Between Witness And Testimony: The Holocaust And The Limits Of Representation Project Muse Upcc Books

The Holocaust presents an immense challenge to those who would represent it or teach it through fiction, film, or historical accounts. Even the testimonies of those who were there provide only a glimpse of the disaster to those who were not. Between Witness and Testimony investigates the difficulties inherent in the obligation to bear witness to events that seem not just unspeakable but also unthinkable. The authors examine films, fictional narratives, survivor testimonies, and the museums at Yad Vashem and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in order to establish an ethics of Holocaust representation. Traversing the disciplines of history, philosophy, religious studies, and literary and cultural theory, the authors suggest that while no account adequately provides access to what Adorno called the extremity that eludes the concept, we are still obliged to testify, to put into language what history cannot contain." Stresses the difference between witnessing (seeing) and testifying (telling) in regard to representing the Holocaust and its inescapable limitations. Referring to history, philosophy, theology, and literary and critical theory, notes the necessity of trying, despite the element of failure involved, to express what history cannot contain. Examines fiction (Borowski, Appelfeld, Ozick, and Spiegelman), film (Spielberg's "Schindler's List", Resnais's "Night and Fog", Lanzmann's "Shoah", and Benigni's "Life Is Beautiful"), survivor testimonies, and musuems (U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and Yad Vashem) to draw conclusions about the ethics of Holocaust representation and education. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism) 1 Sublimity, Redemption, Witness 1 -- 2 History And The Disaster: The (im)possibility Of Writing The Shoah 23 -- 3 Epistemology Of Witness: Survivor Narratives And The Holocaust 49 -- 4 Literatures Of Presence And Absence: Borowski, Appelfeld, Ozick 79 -- 5 Film And The Shoah: The Limits Of Seeing 103 -- 6 Museums And The Imperative Of Memory: History, Sublimity, And The Divine 131 -- 7 Conclusion: The Ethics Of Teaching (after) Auschwitz 157. Michael Bernard-donals, Richard Glejzer. Includes Index. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 175-181) And Index.