A Critical Companion to Jorge Semprún - (Studies in European Culture and History) by O Ferrán & G Herrmann (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Presenting the first English-language collection of essays on Jorge Semprún, this volume explores the life and work of the Spanish Holocaust survivor, author, and political activist. Essays explore his cultural production in all its manifestations, including the role of testimony and fiction in representations of the Holocaust.

Review Quotes

"Ofelia Ferrán and Gina Herrmann's A Critical Companion to Jorge Semprún is a gift and an invitation. Presenting Semprún's probing insights about history and politics, memory and testimony, art and ethics, its expert essays draw their readers to join him on the moral journey that led from his World War II captivity in the Buchenwald concentration camp to lifelong resistance against cruelty, oppression, and injustice. Thanks to Ferrán, Herrmann, and their companions, Semprun's voice will be amplified, the vision of a vital European writer magnified." - John K. Roth, Edward J. Sexton Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College, USA

"A comprehensive and illuminating collection of essays that will finally introduce English-speaking readers to the work of a major literary figure of the past fifty years. The varied critical approaches in this volume explore the complex dimensions of a long career that spanned more than five decades. They should inspire readers to turn to Semprún's own rich and imaginative contributions to the intellectual history of our time." - Lawrence L. Langer is the author of The Holocaust and the Literary Imagination, Holocaust Testimonies: The Ruins of Memory, and Using and Abusing the Holocaust.

"Paraphrasing Isaiah Berlin, one could argue that Jorge Semprún's literary lineage comes from many mansions. So much so that it is a true challenge to gather them all, with the purpose of offering a plural, complex, andcritical view of his vast work. In any case, his experience in the fields of Buchenwald represents a definitive anchoring point. A Critical Companion to Jorge Semprún: Buchenwald, Before and After constitutes the most profound inquiry to date on the oeuvre of the Spanish-French writer. It is an indispensable study to grasp the relations between morality, politics, and literature." - Anna Caballé Masforroll, Professor of Spanish Literature, University of Barcelona, Spain

About the Author

Txetxu Aguado, Dartmouth College, USA Antoine Bargel, Writer and Translator, France Carol Bernstein, Bryn Mawr College, USA Emmanuel Bouju, Université de Haute-Bretagne, Rennes-II, France Jaime Céspedes Gallego, University of Artois, France Dorota Glowacka, King's College, Canada Ruth Klüger, University of California, Irvine, USA Tijana Miletic, Freelance Translator, UK Françoise Nicoladzé, Lycée Henri IV, France Francisco Javier Pradera, Writer, Spain Esteve Riambau, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain María Angélica Semilla Durán, Université Lumière Lyon 2, France Ursula Tidd, University of Manchester, UK Ulrich Winter, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany