice…
