Holocaust Literature and Representation

This collected volume of academic autobiographical essays constitutes an innovative perspective on exploring Holocaust history and commemoration based on the personal narratives of scholars who engage in Holocaust representations. The stories reveal a wide range of approaches to working on the topic and the authors’ diverse experiences while conducting their research. The volume thus provides a highly important behind-the-scenes glimpse of the ways the Holocaust has influenced and shaped the professional lives of scholars with different national, cultural, and generational identities in the USA, Britain, and Israel. It makes a special contribution to Holocaust scholarship by underscoring how the Holocaust past remains a haunting present. * Liat Steir-Livny, Associate Professor in Holocaust Studies, Film Studies & Cultural Studies, Sapir Academic College and Open University of Israel, Israel *
Rarely does an academic book about Holocaust representation move me so deeply. These beautiful essays pay homage to the idea of ‘journey,’ of the role of serendipity, deliberation, and reflection on the path, offering personal stories and histories that will feel familiar, intimate, and challenging. * Holli Levitsky, Professor of English and Director of Jewish Studies, Loyola Marymount University, USA *
This is a book equivalent of the intimacy of sitting down with a colleague and asking them just how they ended up researching what they do. Their moving and insightful responses reveal the influence of people and texts as well as the importance of the shifting national contexts of post-war America, Britain and Israel on research in Holocaust literature and representations. Reading this book not only do you get to know the scholars featured here better, but also the evolution of a field that they have pioneered and contributed to. * Tim Cole, Professor of Social History, University of Bristol, UK *
[T]his volume provides other scholars and those interested in Holocaust representation and memory with a sense of companionship and confidence to pursue their research in ways that accept and embrace personal responses and responsibilities. * Modern Language Review *