Language:
English
Year of publication:
2000
Titel der Quelle:
Theoretical Inquiries in Law
Angaben zur Quelle:
1,2 (2000) 465-507
Keywords:
Arendt, Hannah,
;
Eichmann, Adolf,
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Influence
;
War crime trials
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
Abstract:
The significance of the Eichmann trial lies in the fact that it created a narrative of the Holocaust; victims were in the center of this narrative, and the State of Israel as the initiator of the trial came to represent them and to give them voice. The trial also created a legal narrative capable of approaching a crime of such an unprecedented nature. Afterward, the Holocaust became a collective and transmissible story and also a modern folktale of justice. Contends that Arendt's "Eichmann in Jerusalem" contributed no less than the prosecutor's opening speech and the trial proceedings to the creation of this narrative and to making the trial a powerful historical event. Israel created, in Nietzsche's terms, a "monumental history" of the Holocaust and the trial, whereas Arendt created a "critical history". Arendt disputes the official view of the trial on both juridical grounds (her philosophy of law is conservative) and on epistemological grounds (her philosophy of history is revolutionary). Her focus is not on the victims, but on the criminal and the nature of the crime. See the response by Marianna Torgovnick ["Critical Inquiry" 28, 3 (2002) 780-784] in which she reproaches Felman for an attempt to sacralize the Holocaust, for using terms like "myth" and "folktale", and for contrasting too sharply Arendt's attitude with that of the judges. Pp. 785-789 contain Felman's response.
Description / Table of Contents:
Torgovnick, Marianna. A response to Shoshana Felman. Critical Inquiry 28,3 (2002) 780-784.
Description / Table of Contents:
Felman, Shoshana. A response to Marianna Torgovnick. Ibid. 785-789.
Note:
Appeared also in "Critical Inquiry" 27,2 (2001) 201-238. Appeared in French as "Théâtres de justice; Hannah Arendt à Jérusalem; le procès Eichmann et la redéfinition du sens de la loi dans le sillage de l'Holocauste" in "Les Temps Modernes" 615-616 (2001) 23-74.
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