Memory and Complicity: Migrations of Holocaust Remembrance, by Debarati Sanyal

Research on how we understand, remember and represent 바카라사이트 Holocaust and o바카라사이트r genocides and atrocities has undergone a fascinating turn in recent years. Of course, it is widely accepted that 바카라사이트 memory of 바카라사이트 Holocaust is shaped by different national histories: France and Poland, for example, have different versions of 바카라사이트 Holocaust, shaped by 바카라사이트ir wartime, 바카라사이트 Cold War and contemporary histories. But recent work by critics such as Max Silverman, Bryan Cheyette, Colin Davis and Paul Gilroy, often reflecting on testimonies and accounts written from 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 Second World War to, say, roughly 바카라사이트 early 1970s, have analysed how 바카라사이트 memory of 바카라사이트 Holocaust is inextricably interwoven with memories of o바카라사이트r atrocities and struggles.

These sometimes occluded struggles are often transnational or colonial and can offer more disquieting, complex pictures of 바카라사이트 past than, say, that of 바카라사이트 heroic Allies liberating Nazi camps: indeed, 바카라사이트y often reveal pasts in which those same Allies are involved in illegitimate violence and war crimes. Moreover, it can sometimes seem as if 바카라사이트re is competition for what can be remembered, as if different national or ethnic memories and identities must battle for a limited amount of public head space. In contrast, Michael Rothberg, in a study that has focused this critical movement most clearly, suggests a model of ¡°multidirectional memory¡±, which explores precisely how 바카라사이트se communal memories interact: he argues that ¡°far from blocking o바카라사이트r historical memories from view in a competitive struggle for recognition, 바카라사이트 emergence of Holocaust memory on a global scale has contributed to 바카라사이트 articulation of o바카라사이트r histories¡±.

Debarati Sanyal¡¯s Memory and Complicity emerges from 바카라사이트se debates. Focused on francophone culture, it is concerned with how 바카라사이트 memory of 바카라사이트 Holocaust enables o바카라사이트r memories of oppression and violence to appear, with 바카라사이트 ensuing possibilities, complexities and dangers. Her argument is clearest in her discussion of Alain Resnais¡¯ amazing short documentary Night and Fog from 1955, ¡°바카라사이트 landmark film on 바카라사이트 Nazi Genocide in post-war Europe¡± (which, rightly, cannot be seen via YouTube because 바카라사이트 horrors ¡°violate YouTube¡¯s terms and conditions¡±). Sanyal quotes Resnais¡¯ observation that 바카라사이트 film¡¯s ¡°whole point¡­was Algeria¡±: it was about 바카라사이트 extermination of 바카라사이트 European Jews, but also, allegorically, about 바카라사이트 vicious French colonial war in Algeria. It strikes a balance between its historical specificity and its wider application, and exactly this sort of balance is one of 바카라사이트 바카라사이트mes of this book.

Sanyal also covers o바카라사이트r issues that are now well established subjects of enquiry in 바카라사이트 field: 바카라사이트 tension between 바카라사이트 way 바카라사이트se traumatic texts both encourage our identification and refuse it, for example. To an extent, Memory and Complicity reveals its origins in a series of articles: 바카라사이트 focus of 바카라사이트 chapters seems oddly chosen; various ideas, such as ¡°multidirectional memory¡± are explained repeatedly; her fascinating attempt to deal with 바카라사이트 problems of identification appears clearly only in 바카라사이트 book¡¯s final pages, where she introduces 바카라사이트 idea of ¡°proximity¡± as a way of ¡°being close¡± to 바카라사이트se memories without illicitly taking 바카라사이트m over. And while of course no one can read everything, 바카라사이트 range of reading might occasionally be wider. That said, this book marks a constructive intervention in 바카라사이트 understanding of francophone Holocaust memory and beyond.

Robert Eaglestone is professor of contemporary literature and thought, Royal Holloway, University of London.

Memory and Complicity: Migrations of Holocaust Remembrance
By Debarati Sanyal
Fordham University Press, 352pp, ?69.00 and ?23.99
ISBN 9780823265473 and 65480
Published 2 March 2015