GERM 321 - Unspeakable–Representing the Holocaust

Semester Offered: Second Semester
Credits (Range): 3 hours
Attribute: 3 HU, CD, WR

This course investigates a broad range of testimonial, literary, visual, philosophical and historiographical materials pertaining to the question of how postwar Germany deals, and ought to deal, with the Nazi past. Situated at the intersection of ethics and aesthetics, memory and history, the Holocaust has emerged as a critical paradigm of postmodernity because it raises complex ethical and representational issues concerning the limits of art and writing in the face of the alleged unspeakability and incommensurability of Auschwitz. Topics include: theories of violence, authority, obedience, conformity, testimony, trauma, memory, survival, guilt, shame, the history of antisemitism, assimilation and exclusion, and the uniqueness of the Holocaust.
Instructor: S. Boos
Cross List Information
This course is cross-listed with JWST 321.