The Holocaust and the Nonrepresentable : Literary and Photographic Transcendence / by David Patterson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Patterson, David, 1948- author.

Series:

SUNY series in contemporary Jewish thought.

SUNY series in contemporary Jewish thought

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Influence.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945).

Photographs--Moral and ethical aspects..

Photographs.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), and art.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in literature.

Aesthetics--Moral and ethical aspects.

Aesthetics.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Moral and ethical aspects.

Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Historiography.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (pages :) illustrations ;

Place of Publication:

Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, [2018]

Summary:

Many books focus on issues of Holocaust representation, but few address why the Holocaust in particular poses such a representational problem. David Patterson draws from Emmanuel Levinas's contention that the Good cannot be represented. He argues that the assault on the Good is equally nonrepresentable and this nonrepresentable aspect of the Holocaust is its distinguishing feature. Utilizing Jewish religious thought, Patterson examines how the literary word expresses the ineffable and how the photographic image manifests the invisible. Where the Holocaust is concerned, representation is a matter not of imagination but of ethical implication, not of what it was like but of what must be done. Ultimately Patterson provides a deeper understanding of why the Holocaust itself is indefinable—not only as an evil but also as a fundamental assault on the very categories of good and evil affirmed over centuries of Jewish teaching and testimony.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

List of Photographs

Acknowledgments

Preface

Reflections on Holocaust Representation and the Nonrepresentable

The Literary Transcendence of Holocaust Representation

The Photographic Transcendence of Holocaust Representation

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781438470061

1438470061

OCLC:

1037272793