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Steiner's Shoah : a conversation in silence

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Steiner's Shoah : a conversation in silence

Chatterley, Catherine D (1997) Steiner's Shoah : a conversation in silence. Masters thesis, Concordia University.

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Abstract

This study explores George Steiner's approach to the historical and literary representation of the Shoah. Steiner's conception of human language as a vibrant living organism, the prime carrier of both civilization and its opposite--nihilism, is foundational to his thought on Holocaust representation and, therefore, forms the spine of this thesis. Initially calling for silence in relation to the Shoah, Steiner has modified his conception of "silence" now to act as a metaphor, warning against the use of ordinary linguistic techniques when speaking or writing about the tremendum, the Holocaust. He argues that much of what is produced on the subject of the Holocaust is inadequate, even harmful in its tendency to add a kind of acceptability to the phenomenon by reducing and reproducing it within normal, articulate, acceptable language. Based on his own controversial theory of the causes of antisemitism in Western culture, "the blackmail of transcendence", Steiner argues that the only language into which the essential Shoah experience can be translated is theological.

Divisions:Concordia University > Faculty of Arts and Science > History
Item Type:Thesis (Masters)
Authors:Chatterley, Catherine D
Pagination:vi, 84 leaves ; 29 cm.
Institution:Concordia University
Degree Name:M.A.
Program:History
Date:1997
Thesis Supervisor(s):Krantz, Frederick
Identification Number:D 804.3 C365 1997
ID Code:180
Deposited By: Concordia University Library
Deposited On:27 Aug 2009 17:10
Last Modified:05 Aug 2021 18:22
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