109-012 Reading the Holocaust

Credit Points

HECS Band

Coordinator

Prerequisites

Any two Arts subjects or permission of the Head of the Department. This subject does not presuppose knowledge of Hebrew.

Semester

Contact

Subject Description

This subject will explore the ways in which fiction and poetry have confronted the Holocaust through the various complex responses to the Holocaust by both Israeli and diaspora authors. Students will read a collection of texts as a means to understanding the techniques, strategies, language, symbolism and perspectives that have dominated Shoah memories. Students will also examine second generation literature through the work of young writers determined to continue the legacy of literary reflection that began with the survivors. On completion of the subject students should have an understanding of the impact of the Holocaust on various genres of literature including contemporary writers; and be familiar with modes and methodologies of literary analysis.

Assessment

Written work totalling 4000 words, and class participation.

Prescribed Texts

Materials provided by the Department.

• D Grossman, See Under - Love. Cape 1990.
• P Levi, The Drowned and the Saved. Summit Books 1988.
• A Oz, Touch the Water, Touch the Wind. Fontana 1976.
• E Wiesel, Night. Penguin.
• S Liebrecht, Apples from the Desert: Selected stories.
• C Ozick, The Shawl. Knopf 1989.