MODULE OUTLINE
Modern Liberal Arts
University of Winchester
Semester 2 Jan 2016
LA 2008 Thinking the Holocaust
Thursdays 9.00-11:00 MB3 (week 6 HJB 22)
Elina Staikou
Module Learning Outcomes
Show engagement with primary sources
Show a knowledge of theoretical perspectives and/or works
Show an understanding of abstract concepts and ideas within theoretical perspectives
Show an ability to work with theorists and their concepts in various forms of assessment as appropriate
Show evidence of engagement with texts and ideas concerning the Holocaust
Weekly sessions/Readings/Wider reading
Week 1 Jewish Enlightenment and Assimilation
Readings:
Mendelssohn, M. (2011) Jerusalem, Religious Power and Judaism, Section 2, pp. 31-35, 38-40, 55-58, 60-63.
Heine, H. 'When I, inspired', 'Abroad: I had once'
Wider reading : Mendelssohn, M. (1997) 'On the question: what does 'to enlighten' mean?''
Kant, I. (1991) 'An Answer to the Question: 'What is Enlightenment?' '
Altmann, Alexander (1973) Moses Mendelssohn: A Biographical Study
Leonard, M. (2010) 'Greeks, Jews, and the Enlightenment: Moses Mendelssohn's Socrates'
Arendt, H. (2007) 'The Enlightenment and the Jewish Question'
Heine, H. (1986) Heine: Selected Verse.
Heine, H. (2006) The Harz Journey and Selected Prose.
Goettschel, Willi (2004) 'Heine's Critical Secularism'
Elon, Amos (2002), The Pity of It All. A History of the Jews in Germany, 1743-1933
Katz, Jacob (1973), Out of the Ghetto: The Social Background of Jewish Emancipation 1770-1870
Week 2 The Limits of Emancipation: The Dreyfus Affair
Reading: Dreyfus, A. (1901) Five Years of my Life, pp. 1-3, 42-49, 54-59, 68-73.
Zola, E. (1898) J'accuse, Letter to the President of the Republic
Herzl, Theodore (1983) The Jewish State, pp. 69-96.
Proust, M. (2000) In Search of Lost Time, Vol 4: Sodom and Gomorrah, pp. 104-108.
Wider reading: Arendt, H. (2007) 'Herlz and Lazare'
Arendt, H. (2007) 'Zionism Reconsidered'
Avineri, S (2014) Herlz: Theodore Herzl and the Foundation of the Jewish State
Harris, R. (2011) The Man on Devil's Island: Alfred Dreyfus and the Affair that Divided France
Rose, J. (2011) Proust Among the Nations, From the Dreyfus Affair to the Middle East
Deleuze, G. (2004) Proust and Signs
Week 3 Between Tradition & Modernity: Yiddish Literature
Readings: Aleichem, S. (1996) Tevye the Dairyman and the Railroad Stories, 'Hodl', pp. 53-69, 'Chava' pp. 69-82, 'Sphrintze' pp. 83-96.
Perez, I.L. 'It Is Well,' pp. 67-72.
Wider reading: Aleichem, S. (1996) Tevye the Dairyman and the Railroad Stories
Yiddish Tales (1912) The Project Gutenberg eBook of Yiddish Tales
Wiener, L. (2012) The History of Yiddish Literature in the Nineteenth Century
Dauber, J. (2013) The Worlds of Sholem Aleichem, The Remarkable Life and Afterlife of the Man Who Created Tevye
Dauber, J. A. (2005) 'Looking Again: Representation in Nineteenth- Century Yiddish Literature'
Moss, K. (2001) 'Jewish Culture Between Renaissance and Decadence: Di Literarishe Monatsshriften and Its Critical Reception'
Quint, A. (2005) ' 'Yiddish Literature for the Masses?' A Reconsideration of Who Read What in Jewish Eastern Europe'
Week 4 Franz Kafka: Mitteleuropa, Ostjuden & Zionism
Readings: Kafka, F. (2007) 'Before the Law', pp. 68-69.
Kafka, F. (2007) 'Jackals and Arabs', pp. 69-72.
Kafka, F. (1999) The Diaries of Franz Kafka, p. 252.
Kafka, F. (1999) Letters to Milena, pp. 40-42, 47-48.
Wider reading: Corngold, S. (ed.) (2007) Kafka's Selected Stories
Benjamin, W. (1992) 'Franz Kafka. On the Tenth Anniversary of his Death'
Derrida, J. (1992) 'Before the Law'
Arendt, H. (2007) 'The Jew as Pariah: A Hidden Tradition'
Stach, R. (2008) Kafka, The Years of Insight
Gilman, S. (1995) Franz Kafka, the Jewish Patient
Corngold, S. and Gross, R.V. (eds) (2011) Kafka for the Twenty-First Century
Caygill, H. (2011) 'Kafka and Derrida: Before the Laws'
Caygill, H. (2011) 'The Fate of the Pariah: Arendt and Kafka's Nature Theatre of Oklahama'
Deleuze, G. and Guattari, F. (2000) Kafka,Toward a Minor Literature
Week 5 Fantasy under Threat: Charlotte Salomon & Bruno Schulz
Reading: Salomon, C. (1998) Life or Theatre?, pp. 41-47, 61-63, 66-67, 78-79, 198-204, 223-225, 414, 647-649, 690-695, 714-720, 734-741, 794-798, 814-824.
Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam, Charlotte Salomon http://www.jhm.nl/collection/specials/charlotte-salomon
Schulz, B. ( 2001) Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass, pp. 127-131, 158-163.
Wider reading: Felstiner, M. L (1994) To Paint Her Life: Charlotte Salomon in the Nazi Era
Rose, J. (2014) 'Painting Against Terror: Charlotte Salomon'
Friedlander, S. (1997) Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1933-1939
Ficowski, J. (ed) (1988) Letters and Writings of Bruno Schulz, With Selected Prose
Ficowski, J. (2003) Regions of the Great Heresy: Bruno Schulz
Augsburger, J. (2009) 'Poetical Fluidization and Intellectual Eclecticism in Bruno Schulz’s Writings'
Prokop-Janiec, E, (2003) Polish-Jewish Literature in the Interwar Years
Week 6 The Ghetto
Reading: Adelson, Alan & Lapides, Robert (1991 ) The Lodz Ghetto: Inside a Community Under Siege
Korczak, Janusz (2003) Ghetto Diary
Lewin, Abraham (1990) A Cup of Tears – A Diary of the Warsaw
Ghetto
Hersonski, Yael (2010) A Film Unfinished https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amZopZly9to
Wider reading: Trunk, Issaia and Shapiro Robert Moses (2006) Lodz Ghetto: A History
Katz, Jacob (1998) Out of the Ghetto: Social background of Jewish Emancipation
Grossman, Mendel (1977) With A Camera in the Ghetto
Dobroszycki, Lucjan (1987) The Chronicle of the Lodz Ghetto 1941- 44
Gutman, Yisrael (1989) The Jews of Warsaw 1939-43: Ghetto, Underground, Revolt
Hilberg, Raul (1999) The Warsaw Diary of Adam Czerniakow: Prelude to Doom, Chicago, IL: Ivan R, Dee.
Week 7 Surviving Auschwitz: Primo Levi & Elie Wiesel
Reading: Levi, P. (1959) If this is a Man, pp. 3-13, 33-34, 38-40, 57, 60, 99-103, 147-152, 184, 204-206.
Wiesel, E. (2008) Night, pp. 8-9, 29-34, 63-65, 81-82, 85-87, 108-112.
Yad Vashem, World Center for Holocaust Research, Education, Documentation and Commemoration http://www.yadvashem.org/
Wider reading: Levi, P. (1987) Interview with the New Republic http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119959/interview-primo-levi-survival-auschwitz
Agamben, G. (2002) Remnants of Auschwitz: The Witness and the Archive
Young, J. (1988), Writing and Rewriting the Holocaust
Kremer, R. (2001) Memory and Mastery: Primo Levi as Writer and Witness
Friedlander, S. (2007) The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945
Roseman, M. (2003) The Villa, The Lake, The Meeting: Wannsee and the Final Solution
Gigliotti, S. & Lang, B. (eds) (2005) The Holocaust: A Reader
Week 8 The Shoah in Film: Documentation & Testimony
Screening from Claude Lanzmann's 1985 film Shoah.
Wider reading: Lanzmann, C. (1985) Shoah: An Oral History of the Holocaust: The Complete Text of the Film
Lanzmann, C. (2012) The Patagonian Hare: A Memoir
Jockusch, L. (2012) Collect and Record: Jewish Holocaust Documentation in Early Postwar Europe
Kerner, A. (2011) Film and the Holocaust: New Perspectives on Dramas, Documentaries, and Experimental Films
Adams, J. & Vice, S. (eds) (2013) Representing Perpetrators in Holocaust Literature and Film
Haggith, T. (ed) (2005) Holocaust and the Moving Image
Week 9 The Shoah in Poetry: Paul Celan & Nelly Sachs
Reading: Celan, P. (2002) 'Death Fuge'
Sachs, N. (2007) 'O the Chimneys', 'O the Night of Weeping Children'
Wiedemann, B. (ed) (1990) Paul Celan, Nelly Sachs: Correspondence, pp. 16-17, 32-33.
Adorno, T. (1997) 'Cultural Criticism and Society', pp. 17-34.
Wider reading: Celan, P. (2002) Selected Poems and Prose
Sachs, N. (2007) Collected Poems, 1944-1949
Wiedemann, B. (ed) (1990) Paul Celan, Nelly Sachs: Correspondence Felstener, J. (1995) Paul Celan: Poet, Survivor, Jew
Garloff, K. (2005) Words from Abroad: Trauma and Displacement in Postwar German Jewish Writers
Derrida, J. (2005) Sovereignties in Question: the Poetics of Paul Celan
Week 10 Hannah Arendt: Eichmann in Jerusalem
Reading: Arendt, A. (1964) Eichmann in Jerusalem, A Report on the Banality of Evil, pp. 14-17, 45-49, 65-67, 112-118, 133-138.
Eichmann Trial, Session No. 105
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkXllchxhiM
Zur Person, Hannah Arendt, interview with Günter Gauss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsoImQfVsO4
Wider reading: Arendt, H. (2007) Jewish Writings
Arendt, H. (2007) 'The Eichmann Controversy: A Letter to Gershom Scholem'.
Arendt, H. (2007) 'The Eichmann Case and the Germans'
Aschheim, S.E. (ed) (2001) Hannah Arendt in Jerusalem
Bernstein, R.J. (2002) Radical Evil, A Philosophical Interrogation
Caygill, H. (2014) On Resistance, A Philosophy of Defiance, pp. 152-158.
Week 11 Philosophical Legacies: The Camp
Reading: Agamben, G. (1998) Homo Sacer, Sovereign Power and Bare Life, pp. 9-14, 71-99.
Wider reading: Agamben, G. (1998) Homo Sacer, Sovereign Power and Bare Life
Agamben, G. (1999) Remnants of Auschwitz, The Witness and the Archive
Agamben, G. (2005) State of Exception
Whyte, J. (2014) Catastrophe and Redemption: The Political Thought of Giorgio Agamben
Gigliotti, S. & Lang, B. (eds) (2005) The Holocaust: A Reader
Cohen, J. (2003) Interrupting Auschwitz: Art, Religion, Philosophy
Week 12 New Anti-Semitisms & the Critique of Zionism
Reading: Butler, J. (2013) Parting Ways: Jewishness and the Critique of Zionism, pp. 1-27.
Derrida J. & Roudinesco, E. (2004) 'Of the Anti-Semitism to Come', pp. 114-123, 132-138.
Sartre, J-P. (1976) Anti-Semite and Jew, pp. 4-17, 39-41.
Wider reading: Rose, J. (2005) The Question of Zion
Ali, T. (March 2004) 'Notes on Anti-Semitism, Zionism and Palestine'
Lewis, B. (2006) 'The New Anti-Semitism'
Badiou, A. & Hazan, E. (2013) Reflections on Anti-Semitism
Small, C.A. (ed) (2014) Global Antisemitism: A Crisis of Modernity, Vol V, Reflections
Derrida, J (2007) Judeities: Questions for Jacques Derrida
Assessment
Assessment 1: (50%)
Title: Using texts from weeks 1-5 describe different perspectives on the identity and experience of European Jewry
(2000-2250 words; deadline Thursday week 6, February 18th, to Catherine, by 3.30)
Assessment 2: (50%)
1. Critically discuss the possibility of representing the Holocaust through different forms or genres (memoir, film, poetry)
2. Critically discuss different perspectives on the juridical, political or philosophical implications of the Holocaust.
3. Individually negotiated essay question.
(2000-2250 words; deadline Thursday week 12, March 31st to Catherine, by 3.30)
Use Harvard Referencing
We attempt always to return work within 3 working weeks (15 days working days).
References
Adams, J. & Vice, S. (eds) (2013) Representing Perpetrators in Holocaust Literature and Film, Middlesex: Valentine Mitchell.
Adelson, Alan & Lapides, Robert (1991 ) The Lodz Ghetto: Inside a Community Under Siege, London: Penguin Books.
Adorno, T. (1997) 'Cultural Criticism and Society' Prisms, Boston: MIT Press, pp. 17-34.
Agamben, G. (1998) Homo Sacer, Sovereign Power and Bare Life, Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Agamben, G. (1999) Remnants of Auschwitz, The Witness and the Archive, New York: Zone Books.
Agamben, G. (2005) State of Exception, Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Aleichem, S. (1996) Tevye the Dairyman and the Railroad Stories, New York: Schocken Books.
Ali, T. (March 2004) 'Notes on Anti-Semitism, Zionism and Palestine' Counterpunch http://www.counterpunch.org/2004/03/04/notes-on-anti-semitism-zionism-and-palestine/
Altmann, Alexander (1973) Moses Mendelssohn: A Biographical Study, Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
Arendt, H. (2007) Jewish Writings, New York: Schocken Books.
Arendt, H. (2007) 'The Enlightenment and the Jewish Question' Jewish Writings, New York: Schocken Books, pp. 3-19.
Arendt, H. (2007) 'Herlz and Lazare' Jewish Writings, New York: Schocken Books, pp. 338-342.
Arendt, H. (2007) 'Zionism Reconsidered' Jewish Writings, New York: Schocken Books, pp. 343-374.
Arendt, H. (2007) 'The Jew as Pariah: A Hidden Tradition' Jewish Writings, New York: Schocken Books, pp. 275-297.
Arendt, A. (1964) Eichmann in Jerusalem, A Report on the Banality of Evil, New York: The Viking Press.
Arendt, H. (2007) 'The Eichmann Controversy: A Letter to Gershom Scholem' Jewish Writings, New York: Schocken Books, pp. 465-471.
Arendt, H. (2007) 'The Eichmann Case and the Germans' Jewish Writings, New York: Schocken Books, pp. 485-489.
Aschheim, S.E. (ed) (2001) Hannah Arendt in Jerusalem, Oakland: University of California Press.
Augsburger, J. (2009) 'Poetical Fluidization and Intellectual Eclecticism in Bruno Schulz’s Writings' (Un)masking Bruno Schulz. New Combinations, Further Fragmentations, Ultimate Reintegrations, New York: Rodopi 2009.
Avineri, S (2014) Herlz: Theodore Herlz and the Foundation of the Jewish State, London: W&N.
Badiou, A. & Hazan, E. (2013) Reflections on Anti-Semitism, London: Verso.
Benjamin, W. (1992) 'Franz Kafka. On the Tenth Anniversary of his Death' Illuminations, London: Fontana Press, pp. 108-135.
Bernstein, R.J. (2002) Radical Evil, A Philosophical Interrogation, Cambridge: Polity Press.
Butler, J. (2013) Parting Ways: Jewishness and the Critique of Zionism, New York: Columbia University Press.
Caygill, H. (2014) On Resistance, A Philosophy of Defiance, London: Bloomsbury.
Celan, P. (2002) 'Death Fuge' Selected Poems and Prose, New York: W. W. Norton & Co.
Cohen, J. (2003) Interrupting Auschwitz: Art, Religion, Philosophy, London: Continuum.
Corngold, S. (ed.) (2007) Kafka's Selected Stories, New York: W.W. Norton & Company
Corngold, S. and Gross, R.V. (eds) (2011) Kafka for the Twenty-First Century, Rochester: Camden House.
Dauber, J. (2013) The Worlds of Sholem Aleichem, The Remarkable Life and Afterlife of the Man Who Created Tevye, New York: Schocken.
Dauber, J. A. (2005) 'Looking Again: Representation in Nineteenth-Century Yiddish Literature' Prooftexts, Volume 25, Number 3, pp. 276-318.
Deleuze, G. (2004) Proust and Signs, Minnesota University Press.
Derrida, J. (1992) 'Before the Law' Acts of Literature, London: Routledge, pp. 181-220.
Derrida, J. (2005) Sovereignties in Question: The Poetics of Paul Celan, New York: Fordham University Press, 2005.
Derrida J. & Roudinesco, E. (2004) 'Of the Anti-Semitism to Come' For What Tomorrow, ... A Dialogue, Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Derrida, J (2007) Judeities: Questions for Jacques Derrida, New York: Fordham University Press.
Dobroszycki, Lucjan (1987) The Chronicle of the Lodz Ghetto 1941-44, New Haven: Yale University Press.
Dreyfus, A. (1901) Five Years of my Life, London: George Newnes Limited.
Frielander, S. (1997) Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1933-1939, New York: Harper Collins.
Frielander, S. (2007) The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945, New York: Harper Collins.
Eichmann Trial, Session No. 105 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkXllchxhiM
Elon, Amos (2002), The Pity of It All. A History of the Jews in Germany, 1743-1933, New York: Metropolitan Books.
Felstener, J. (1995) Paul Celan: Poet, Survivor, Jew, New Haven: Yale University Press.
Felstiner, M. L (1994) To Paint Her Life: Charlotte Salomon in the Nazi Era, Los Angeles: University California Press.
Ficowski, J. (ed) (1988) Letters and Writings of Bruno Schulz, With Selected Prose, Cambridge: Harpers & Row.