RE-WITNESSING: THE FUTURE OF HOLOCAUST MEMORY
Newberry Library Rebekah Slodounik
German Studies Seminar
Oct 27, 2023
3:00pm–5:00pm
At the Newberry – Rettinger Hall
Rebekah Slodounik, Bucknell University
My project examines contemporary literary texts of the second and third generation that ruminate on the ability of the listener to replicate, in some form, the testimony that he or she has heard or read by a survivor. Through a process that I call re-witnessing, the writer/listener transmits the survivor’s experience to another individual or group of individuals and thereby contributes to the ongoing intergenerational transmission of survivor testimonies in our contemporary period in which survivors are reaching the end of their natural lifespan. By analyzing the narrative strategies such texts employ, my project enables a broader appreciation for, understanding of, and receptiveness to these texts’ role in carrying Holocaust memory further into the twenty-first century.
REGISTER
This event is free, but all participants must register in advance. Space is limited, so please do not request a paper unless you plan to attend.
ABOUT THE GERMAN STUDIES SEMINAR SERIES
The Newberry Library German Studies Seminar series provides a forum for scholarship-in-progress in the area of German studies. The seminar is particularly interested in papers that cross disciplinary boundaries and that reconceptualize the materials and conventions of German Studies as a field, including beyond the frames of the German language and nation state. Like all Newberry Scholarly Seminars, meetings are conversational and free and open to faculty, graduate students, and members of the public, who register in advance to request papers.