Popular Culture and the Shaping of Holocaust Memory in America

by Alan Mintz

Overview

The Holocaust took place far from the United States and involved few Americans, yet rather than receding, this event has assumed a greater significance in the American consciousness with the passage of time. As a window into the process whereby the Holocaust has been appropriated in American culture, Hollywood movies are particularly luminous. Popular Culture and the Shaping of Holocaust Memory in America examines reactions to three films: Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), The Pawnbroker (1965), and Schindler’s List (1992), and considers what those reactions reveal about the place of the Holocaust in the American mind, and how those films have shaped the popular perception of the Holocaust. It also considers the difference in the reception of the two earlier films when they first appeared in the 1960s and retrospective evaluations of them from closer to our own times.

Alan Mintz also addresses the question of how Americans will shape the memory of the Holocaust in the future, concluding with observations on the possibilities and limitations of what is emerging as the major resource for the shaping of Holocaust memory—videotaped survivor testimony. Popular Culture and the Shaping of Holocaust Memory in America examines some of the influences behind the broad and deep changes in American consciousness and the social forces that permitted the Holocaust to move from the margins to the center of American discourse.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295803692
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	04/01/2012
Series:	Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	222
File size:	29 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	18 Years

Table of Contents

Preface

1. From Silence to Salience

2. Two Models in the Study of Holocaust Representation

3. The Holocaust at the Movies: Three Studies in Reception

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

The Pawnbroker (1965)

Schindler’s List (1993)

4. The Future of Memorialization

Notes

Index

What People are Saying About This

Naomi Sokoloff

"Mintz’s insights give pause for thought on matters of great interest to educators, parents, and the Jewish community as a whole, in addition to scholars in a range of fields, including literary studies, American studies, film studies, and popular culture as well as Holocaust studies."

James E. Young

The questions and issues Mintz raises throughout his book take the study of these texts to a sophisticated yet sensible new level. Mintz challenges the assumption that there are automatic lessons to be learned from such memory, or that there can be any redemption in such memory. These are crucial insights which deserve the widest possible audience.

Editorial Reviews

Protesting that he is a specialist neither in Holocaust studies nor American studies, Mintz (Hebrew literature, Jewish Theological Seminary, New York City) speaks as a cultural critic and an American Jew who is concerned for the future of Holocaust remembrance. In his four lectures, he applies to the US what he has learned looking at Israeli accounts. The CiP data shows a different ISBN. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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