SCY2990

Representing the Holocaust: popular culture, literature and memory

Naomi White

8 points3 hours per weekSecond semester Caulfield Prerequisites: SCY1100/SCY1200Prohibitions: SCY3980/CLS3690

Objectives On completion of the subject, students will have an understanding of the theoretical ideas relevant to representation in film, literature and oral history/testimony; knowledge of selected representational works; skills in oral and written critical analysis of representational works dealing with the Holocaust; and team project work skills.

Synopsis The enormity of the Nazis' attempted genocide haunts the contemporary mind with crucial historical, socio-political, ethical and psychological questions. Since these events, the Holocaust has been a major sphere of cultural reflection, metaphysical scrutiny and political appropriation. Students will examine various examples of this cultural reflection and political appropriation. Three categories of post-war depictions of the Holocaust will be examined as contested sites of remembrance and representation: film, fiction and personal accounts/oral histories. These will be analysed in relation to theoretical debates about representation, with particular reference to the challenges posed by postmodernism. Attention will be paid to the way in which representation and remembrance is socially, culturally, politically and historically embedded and also to human agency and the construction of political subjects.

Assessment Essay (2000 words): 35% Group project (3500 words): 40% Oral seminar presentation (1000 words equivalent): 25%

Recommended texts

Poster M Cultural history and postmodernity: Disciplinary readings and challenges Columbia U P, 1997
Friedlander S (ed.) Probing the limits of representation: Nazism and the 'final solution' Harvard U P, 1992

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