Ray M. Douglas, Orderly and Humane : The Expulsion of the Germans After the Second World War, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2012, 416 pages, 38 $
The Lodz GhettoSteve Sem-Sendberg’s novel on the Lodz ghetto should be examined in the context of the existing fundamental paradox between history and literature. While analyzing the work, one is required to ask the provocative question : fiction or history? Which of the two is more crucial to the a...
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| 格式: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| 语言: | Français |
| 出版: |
2012
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| 在线阅读: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| 总结: | The Lodz GhettoSteve Sem-Sendberg’s novel on the Lodz ghetto should be examined in the context of the existing fundamental paradox between history and literature. While analyzing the work, one is required to ask the provocative question : fiction or history? Which of the two is more crucial to the author? According to Berel Lang, Sem-Sendberg makes use of an historical style, with an affinity to document (including private journals, chronicles and testimonies), but also to adopt figurative narratives of a fictitious nature. While proclaiming his commitment to historical facts and documents, (the author quotes several times The Chronicle of the Lodz Ghetto as his main source), he permanently vacillates between fiction and reality.The author makes reference to historical facts but also invents a false, imaginary or manipulated reality. One of his rules is to give the illusion of authenticity. Another rule is the use of extreme and exaggerated estheticism or the intensification of macabre effects, dramatization and moralization. The combination of these effects borders on kitsch.Finally, Sem-Sendberg’s book requires the reader to question what should be the limitations of applying several literary styles while dealing with the Holocaust. |
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