Can the Holocaust be compellingly described or represented? Or is there some core aspect of the extermination of the Jews of Europe which resists our powers of depiction; of theory; of narrative? In this volume; twenty scholars probe the moral; epistemological; and aesthetic limits of an account or portrayal of the Nazi horror.These essays expose to scrutiny questions that have a pressing claim on our attention; our conscience; and our cultural memory. First presented at a conference organized by Saul Friedlander; they are now made available for the wide consideration and discussion they merit.Christopher Browning; Hayden White; Carlo Ginzburg; Martin Jay; Dominick LaCapra; and others focus first on the general question: can the record of his historical event be established objectively through documents and witnesses; or is every historical interpretation informed by the perspective of its narrator? The suggestion that all historical accounts are determined by a preestablished narrative choice raises the ethical and intellectual issues of various forms of relativization. In more specific terms; what are the possibilities of historicizing National Socialism without minimizing the historical place of the Holocaust.Also at issue are the problems related to an artistic representation; particularly the dilemmas posed by aestheticization. John Felstiners; Yael S. Feldman; Sidra Ezahi; Eric Santner; and Anton Kaes grapple with these questions and confront the inadequacy of words in the face of the Holocaust. Others address the problem of fitting Nazi policies and atrocities into the history of Western thought and science. The book concludes with Geoffrey Hartmans's evocative meditation on memory.
#980059 in Books Harvard University Press 1998-10-01 1998-08-14Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.25 x .80 x 6.13l; 1.01 #File Name: 0674487788318 pages
Review
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Good source THREE STARS BECAUSE OF KINDLE EDITIONBy MichaelI want to make sure people know I have given three stars for the kindle edition; not the book itself; which has been very helpful. Buyer beware: the Kindle edition has no hyperlinks for the endnotes; which makes the book extremely difficult to navigate. Also; when you go to the index; for example; it references page numbers that don't exist on the kindle. Very cumbersome.0 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Size mattered to the ancient Romans.By ShtarkaI was impressed with Shafer's discussion of Roman envy of Jews' sexual libidos particularly their insecurities concerning comparatve male genital size; complete with quotations from leader Roman writers of the times.....yet another reason for people to hate Jews.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Was there animus against the Jews in ancient times?By JeriSchafer finds evidence that there was.Jewish beliefs and customs alienated them from the surrounding pagan culture. Their God; who insisted on no images being created of him; was a rejection of pagan beliefs. Apion "complains that the Jews 'do not worship the same gods as the Alexandrians'" (p 39).Hecataeus and Manetho (3rd century B.C.) accused the Jews of being thrown out of Egypt due to leprosy.One famous slur is first found in Mnaseas of Patara (about 200 B.C); that of accusing the Jews of ass-worship. Apion later wrote that Jews kept the head of an ass in the temple to worship "this allegation obviously ..meant to 'solve' the enigma of the mysterious cult in the Jerusalem Temple to which no foreigner had access" (p 60).Added to the sneer of ass-worship was the lurid tale that the Jews caught a Greek every year and then sacrificed him.Jewish proselytism was mentioned by a number of people in antiquity; and was apparently a source of anxiety.Their refusal to work on the Sabbath seems to have first been mentioned by Agatharchides; who wrote that Pompey was able to conquer them due to their insistence on not fighting on the Sabbath.Schafer explores both the Elephantine and Alexandrian outbursts against Jews. In Alexandria; Philo records a truly appalling level of hatred against the Jews. That they were stoned or clubbed to death. Then that they dragged the bodies through the streets "'until the corpses; their skin flesh and muscles shattered by the unevenness of the ground....were wasted to nothing''" (p 141). Philo regarded the Egyptians as the main source of anti-Jewish hatred.Many ancient sources complain of the unsociability of the Jews. Manetho sniffs that they will "have intercourse with none save those of their own confederacy'" (p 172).Cicero portrays them as being at odds with Roman traditional values. The satirist Juvenal poked fun at their Sabbath and circumcision.Wonderful book; comprehensive and intelligent...but I found all the evidence of anti-Jewish sentiment distressed me. I have a Jewish stepfather and two Jewish stepsisters.
