Imagining the Holocaust

This text examines widely read Holocaust narratives which have shaped the way we understand and respond to the events of that time. The author begins with first person narratives Wiesel's "Night" and Levi's "Survival at Auschwitz", and then turns to searingly realistic fictions such as Borowski's "This Way to the Gas Chamber, Ladies and Gentlemen", before turning to the Kafkaesque parables of Appelfeld and the fantastic cartoons of Spiegleman's "Maus" books. He argues that as we move further away from the original events, the narratives authors use to render the Holocaust horror evolve to include fantasy and parable, and he shows how diverse audiences respond differently to these highly charged and emotional texts.