Om å bære dødens tyngde : fotografier og visuelle fortellestrategier i Gaute Heivolls roman Himmelarkivet

Author's version of an article in the journal: Edda. Also available from the publisher at: http://www.idunn.no/ts/edda/2012/02/om_aa_baere_doedens_tyngde_-_fotografier_og_visuelle_fortellesHimmelarkivet (2008) by Gaute Heivoll is part of an international trend of fiction concerned with traumatic events from World War II reflecting on the question of how these events should be described and understood. One main narrative device in the work is the use of image-related elements, and the goal of this article is to interpret their significance and effect. On the one hand, the argument is that they work as documents confirming the authenticity of the narrative and, on the other, that these visual narrative strategies are challenged by the fictional aspects of the novel. The deeply serious nature of the subject matter seems to require unique ethical reflection, and the analysis shows how neither fiction nor facts suffice when the narrator is faced with traumatic events and their consequences