ELAN 61022 Literary Representations of the Holocaust
The course will explore modes of representing the Holocaust in post-war Italian literary writing. Starting from an analysis of how the fascist regime progressively marginalized Italian Jewish citizens, thereby creating a Jewish problem , the course addresses the problem of literary writing on the Holocaust as a means of bearing witness about the genocide and of building a personal, social, collective, and national identity. In this context, particular attention will be paid to Primo Levis Se questo è un uomo seen both as a detailed example of the Italian aesthetic and social treatment of the Holocaust and as a general reflection on modes of writing about the Genocide. This course unit is not available in 2006-07.
Subject area: Italian
Language prerequisite: n/a
Teaching: Fortnightly seminars of one hour in Semester 2
Assessment: One coursework essay of 4,000 words
Credits: 15
Tutor: Dr Francesca Billiani