Language:
English
Year of publication:
1996
Titel der Quelle:
Critical Inquiry
Angaben zur Quelle:
22,2 (1996) 292-312
Keywords:
Spielberg, Steven,
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in motion pictures
Abstract:
Defends Spielberg's film "Schindler's List" against the views expressed by critical intellectuals, whose criticism has involved opposing it to Lanzmann's "Shoah, " an opposition made, in particular, by Lanzmann himself. These intellectuals blame "Schindler's List" for being a Hollywood product circumscribed by the tenets of the culture industry, for being a fictional narrative, and for showing the Holocaust through German eyes only. They also expressed doubts whether it is permissible to present the topic of the Holocaust in fictional form, and whether it is possible at all to represent the unrepresentable. Contends that Spielberg, by making this film, found a suitable vehicle to maintain the public memory of the Holocaust. Validates the Americanization of the Holocaust - it may and must be used by public opinion as an allegory of modernity gone wrong. "Schindler's List, " together with the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, marks the emergence of a new way of memorializing the Holocaust.
Note:
Appeared also in "Spielberg's Holocaust" (1997) and in "Visual Culture and the Holocaust" (2001).
URL:
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