Re-Evaluating “Authenticity” In Holocaust Literature – Memory And Trauma In Recent Holocaust Fiction

This thesis provides a structural and para-textual analysis of recent Holocaust fiction. Challenging the assumption of the superiority of “authentic” representations of the psychological effects of this historic event, I will highlight the cultural and pedagogical effects of fictionalized accounts of the Holocaust. A short analysis of the terms “memory,” “trauma,” and “history” as understood in the research field of Holocaust studies, will be substantial in debunking the failures of memory as perfect ways to recreate historical “truths.” Theories about trauma and memory by scholars such as Cathy Caruth and Dominick LaCapra will serve as reference points in the validation of fictional accounts of the Holocaust as important alternatives to first-hand accounts. I will demonstrate the writers’ awareness of a realistic representation of traumatic experiences without claiming that they represent the truth. The authors need to be aware of their positioning in the Holocaust discourse as writers of fictional accounts and make this aspect visible in their writings so that the texts cannot be classified as fraud or representations of appropriation of victimhood. Analyzed texts will include Maus by Art Spiegelman, Austerlitz by W. G. Sebald, Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, and The Canvas (Die Leinwand) by Benjamin Stein. These texts diverge from previous representations of the topic in terms of narrative technique and various literary methods that are combined into hybrid forms. In doing so, they emphasize the constructivist nature of narratives as such, and offer essential new ways of representation that do not focus on historical “truths,” but on ways in which memory tricks people into presumably false identifications of identity and history. They thus represent poignantly the inner lives of traumatized persons and the people they are in contact with

Bis(2-amino-3-carb­oxy­pyridinium) sulfate trihydrate

In the title compound, 2C6H7N2O2 +·SO4 2−·3H2O, there are two independent cations which are connected into N—H⋯O hydrogen-bonded dimers. In the crystal, O—H⋯O hydrogen-bonded sulfate–water sheets run parallel to (001) and are linked into a three-dimensional network via inter­molecular N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds through the 2-amino­nicotinium dimers. Further stabilization is provided by weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. R 4 3(10) and R 2 2(8) graph-set rings are observed. The crystal studied was an inversion twin with refined components of 0.45 (6) and 0.55 (6)

Magnetic properties of a new molecular-based spin-ladder system: (5IAP)2CuBr4*2H2O

We have synthesized and characterized a new spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic ladder: bis 5-iodo-2-aminopyridinium tetrabromocuprate(II) dihydrate. X-ray diffraction studies show the structure of the compound to consist of well isolated stacked ladders and the interaction between the Cu(2+) atoms to be due to direct Br...Br contacts. Magnetic susceptibility and magnetization studies show the compound to be in the strong-coupling limit, with the interaction along the rungs (J' ~ 13 K) much greater than the interaction along the rails (J ~ 1 K). Magnetic critical fields are observed near 8.3 T and 10.4 T, respectively, establishing the existence of the energy gap.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B Figure 4 did not print. *.eps files replaced with figures.ps fil