Description
How films on the Holocaust gave birth to a new cinematic genre
About the Author
Joshua Hirsch is visiting lecturer in Film and Electronic Arts at the California State University, Long Beach.
Reviews
"While much has been written on the question of film and the Holocaust, Joshua Hirsch's thoughtful and lucid analysis breaks new ground. In the course of theorizing a posttraumatic cinema, he raises important issues regarding the politics of representation, the nature of documentary, and, most compellingly, the relationship between movies and history."-J. Hoberman, film critic, The Village Voice and author of Bridge of Light: Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds "Film and the Holocaust are initially linked in footage of a massacre of Jews in Latvia filmed by Reinhard Wiener in 1941. From that short set of images the medium becomes the primary means of the Western representation and comprehension of this incomprehensible moment in history. From documentaries to feature films, in Europe and in Hollywood, the Holocaust became one of the central topics of the modern cinema. Joshua Hirsch illustrates this brilliantly in his book on the image and afterimage of the Holocaust. It is readable, intelligent, and leaves room for much thought and contemplation."-Sander L. Gilman, author of Jewish Frontiers "This timely book explores in depth the way a set of exemplary documentary and fictional films contributed to a posttraumatic historical consciousness in the aftermath of the Holocaust. The value of Hirsch's well-informed and critically self-reflective account is enhanced by the fact that he treats films that crossed the boundary between avant-garde and mainstream culture, not only inevitable reference points such as Shoah and Night and Fog but also less discussed films such as The Pawnbroker and the important work of Istvan Szabo."-Dominick LaCapra, Bryce and Edith M. Bowmar Professor of Humanistic Studies, Cornell University "[E]xtensive and exhaustive."-Multicultural Review "Hirsch blends a sophisticated formal analysis with a deep understanding of the cultural and philosophical implications of the films he considers... [h]is work provides an exciting avenue for wider studies of Holocaust art."-Journal of Jewish Studies
Book Information
ISBN 9781592132096
Author Joshua Hirsch
Format Paperback
Page Count 232
Imprint Temple University Press,U.S.
Publisher Temple University Press,U.S.
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 18mm