
The Trajectory of Holocaust Memory
The Crisis of Testimony in Theory and Practice
Stephen D. Smith(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 30. December 2022
Book
Hardback
232 pages
978-0-367-70617-3 (ISBN)
Description
The Trajectory of Holocaust Memory: The Crisis of Testimony in Theory and Practice re-considers survivor testimony, moving from a subject-object reading of the past to a subject-subject encounter in the present. It explores how testimony evolves in relationship to the life of eyewitnesses across time.
This book breaks new ground based on three principles. The first draws on Martin Buber's "I-Thou" concept, transforming the object of history into an encounter between subjects. The second employs the Jungian concept of identity, whereby the individual (internal identity) and the persona (external identity) reframe testimony as an extension of the individual. They are a living subject, rather than merely a persona or narrative. The third principle draws on Daniel Kahneman's concept of the experiencing self, which relives events as they occurred, and the remembering self, which reflects on their meaning in sum. Taken together, these principles comprise a new literacy of testimony that enables the surviving victim and the listener to enter a relationship of trust.
Designed for readers of Holocaust history and literature, this book defines the modalities of memory, witness, and testimony. It shows how encountering the individual who lived through the past changes how testimony is understood, and therefore what it can come to mean.
This book breaks new ground based on three principles. The first draws on Martin Buber's "I-Thou" concept, transforming the object of history into an encounter between subjects. The second employs the Jungian concept of identity, whereby the individual (internal identity) and the persona (external identity) reframe testimony as an extension of the individual. They are a living subject, rather than merely a persona or narrative. The third principle draws on Daniel Kahneman's concept of the experiencing self, which relives events as they occurred, and the remembering self, which reflects on their meaning in sum. Taken together, these principles comprise a new literacy of testimony that enables the surviving victim and the listener to enter a relationship of trust.
Designed for readers of Holocaust history and literature, this book defines the modalities of memory, witness, and testimony. It shows how encountering the individual who lived through the past changes how testimony is understood, and therefore what it can come to mean.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Postgraduate
Illustrations
24 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder, 24 s/w Abbildungen, 1 s/w Tabelle
1 Tables, black and white; 24 Halftones, black and white; 24 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
480 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-367-70617-3 (9780367706173)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
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E-Book
12/2022
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Routledge
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E-Book
12/2022
1st Edition
Routledge
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1st Edition
Routledge
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Person
Stephen D. Smith is Executive Director Emeritus, USC Shoah Foundation, and USC Visiting Professor of Religion. His published titles include Never Again Yet Again (2009), The Holocaust and the Christian World (2020), and The Routledge Handbook of Religion, Mass Atrocity and Genocide (2021).
Content
Foreword / Part I: The Crisis of Witness / 1. Name, date, place / 2. What it means, and what it doesn't / 3. The constrained witness / 4. All that is real (and some that is not) / Part II: The Origins of Holocaust Witness / 5. Witness within the Storm / 6. They were not silenced / Part III: Trajectories Beyond the Final Word / 7. Deep inside, I'm still there