Primo&Levi, Survival&in&Auschwitz&

Transcription

OneMarch,2013

ptyandherwombcoldLikeafroginwinter.

rchildrenturntheirfacesfromyou.

ourofthevicRmsaboutwhichsomuchhasbeensaid.”

ny.”(p.105)Dr.Pannwitz,Elias,Henri,Kuhn

e?NoCharacterisRcs–general- ‐powerful,terrifying,large- ‐Malevolent- ‐Imaginarycreature- ‐ Incongruouselements- ‐ Rareandextraordinary- ‐ Portentormarvel- ‐ Signwhich“demonstrates”orwarns- ‐ toftheSphinx.”(p.105)

��spreface,p.9

PRIMOLEVI“anextraordinaryordinaryman” 1919- uschwitz:25yearsoldAuthor:27yearsold

ristkeinwarum”(p.29)

Whyinthe20thcentury’stop100?

KATABASIS- ‐THEDESCENTNARRATIVEHomer,OdysseyVirgil,Aeneid

Dante,DivineComedy,CanRco1,Inferno

KatabaRcNarraRve DescentNarraRveMoRfs amnedsoulsolencomparedtobirds,leavesetc.Animal- descent,turningpoint,returntosurface

Whydoestheprotagonistdescend? ssione.g.Odysseus,Aeneas Dante,Marlow,Levi. 20thcenturyhorrorrootedinanimperialisRcvision suchdescentnarraRves

ATransformaRveJourney himself oughdifficulttestsordegradaRons heprotagonistreachestheturningpoint ftheliving

HADES,THEUNDERWORLD,HELLaverybriefoutline Hades- reasoulreadiesitselfforreincarnaRon TheMedievaltheologicalHell(ofe.g.Dante)- oulsofsinnersgo �,exceptforfundamentalistbelievers,butaself- e,inthehereandnow. inaccountsofmodernhell.

demoliRonofaman”(p.26).

tbelikethis.”(p.22) HellandtheLagerareoutsidenormalhumanexperience placedinthemostextremeofcircumstances chwitzasaplaceofhumaninjusRce ning- ‐pointforLevi’sjourneythroughAuschwitz manspirit.

�ontheotherside.’”(p.18)

wodifferentdirecRons.”(p.19)

RveofourCharon.”(p.21)

ldisamomentsetapartandnoted.

peech; utrust.”(KingMinostoDanteV,19)

dge unterinhell. Steinlauf:thepowertorefuseconsent NullAchtzein:theMusulmann etoothers donceinside ntact

p.27)OnthebofomweareintroducedtotheMusulmann

usmass,conRnuallyrenewedandalwaysidenRcal,ofnon- snotatraceofathoughtistobeseen.”(p.90)

esandshakenbythewind.”(p.42)

MUSULMANN NamingbyanumberfollowstheNazisystemofidenRficaRon me,RredsheikhsinBuchenwald) NamescoinedbyNazisorbythelong- ‐terminmatesinthecampsandarederogatory M.DuschnellKrematoriumferPg.”) friend,”“companion”and“once- ‐strongman”.

WhataManIs ldprovesohardytoventuretheuncharteddistances ”(p.113) dsthehollowseasclosedup.”(p.115) lerknowledgeandexcellence.”(p.113)

wdofsoup- ourheadsthehollowseasclosedup.”

awakening

TheAscent“ tiswork,thatisthetask.”Virgil,Aeneid,6.126- ‐131

mostvicioussadist.”(p.172)

witz RmeluredbyseducRon. oodina“normal”world ’simportantcontribuRontoHolocauststudies vesortoalleviateunspeakablepersonalsuffering

l”inwhichLevioutlinesthesmallcompromises.

) ” rominentsformasadandnotablehumanphenomenon.” Therecanbeno“rushtojudgement” erkommandos(SK)or“crematoriumravens”

d“monstrousacRons” NotallacRonintheLageris“beyondgoodandevil” EliasLindzin(pp.95–98):“ razyspeech.” .130) ttoseehimagain.”

dLeviisnota“pardoner”

HOLOCAUST Atermingeneralusagebythe1950’s ofanIndian. �meaningtotalconsumpRonbyfire. Termisappliedtogenocideinitsmostextremeform taRonssuggesRngsacrificialvicRmhood.

GENOCIDE ent” roup. DerivaRon–ancientGreekgenos(raceortribe) LaRnoccidio(slaughter) nocide,adoptedbytheU.N.onDecember9,1948

COMMONFACTORSINGENOCIDE Killingisstate- ‐sancRoned tostarttheprocess. agroup theformofpunishmentfromthegodswouldbeaverted. anguageofscapegoaRng.

THEAGEOFGENOCIDE(the20thcentury) “Themythdeeplyimprintedintheself- .”(Z.Bauman,ModernityandtheHolocaust) odinhumanhistorythe“latebarbarian” edicatedonthegrowthofnaRon- ‐statessincetheendoftheMiddleAges.Decision- sibilityforthehorrorsthatareperpetrated. binary)

Levi&AnR- ‐SemiRsmDealingwiththe‘monstrousother’ “aquietstudyofthehumanmind” chain,thereistheLager.”(p.9) chwasacentreofpower. ��erence.Jewsincreasinglybecomeoutsiders

ath.AnR- on- ofintenseanR- eofself

985“Thearmyofthosewhodiedinvain” Marne Montecassino Treblinka Dresden Hiroshima DisappearedonesofBuenosAires Cambodia Ethiopia PraguenegoRators Bled- ‐dryofCalcufa InnocentsslaughteredinBologna

Katabac &Narrave& DescentNarrave& MoRfs& The&protagonistenters&aplace&apart A&guide&or&guides&to&or&from&the&underworld& IniRatory&rite(s)&