Holocaust impiety in literature, popular music and film
By: Matthew Boswell
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 211
ISBN-13: 9780230231955
Subjects: National socialism and music; History and criticism; Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in motion pictures; Punk rock music; Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in literature
Description: Holocaust Impiety in Literature, Popular Music and Film is an account of provocative and controversial representations of the Holocaust. Many well-known artists have attracted criticism for approaching the Nazi genocide in ways that have been deemed ill-conceived or offensive. Examples include Sylvia Plath's notorious claim that 'Every woman adores a Fascist' in her poem 'Daddy' and songs such as 'Belsen Was a Gas' by the Sex Pistols. The Holocaust has even provided material for stand-up comedy and gory Hollywood blockbusters such as Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. In this book, MatthewBoswell argues that while such works are often shocking, the value of shock should not be lightly dismissed in the context of the Holocaust. Drawing on the philosopher Gillian Rose's criticisms of what she termed 'Holocaust piety' and its claim that the only possible response to the Holocaust is a respectful silence, this book considers how irreverent works of fiction play an important role in shaping our contemporary understanding of the Nazi genocide and also of ourselves, prompting us to reflect on what it means to be human in light of the tragic events that they reference.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Poetry. Sylvia Plath, Ariel (1965) and other poems; title: W. D. Snodgrass, The fuehrer bunker (1995); title: Popular music. American punk: Ramones, Ramones (1976); title: English punk: Sex pistols, Never mind the bollocks, Here's The sex pistols (1977) and The great rock 'n' roll swindle (1979); title: Post-punk: Joy division, Closer (1980); title: Post-punk rock: Manic Street preachers, The holy Bible (1994); title: Film. Night and fog (Alain Resnais, 1955); title: Shoah (Claude Lanzmann, 1985); title: The grey zone (Tim Blake Nelson, 2001); title: Inglourious basterds (Quentin Tarantino, 2009).