Language:
English
Year of publication:
1996
Titel der Quelle:
Contemporary Literature
Angaben zur Quelle:
37,3 (1996) 370-390
Keywords:
Plath, Sylvia
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in literature
Abstract:
Examines why and how the Holocaust appears in Plath's poetry. Her personalized treatment of the Holocaust stems from two motives: a real sense of connection with the events (for whatever reasons), and a desire to combine the public and the personal in order to shock and cut through the "doubletalk" she saw in contemporary America, forming a link between the Holocaust and a potential nuclear war. Discusses the contrast between the resonance and diversity of Plath's use of myth and the single-dimensioned and impersonal use of history in the form of the Holocaust and Hiroshima. Contends that this produces a "boot in the face" effect which prohibits complaisance about the definitions of myth, history, and poetry in the post-Holocaust world.
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