DISC 1313 Mueller: Overview

Explores one of the major issues in Holocaust studies the intersection of memory and ethics in artistic expression, particularly within literature.

Includes chapter 11, "The Holocaust in the Jewish American Literary Imagination."

Among historical events of the 20th century, the Holocaust is unrivaled as the subject of both scholarly and literary writing. Literary responses include not only thousands of autobiographical and fictional texts written by survivors, but also, more recently, works by writers who are not survivors but nevertheless feel compelled to write about the Holocaust.

Examines the subjective experiences of fantasy, projection, and repression manifested in Holocaust fiction and in the reader's encounter with it. Investigates how the reading subject makes sense of these fictionalized presentations of memory and trauma, victims and victimizers.

Presents a critical reading of themes and stylistic strategies of major American Holocaust fiction to determine its capacity to render the prelude, progress, and aftermath of the Holocaust.