Poetics of dispassion: Herta Müller and Agota Kristof

This study examines the "poetics of dispassion" in the works of Herta Müller (Herztier, 1994) and Agota Kristof (Hier, 1995), focusing on the stylistic and thematic elements that distinguish their narratives. Both authors juxtapose emotionally charged content with a restrained, almost detached writing style, creating a deliberate disjunction between affect and its literary representation. Their minimalist and understated prose rejects rhetorical emphasis, favoring a neutral tone that reflects skepticism toward language shaped by historical trauma and power dynamics. Drawing on trauma theory and linguistic studies, the analysis highlights how Müller and Kristof explore the limitations of language in conveying truth and emotion, particularly within the context of totalitarian regimes and exile. Their writing, characterized by concision, oblique imagery, and metonymy, encodes emotions rather than expressing them overtly, suggesting a deeper engagement with the residual effects of trauma and the ineffability of suffering. By interpreting passion in its etymological sense —"pathos" as bearing or enduring— this paper argues that Müller and Kristof reframe literary passion as a mode of quiet resistance. Their works demonstrate a profound awareness of language's capacity for manipulation and falsification, ultimately offering a subtle yet powerful critique of rhetoric and its entanglement with authority. This poetic of dispassion invites a reconsideration of emotional expression in contemporary literature, positioning silence and restraint as vehicles for ethical and aesthetic exploration.