Each scholar working in the field of Holocaust literature and representation has a story to tell. Not only the scholarly story of the work they do, but their personal story, their journey to becoming a specialist in Holocaust studies.
What academic, political, cultural, and personal experiences led them to choose Holocaust representation as their subject of research and teaching? What challenges did they face on their journey? What approaches, genres, media, or other forms of Holocaust representation did they choose and why? How and where did they find a scholarly "home" in which to share their work productively? Have political, social, and cultural conditions today affected how they think about their work on Holocaust representation? How do they imagine their work moving forward, including new challenges, responses, and audiences? These are but a few of the questions that the authors in this volume address, showing how a scholar's field of research and resulting writings are not arbitrary, and are often informed by their personal history and professional experiences.
This is a book equivalent of the intimacy of sitting down with a colleague and asking them just how they ended up researching what they do. Their moving and insightful responses reveal the influence of people and texts as well as the importance of the shifting national contexts of post-war America, Britain and Israel on research in Holocaust literature and representations. Reading this book not only do you get to know the scholars featured here better, but also the evolution of a field that they have pioneered and contributed to.