Auschwitz as a Brand: Novels about the Holocaust in Retail Chain Stores

The article highlights the role of the narrative in modern Holocaust literature and distinguishes it from storytelling, which has dominated until recently. Moreover, the text analyzes the most prevalent approaches to narratives: quasi-fact-based novels and quasi-reportages. Analyzing the publishing market and the strong role of an author's brand, the article foregrounds that both genres apply to the new anthropological situation that genocide literature faces when sold in chain stores. Unlike "airport novel" or traditional popular literature, these are titles strongly tied to consumer habits, thus subject to the same market rituals as many other products. The article specifically analyzes novels by two popular Polish authors: Nina Majewska-Brown and Max Czornyj.