Narrating Wartime Rapes and Trauma in a Woman in Berlin

In her article Narrating Wartime Rapes and Trauma in A Woman in Berlin Agatha Schwartz examines the reception of the controversial wartime diary published anonymously first in 1954 in English translation. The book is a narrative representation of the mass rapes committed by Red Army soldiers during the siege of Berlin in 1945. Schwartz argues that A Woman in Berlin\u27s portrayal of the rapes and the rapists, although not unbiased, leaves room for the initiation of the healing of trauma and forgiveness. Schwartz reflects on how life writing, particularly by women about a difficult chapter of German history can contribute to memorialization of collective trauma outside the frame of national victimhood and defeated masculinity

Narrating the Danube Swabian Identity and Experience from Women's Perspective

This article uses selected memoirs by American women who came from the Danube Swabian minority in present-day Hungary and Serbia (former Yugoslavia). The entire ethnic group was expelled from the region at the end of World War II. All five memoirs were published in the new millennium. This article examines how the narratives frame memories of a prewar happy childhood from young women’s perspective. The childhood memories are presented in stark contrast to the authors’ postwar experiences of expulsion, sexual violence, genocide, flight, and the eventual building of a new life in a new country. All narratives document the brutality with which the Danube Swabian communities were destroyed, particularly in Yugoslavia. Nostalgic overtones about a lost homeland intersect with a lasting feeling of being atopos—i.e., “of no place,” in exile and in the diaspora. While most of the narratives emphasize Danube Swabian victimhood, one narrative stands out in its attempt to create a more multidirectional approach to memory about World War II. [email protected]

Partner in fat metabolism: role of KLFs in fat burning and reproductive behavior

The abnormalities caused by excess fat accumulation can result in pathological conditions which are linked to several interrelated diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and obesity. This set of conditions, known as metabolic syndrome, is a global pandemic of enormous medical, economic, and social concern affecting a significant portion of the world’s population. Although genetics, physiology and environmental components play a major role in the onset of disease caused by excessive fat accumulation, little is known about how or to what extent each of these factors contributes to it. The worm, Caenorhabditis elegans offers an opportunity to study disease related to metabolic disorder in a developmental system that provides anatomical and genomic simplicity relative to the vertebrate animals and is an excellent eukaryotic genetic model which enable us to answer the questions concerning fat accumulation which remain unresolved. The stored triglycerides (TG) provide the primary source of energy during periods of food deficiency. In nature, lipid stored as TGs are hydrolyzed into fatty acids which are broken down through β-oxidation to yield acetyl-CoA. Our recent study suggests that a member of C. elegans Krüppel-like factor, klf-3 regulates lipid metabolism by promoting FA β-oxidation and in parallel may contribute in normal reproduction and fecundity. Genetic and epigenetic factors that influence this pathway may have considerable impact on fat related diseases in human. Increasing number of studies suggest the role of mammalian KLFs in adipogenesis. This functional conservation should guide our further effort to explore C. elegans as a legitimate model system for studying the role of KLFs in many pathway components of lipid metabolism

Creating a “Vocabulary of Rupture” Following WWII Sexual Violence in Hungarian Women Writers’ Narratives

In this paper, Schwartz analyses three narratives by Hungarian women writers— Alaine Polcz’s Asszony a fronton (A Wartime Memoir), Judit Kováts’s Megtagadva [‘Denied’] and Fanni Gyarmati Miklósné Radnóti’s Napló [‘Diary’]—with regard to their representation of the rapes of Hungarian women by Red Army soldiers during WWII. Schwartz examines to what degree the rapes are positioned as a “rupture” in the first person narrators’ lives, and how the three narratives offer elements of a “vocabulary of rupture” (Butalia 2000) so as to work through traumatic memory and thus come to terms with both the short-term and long-term effects of trauma and social stigmatization. Even though the narratives eschew a black-and-white portrayal of the rapists, an orientalist stereotying is nonetheless present. Schwartz concludes with Avery Gordon that these and other rape narratives can be read as part of the process of settling the ghosts of a still unresolved past violence yet beyond simple ideological binaries along the victim-perpetrator line

Csobánka, Zsuzsa. 2013: Majdnem Auschwitz ('Almost Auschwitz'). Budapest: Kalligram. 279 pp.

Csobánka, Zsuzsa. 2013: Majdnem Auschwitz ('Almost Auschwitz'). Budapest: Kalligram. 279 pp.   Reviewed by Agatha Schwartz, University of Ottawa, Canad

Zsadányi, Edit. 2015: Gendered Narrative Subjectivity: Some Hungarian and American Women Writers. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. 149 pp.

Zsadányi, Edit. 2015: Gendered Narrative Subjectivity: Some Hungarian and American Women Writers. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. 149 pp

Not Supposed to be Born? : Narratives of Impossible Motherhood and Children Born of War Rape in Germany and Bosnia and Herzegovina

Drawing from two published literary narratives, the German wartime diary by Anonymous, A Woman in Berlin, and the novel based on women’s testimonies of war rape and unwanted pregnancies in Bosnia by Slavenka Drakulić, S.: A Novel About the Balkans, in addition to published testimonies and unpublished interview data by now young adult (in the case of Bosnia) and elderly (in the case of Germany) children born of war rape (CBOWR), this article examines the intergenerational impact of wartime sexual violence. Applying feminist narrative analysis, the authors demonstrate the situation of “impossible motherhood” and experiences of children who were not supposed to be born. The article focuses on the narrative process marked by trauma but also by agency and resilience so as to challenge dominant stories of war and unwanted pregnancy following rape in armed conflict. The authors propose a resolution of tensions around the ethnic identity of CBOWR along their maternal lineage rather than the imposition of the paternal heritage of the enemy. Des enfants qui n’auraient pas dû naître ? Récits de grossesses forcées, de maternités impossibles et d’enfants issus de viol en temps de guerre en Allemagne et en Bosnie-Herzégovine Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons aux conséquences intergénérationnelles de la violence sexuelle dans des zones de conflit. L’étude repose sur deux publications littéraires : le journal intime allemand Une femme à Berlin, journal de guerre publié anonymement, et le roman de Slavenka Drakulić, S. : un roman au sujet des Balkans, qui s’inspire de témoignages de viols et de grossesses forcées en temps de guerre de femmes bosniaques. Nous utilisons aussi des témoignages publiés et des données non publiées d’entretiens avec des enfants issus de viol en temps de guerre en Allemagne et en Bosnie-Herzégovine. Adoptant une perspective féministe, nous explorons les enjeux de la « maternité impossible » ainsi que l’expérience des enfants qui n’auraient jamais dû naître. Nous observons que les processus narratifs sont marqués par le traumatisme, mais également par l’agentivité et la résilience face à l’adversité. Cette analyse remet en question l’opinion dominante sur le viol et les grossesses forcées en temps de guerre. En conclusion, nous proposons une solution aux tensions identitaires ethniques et nationales des enfants nés de viol en temps de guerre, en privilégiant la lignée maternelle plutôt que l’héritage paternel, souvent source de stigmatisation

The Decision-Making Process of Genetically At-Risk Couples Considering Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis: Initial Findings from a Grounded Theory Study

Exponential growth in genomics has led to public and private initiatives worldwide that have dramatically increased the number of procreative couples who are aware of their ability to transmit genetic disorders to their future children. Understanding how couples process the meaning of being genetically at risk for their procreative life lags far behind the advances in genomic and reproductive sciences. Moreover, society, policy makers, and clinicians are not aware of the experiences and nuances involved when modern couples are faced with using Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD). The purpose of this study was to discover the decision-making process of genetically at-risk couples as they decide whether to use PGD to prevent the transmission of known single-gene or sex-linked genetic disorders to their children. A qualitative, grounded theory design guided the study in which 22 couples (44 individual partners) from the USA, who were actively considering PGD, participated. Couples were recruited from June 2009 to May 2010 from the Internet and from a large PGD center and a patient newsletter. In-depth semi-structured interviews were completed with each individual partner within the couple dyad, separate from their respective partner. We discovered that couples move through four phases (Identify, Contemplate, Resolve, Engage) of a complex, dynamic, and iterative decision-making process where multiple, sequential decisions are made. In the Identify phase, couples acknowledge the meaning of their at-risk status. Parenthood and reproductive options are explored in the Contemplate phase, where 41% of couples remained for up to 36 months before moving into the Resolve phase. In Resolve, one of three decisions about PGD use is reached, including: Accepting, Declining, or Oscillating. Actualizing decisions occur in the Engage phase. Awareness of the decision-making process among genetically at-risk couples provides foundational work for understanding critical processes and aids in identifying important gaps for intervention and future research

Characterizing Longitudinal Antibody Responses in Recovered Individuals Following COVID-19 Infection and Single-Dose Vaccination: A Prospective Cohort Study

Background: Investigating antibody titers in individuals who have been both naturally infected with SARS-CoV-2 and vaccinated can provide insight into antibody dynamics and correlates of protection over time. Methods: Human coronavirus (HCoV) IgG antibodies were measured longitudinally in a prospective cohort of qPCR-confirmed, COVID-19 recovered individuals (k = 57) in British Columbia pre- and post-vaccination. SARS-CoV-2 and endemic HCoV antibodies were measured in serum collected between Nov. 2020 and Sept. 2021 (n = 341). Primary analysis used a linear mixed-effects model to understand the effect of single dose vaccination on antibody concentrations adjusting for biological sex, age, time from infection and vaccination. Secondary analysis investigated the cumulative incidence of high SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike IgG seroreactivity equal to or greater than 5.5 log10 AU/mL up to 105 days post-vaccination. No re-infections were detected in vaccinated participants, post-vaccination by qPCR performed on self-collected nasopharyngeal specimens. Results: Bivariate analysis (complete data for 42 participants, 270 samples over 472 days) found SARS-CoV-2 spike and RBD antibodies increased 14–56 days post-vaccination (p < 0.001) and vaccination prevented waning (regression coefficient, B = 1.66 [95%CI: 1.45–3.46]); while decline of nucleocapsid antibodies over time was observed (regression coefficient, B = −0.24 [95%CI: −1.2-(−0.12)]). A positive association was found between COVID-19 vaccination and endemic human β-coronavirus IgG titer 14–56 days post vaccination (OC43, p = 0.02 & HKU1, p = 0.02). On average, SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike IgG concentration increased in participants who received one vaccine dose by 2.06 log10 AU/mL (95%CI: 1.45–3.46) adjusting for age, biological sex, and time since infection. Cumulative incidence of high SARS-CoV-2 spike antibodies (>5.5 log10 AU/mL) was 83% greater in vaccinated compared to unvaccinated individuals. Conclusions: Our study confirms that vaccination post-SARS-CoV-2 infection provides multiple benefits, such as increasing anti-spike IgG titers and preventing decay up to 85 days post-vaccination