Admission requirements
Not applicable.
Description
Collective memories of the Shoah are produced by testimonies such as Anne Frank’s diary, by documentaries such as Lanzmann’s SHOAH, by works of literature such as Jonathan Littell’s The Kindly Ones, by mainstream movies such as Steven Spielberg’s SCHINDLER’S LIST, in artworks, museums and memorial sites, big and small – and in all these cases so-called collective memory is fraught with frictions. Through a triple approach of cultural history, of memory studies, and cultural analysis of representations, we will look at the different functions and effects that cultural representations have and have had over time in the construction of history and of cultural memory. In this interactive class, central topics of Shoah-representation and -memory will be discussed: historical truth and event, memory and oblivion, documentation and testimony, the ethics of artistic accounts and irony, aura and authenticity. Among the cases discussed will be sites like the Nationaal Holocaustmuseum in Amsterdam, digital monuments such as the Dutch online Jewish monument, works by Anne Frank, Primo Levi, Yael Bartana, Jonathan Littell, Laszlo Nemes, Art Spiegelman, Dmitri Shostakovich, Jonathan Glazer, Charlotte Delbo and others.
Our analysis aims to assess in which ways the Shoah is represented, and how this relates to audiences and their historical realities and memories. We will also study the different ways in which trauma manifests itself and how collective memories are constructed through differing representations. Historical and theoretical texts by Gisela Bock, Robert Chazan, Joshua Garoway, Marion Kaplan, Bruno Chaouat, Saul Friedländer, Marianne Hirsch, Arnon Grunberg, Oren Baruch Stier, Ernst van Alphen, Dan Stone, Zoë Waxman, and others will be used in our analyses.
Course Objectives
In the course of all sessions, and after this course, students will have become familiar with
A certain humility in dealing with overwhelming, deeply charged histories
Understanding complexities in terms of how they can be expressed through icons, idols, strategies and clichés – or are beyond adequate expression
Awareness of those who deserve compassion and those who need to be subjected to ethical judgment
Historically accurate and positioned knowledge
Capacity to define the basic concepts of Memory studies and of cultural analysis in relation to the different ways in which memory may be produced in art, film and literature and digital media.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
- Lecture and seminar
Assessment method
Assessment
Participation/presentations
Mid-term positioning vlog
Final test: Writing a research proposal in relation to a work of art or cultural representation
Regarding the presentations: we will give one another feedback on presentations, but the most important things is you feel comfortable to present on painful and complex issues. General guidelines are on Brightspace and further clarified in class.
Weighing
Participation/presentations (graded 10%)
Mid-term vlog (graded 30%)
Final test (research proposal) (graded 60%); minimum grade required: 5,5
The final mark for the course is established by determination of the weighted average with additional requirements. The additional requirements are a minimum of a 5,5 for the research proposal. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
A resit is only possible for the final test (research proposal).
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
We will read and watch quite a bit in this course! Most of the works are open access or will be provided. Everything that is not easily available in libraries or bookstores, will be made available. You are very welcome to read any text in the translation you feel most comfortable with. You could start with:
Primo Levi, If this is a man. Translation Stuart Woolf. (In any language)
Tadeusz Borowski, This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen. (In any language)
Art Spiegelman, Maus, 2 parts. (In any language)
Anne Frank, The Diary of Anne Frank. (In any language)
Further reading will be announced in class.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about registering for courses and exams can be found here
Registration À la carte education and Exchange
Information for those interested in taking this course in context of À la carte education (without taking examinations), eg. about costs, registration and conditions.
For the registration of exchange students contact Humanities International Office.
Contact
Voor inhoudelijke vragen, neem contact op met de docent (rechts in informatiebalk).
Voor informatie over inschrijvingen, toelating, etc: Onderwijsadministratie Arsenaal
Remarks
Not applicable.