Title: Adopted Memory: The Holocaust, Postmemory, and Jewish Identity in America
Abstract: Adopted Memory: The Holocaust, Postmemory, and Jewish Identity in America The Holocaust is an important motif in the art and literature by American-Jewish authors of Eastern European background who are also descendants of Holocaust survivors. Their imagining of the Holocaust is at times infused with a strong nostalgic “postmemorial” longing. While these works may present this longing in a self-conscious fashion, the ways in which they are received by an American audience without a familial connection to the Holocaust can nevertheless be problematic. For highly assimilated American Jews, these works may not facilitate any kind of a genuine encounter with the horror of the Holocaust, but instead function merely to foster a stronger fascination with the imagined more “authentic” Jewish life of the sthetl. As such, it strengthens Jewish identity on the basis of nostalgia.
Publication Year: 2006
Publication Date: 2006-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 2
AI Researcher Chatbot
Get quick answers to your questions about the article from our AI researcher chatbot