JDS 695SEM - Jewish Literature After Auschwitz

The German philosopher Theodor Adorno once wrote that there can be no poetry after Auschwitz. In the years following the Holocaust, this statement has been repeatedly challenged by a number of Jewish poets and authors who, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, have tried to put into words the ineffable experience of the survivors. These paradoxical attempts took place in the years immediately following World War II, and continue up to the present day in the writings of second- and third-generation Holocaust survivors. The course will introduce some major literary works dealing with the Holocaust and present critical issues that recur in this literature: dehumanization, obscurity of poetic language, and hope. Credits: 3