TOPIA 16 109 Susanne Luhmann Ill-Fated Lessons: History, Remembrance, Trauma and Memory in Ann-Marie Mac- Donald’s The Way the Crow Flies AbsTRAcT RÉsuMÉ utilisant des théories portant sur la mémoire culturelle, la traumatologie et la psychanal- yse, j’étudie les romans d’Ann-Marie MacDonald, arguant que ces romans nous offrent une critique des conséquences mortelles des modes conventionnels nationaux d’oubli et de mémoire. Le roman montre les conséquences des traumatismes nationaux ignorés et réprimés qui constituent, de part leur manière de hanter des générations et des géogra- phies, un mode de mémoire distinct et inconscient. “Designed for Hitler. Built by slaves. As recognizable as a Coke bottle. Te sins of the father. Good little car” (MacDonald 2003: 655). Tis is how Madeline McCarthy, the protagonist in Ann-Marie MacDonald’s 2003 novel Te Way the Crow Flies, describes her Volkswagen beetle. Madeline’s description appears toward the end of the book, which is set mainly in mid-1980s Canada. It articulates the connections she has come to recognize: between the trauma of Nazi Germany and her life in post- war North America; between herself and the sins of those who came before her; and between the past and her present life. Tis description recognizes how the Holocaust tragedy continues to cast a shadow long after, and even in places far removed from the site of, the original event. It indexes, in other words, how this trauma transcends national borders and generations—circulating through commodities and contexts far removed from the site of the trauma itself. Indeed, the Holocaust here is the paradigmatic event that frames the understanding and representation of other national and individual traumas. Madeline’s understanding of her car is part topia 16.indd 109 26/10/2006 10:19:52 AM