2023/24 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

MODL3200 Representing the Holocaust: Transgression and the Taboo

20 creditsClass Size: 20

Module manager: Dr Helen Finch
Email: h.c.finch@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semester 1 (Sep to Jan) View Timetable

Year running 2023/24

This module is approved as a discovery module

Module summary

This module addresses the questions: 'What are the taboos in representing the Holocaust in contemporary culture? How did the norms on how the Holocaust should be represented come into being? How have they changed in the eighty years since the beginnings of the genocide of European Jewry?' The module takes an interdisciplinary approach to novels and films that deal with the subject of the Holocaust, tracing the development of national memory cultures and exploring the current transnational trends in Holocaust representation. Is it really the case that there are no more taboos? The module is taught in English, and although there are no pre-requisites for the module, work will be at an advanced (Level 3) standard. You should be prepared for challenging reading and an advanced level of contribution to the seminar; some background reading or study on the history of the Holocaust would greatly help your preparation.

Objectives

This module addresses the questions: ‘What are the taboos in representing the Holocaust in contemporary culture? How did the norms on how the Holocaust should be represented come into being? How have they changed in the eighty years since the beginnings of the genocide of European Jewry?’ There are three main objectives to this module:

a) To apply close reading and interpretational skills to a challenging interdisciplinary body of work dealing with the genocide of European Jewry
b) To engage critically with the history of theoretical literature on Holocaust representation, in particular identifying and evaluating the various taboos, norms, canons and transgressions created
c) To contextualise this reading and critical engagement within contemporary debates on transnationalism, tolerance and intercultural communication.
d) To reflect on ways of engaging with the public on these debates.’

Learning outcomes
• Demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of an interdisciplinary selection of cultural
texts on the Holocaust.
• Demonstrate their understanding of aspects of the development of the debate on norms of
Holocaust representation.
• Develop a critical position on questions of the ‘taboo’
• Demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the broader social, political and historical
contexts within which these texts and taboos were developed
• Demonstrate a creative understanding of the ways in which these debates can be brought to
the wider public.

Skills outcomes
On completion of this module students should have developed advanced level skills of literary analysis through challenging secondary reading, close textual study, debate and writing practice

Syllabus

Indicative primary texts include:
Sylvia Plath, selected poems
Michel Tournier, The Ogre
DM Thomas, The White Hotel
Art Spiegelman, Maus
Liliana Cavani, The Night Porter
Edgar Hilsenrath, The Nazi and the Barber
Roberto Begnini, Life is Beautiful
W. G. Sebald, The Emigrants
Ruth Klueger, still alive. A Holocaust girlhood remembered
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Jonathan Littell, The Kindly Ones
Jachym Topol, The Devil's Workshop

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Seminar	10	2.00	20.00
Tutorial	2	0.50	1.00
Private study hours			179.00
Total Contact hours			21.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			200.00

Private study

Students will read primary texts in preparation for seminars, view a number of films, and study contextual (i.e. background) articles, and secondary literature.
Students will prepare presentations for the seminars, taking a position on a text studied.
Students will devise their own titles for their essay, in close collaboration with the course tutor, and have a half-hour tutorial with the class tutor to help guide them in this.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Non-assessed in-class presentations ensure that students actively engage with the subject matter during the semesters, as will the creation of an impact project based on the subject matter studied, and the final essay.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	2.000 words	50.00
Group Project	Written Group Project	50.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 09/05/2023

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