Forgetful Memory

Michael Bernard-Donals

Description

Much of the discussion surrounding the Holocaust and how it can be depicted sixty years later has focused on memory. In Forgetful Memory, Michael Bernard-Donals focuses on the relation between memory and forgetfulness, arguing that memory and forgetfulness cannot be separated but must be examined as they complicate our understanding of the Shoah. Drawing on the work of Josef Yerushalmi, Maurice Blanchot, David Roskies, and especially Emmanuel Levinas, Bernard-Donals explores contemporary representations of the Holocaust in memoirs, novels, and poetry; films and photographs; in museums; and in our contemporary political discourse concerning the Middle East. Ultimately, Forgetful Memory makes the case that we should give up on the idea of memory as a kind of representation, and that we should see it instead as an intersection of remembrance and oblivion, as a kind of writing, where what remains at its margins—what is left unwritten—is at least as important as what is given voice.
List of Figures
Acknowledgment

PART I. MEMORY AND FORGETTING

1. On the Verge of History and Memory

2. Ethics, the Immemorial, and Writing

PART II. WRITING AND THE DISASTER

3. “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem”: The Poetry of Forgetful Memory in Palestine

4. Memory and the Image in Visual Representations of the Holocaust

5. “Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness”: Witnessand Testimony in the FragmentsControversy

PART III. MEMORY AND THE EVENT

6. Denials of Memory

7. Conflations of Memory; or, What They Saw at the Holocaust Museum after 9/11

8. “Difficult Freedom”: Levinas, Memory, and Politics

9. Conclusion: Forgetful Memory and the Disaster

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• The Holocaust
• Literary theory
• Historiography

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 31 décembre 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791477182
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

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Forgetful Memory

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F O R G E T F U L M E M O R Y

Representation and Remembrance

in the Wake of the Holocaust

M I C H A E L B E R N A R D - D O N A L S

S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y O F N E W Y O R K P R E S S

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2009 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu

Production, Laurie Searl Marketing, Anne M. Valentine

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Bernard-Donals, Michael F. Forgetful Memory : representation and remembrance in the wake of the Holocaust / Michael Bernard-Donals. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7914-7671-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945)— Influence. 2. Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945)—Historiography. 3. Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945)—Moral and ethical aspects. 4. Memory—Social aspects. I. Title. II. Title: Representation and remembrance in the wake of the Holocaust. D804.348.B474 2008 940.53'18—dc22 2008003113

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List of Figures

Acknowledgments

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Contents

PA RT I . M E M O RY A N D F O R G E T T I N G

On the Verge of History and Memory

Ethics, the Immemorial, and Writing

PA RT I I . W R I T I N G A N D T H E D I S A S T E R

“If I forget thee, O Jerusalem”: The Poetry of Forgetful Memory in Palestine

Memory and the Image in Visual Representations of the Holocaust

“Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness”: Witness and Testimony in theFragmentsControversy

PA RT I I I . M E M O RY A N D T H E E V E N T

Denials of Memory

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CONTENTS

Notes

vi

Seven

Eight

Index

Conclusion: Forgetful Memory and the Disaster

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“Difficult Freedom”: Levinas, Memory, and Politics

Conflations of Memory; or, What They Saw at the Holocaust Museum after 9/11

Bibliography

Nine

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Figures

Entrance to the Jewish Council office with Jewish police at the door. Warsaw, late 1940. Copyright Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin.

Boy feeding younger child, Lodz Ghetto, 1942. Copyright Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin.

Alina Korenbajzer. Serge Klarsfeld Collection.

Irene Simon. Serge Klarsfeld Collection.

Simon Gelber. Serge Klarsfeld Collection.

Samuel Gutman. Serge Klarsfeld Collection.

Bracha L. Ettinger, “Autiswork No. 1” (1993).

Naked Jewish women line up for execution, Mizocz, 1943. Copyright Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin.

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