Taştemel, Ferhat. "Jorge Semprùn'un Yazmak ya da Yaşamak İsimli Eserinde Kötülüğün ve Ölümün Tasviri." IV. Uluslararası İspanyol ve Latin Amerika Edebiyatları, Kültürleri Sempozyumu. Ed. Julia Martínez González, E. Ceren Çerçioğlu, Melike Yazıcı Çangur, Monica Blanco Ruiz . Ankara: Ankara Üniversitesi Basımevi, 2022. 87-96.

The famous historian Hobsbawn defines the 20th century that witnessed two great wars and turmoil in almost all corners of the world as the age of extremes and states that this century was one of the bloodiest centuries in the history of the humankind and witnessed unprecedented calamities from the most dramatic famines to mass murders. According to Hobsbawn, the most terrifying events took place in the first half of the 20th century (26). Having lived in such an era, Jorge Semprùn first left his country due to civil war, was taken to Buchenwald Concentration Camp during World War II, and with the end of the war, “allegedly” regained his freedom. For Semprùn, his experiences in the Buchenwald Concentration Camp were difficult to forget, but even more difficult to narrate. However, he wants to write by benefiting from the fictional basis of literature to narrate, if it is possible, his experiences in the camp or at least to give it a try. His book titled Literature or Life starts with the memories of 11 April 1945 when the prisoners of Buchenwald were liberated from the concentration camp. Three soldiers from the allied Powers commissioned to evacuate the camp were gazing at Semprùn in astonishment. In front of the soldiers, Semprùn only feels that he is no different than a dead person. While he is thinking that he is a ghost, has been to hell and back and has literally gone through death; images, smells and sounds evoking the camp pile on. The image of the crematorium chimneys in the concentration camp that hosted a human slaughter within a splendid natural view, the unbearable burning smell and the sounds of birds that had just returned. For the author, what is difficult to explain in this respect is essentially the relationship of human with evilness. Furthermore, what needs to be handled skillfully not only for himself but also for all “survivors” is to narrate the life in the camp and to continue living despite the traumatic memory left behind the concentration camp.