The Holocaust Memorial Museum: Sacred Secular Space

ISBN-13: 9781137451354 / Angielski / Twarda / 2015 / 252 str.

Avril Alba

Opis

The Holocaust Memorial Museum uncovers and explores the sacred underpinnings of these increasingly influential institutions. It reveals and traces the transformation of ancient Jewish symbols, rituals, archetypes and narratives in these sites, arguing that the effect of these 'built theodicies' is to turn 'what the Holocaust was', and 'what it has come to mean', into largely redemptive narratives. Avril Alba brings these insights to bear on three major Holocaust memorial museums in the US, Israel and Australia, demonstrating how in each institution the mythic scope of these sacred visions radically transforms the meaning of the history on display, producing diverse and sometimes conflicting conclusions as to the significance and utility of Holocaust memory in the present.

Recenzje

"Alba's book is an outstanding contribution to the discussion of what can and ought to follow the imminent arrival of the post-participant stage in Holocaust memorialization." (Arthur Shostak, The European Legacy, Vol. 22 (5), March, 2017)

O autorze

Avril Alba is Lecturer in Holocaust Studies and Jewish Civilisation at the University of Sydney, Australia. From 2002-2011 she was the Education Director at the Sydney Jewish Museum where she also served as the Project Director/Curator for the refurbishment of the Sydney Jewish Museum's permanent exhibition 'Culture and Continuity'. She teaches, researches and consults in the areas of Holocaust representation, Jewish and museum studies.