English 271 (DL, WI)
“Film and Literature of the Holocaust”
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 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 documentaries including the famous Shoah and less well known From Hawaii to the Holocaust. 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 rediscovering 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.
Student Learning Outcomes
This course will help students to use the skills of literary, rhetorical and or cultural analysis they acquired in their first-year English course with increased proficiency by continuing to teach students how to analyze the significance of cultural, biographical, historical, and/or philosophical contexts. Students will deepen their understanding of the complexity of differentiating between fact and fiction and of determining reliability in self-disclosure and self-censorship. They will deepen their understanding of the role memory and language play in the construction of meaning and identity.
Required Texts
Novels
The Book of Dirt by Bram Presser. Text Publishing Company (September 11, 2018)
House on Endless Waters by Emuna Elon. Washington Square Press (September 1, 2020)
The Nazi and the Barber by Edgar Hilsenrath. Owl of Minerva Press (April 2, 2017).
To the Edge of Sorrow by Aharon Appelfeld. Schocken (January 14, 2020)
Films
(Available on-line)
Inglorious Basterds (2009)
Jojo Rabbit (2019)
Defiance (2008)
The Pianist (2002)
Documentary
(Available on-line)
Apocalypse: The Rise of Hitler
From Hawaii to the Holocaust
Shoah
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days
Additional secondary readings distributed via pdf
Assignments: Short in-class writing responses (40 points); documentary response paper (30 points); film review essay (30 points)