Memory Work - (Palgrave MacMillan Memory Studies) by Nina Fischer (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Memory Work studies how Jewish children of Holocaust survivors from the English-speaking diaspora explore the past in literary texts. By identifying areas where memory manifests - Objects, Names, Bodies, Food, Passover, 9/11 it shows how the Second Generation engage with the pre-Holocaust family and their parents' survival.

Review Quotes

'Nina Fischer's exploration of Second Generation Holocaust literature goes beyond conventional notions of family memory as defined by trauma and pathology. In a crowded field, hers is a new voice, clear, subtle, and moving.' Jay Winter, Charles J. Stille Professor of History, Yale University, USA

'A capacious interdisciplinary study that takes us beyond the impasses of trauma, focusing instead on nodes and continuities that enable the transmission of a 'usable past'. Nina Fischer's command of the field is impressive, she approaches her corpus with tact and generosity, her writing is clear and accessible. A superb intervention in memory studies.' Debarati Sanyal, Professor of French, University of California Berkeley, USA

About the Author

Nina Fischer teaches Jewish Studies at the University of Edinburgh, UK. She has held positions and fellowships at the University of Konstanz, the Australian National University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research areas include Holocaust, Memory, Cultural, and Jewish Studies.