Film and Literature of the Holocaust
In-person/Face-to-face format for Fall 2021.
Course Description
How should the Holocaust be remembered? As the generation of survivors continues to age, we will soon face an era in which no living witnesses of the Shoah are left among us. What is the responsibility of second and third generations to this history? What can emerging popular genres, such as film and novels, contribute to this conversation? In this course, students will view and analyze well-known films on the Holocaust, such as Inglorious Basterds, Defiance, The Pianist, and Jojo Rabbit as well as the documentary Shoah. We will also read lesser-known work by novelists attempting to contend with the history of the Shoah and its aftermath. This course will raise questions about film, fiction and (inherited) trauma; the politics of memory; and the problematics associated with re-discovering and representing human suffering and acts of evil. Writing assignments will alternatively take the form of rhetorical analysis, literary analysis, film analysis, and creative nonfiction.
Assignments
Short written assignments
A film review
Documentary response
Take-home final exam
Required Texts
The Nazi and the Barber by Edgar Hilsenrath
The Book of Dirt by Bram Presser
House on Endless Waters by Emuna Elon
To the Edge of Sorrow by Aharon Appelfeld