Hahajjaj
Introduction
We can say that representing the holocaust does not differ from the dilemma of representing any other historical event. But in the representation of the Holocaust, the options taken by the artist and the filmmaker or the historian in the expression of this reference are affected by a specific dramatic dimension. This is a consequence of its close character, both temporarily and culturally, and for its monstrosity. From this unique and monstrous character, the thesis of the "irresponsibility" of the Holocaust has been derived, which basically states that this is of such a nature that escapes the subjection of language to describe it or any means to represent it.
There are many authors who have tried to explain the difficulty of the representation of the Shoah. The philosopher Jean François Lyotard used the earthquake metaphor to explain the difficulties of approaching Auschwitz;an earthquake so acute that it has managed to destroy all measuring instruments. Elie Wiesel states that Auschwitz has a different nature, a mystery section of history, which cannot be understood and therefore raises irresolvable challenges to its representation. According to Saul Friedlander, on the other hand, being the most radical case of genocide in history (systematic, industrially and successful organized), speaks of the Holocaust and refers to "putting our traditional conceptual and representational categories to the test.
The characteristics of the object, what makes it different from other historical moments either because of its historical and moral differences, has consequences on the forms and ways of its representation. Similarly, what the event was, restricts or excludes certain possibilities of representation due to the hardness of the events that took place there. These limitations and restrictions affect all fields from which their interpretation, representation and recall will be addressed. Some of the examples of these representations are: literature, historiography, art, cinema, museums and monuments.
The representation of the Holocaust is locked in the paradox that is based on two irreconcilable mandates: the obligation to remember and the prohibition of aestheticizing. Consolidating a collective memory of an event is subject to a moral precept that rejects all forms of artistic expression, since any aesthetic pleasure is inevitably confronted with the memory of the Holocaust.
Leave feedback