Pat Henry
529-4090
717 Abbott Road
henrypg@whitman.edu


World Literature 210
Fall 2005
The Literature and Film of the Holocaust in France

 

August 27 (Language Lab 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.)

Introductory Class (two hours)
Films: Nuit et Brouillard (1955) Alain Resnais
Interview avec Marcel Jabelot (1995) Barbara Barnett
Extracts from Polish Jews and The Warsaw Ghetto (first 35 minutes)
(Syllabus, Discussion of films, Handouts, Exposés)

August 28 (Language Lab 3:00 – 6:00 p.m.)

Films: Extracts from Polish Jews and The Warsaw Ghetto (final 35 minutes)
The Pianist (2002) Roman Polanski


I   LITERATURE WRITTEN DURING THE HOLOCAUST

August 30 – September 3 (Pat Henry’s House 6:30-11:00 p.m.)

Book: Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto, Emmanuel Ringelblum
Music: “A Survivor from Warsaw,” Arnold Schoenberg
Film: Korczak (1990) Andrzej Wajda

September 4 - 10

Books: The Terezin Requiem (by) Josef Bor; I never saw another butterfly. Children’s Drawings and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp, 1942-1944, Hana Volavkova (ed.)
Music: Defiant Requiem: Verdi at Terezin, directed by Murry Sidlin (last 30 minutes)
Films: The Fuhrer Gives a City to the Jews (22 minutes)
          The Last Butterfly (1994) Karel Kachyna

September 11 - 17 (Paper due: September 16; 4 p.m. in my box in Olin)

Readings: A selection of poetry by:
    Mordechai Gebirtig
   Willy Rosen
   Leo Strauss
   Abraham Sutzkever
   Wladyslaw Szlengel
   Simcha Bunim Shayevitsh
   Yitzhak Katzenelson
   Kadya Molodovsky
   Jacob Glatstein

Films:
   Triumph of the Will (1935) Leni Riefenstahl (extracts; 40 minutes)
   The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993) Ray Miller (extracts; 25 minutes)
   Chaplin (1992) Richard Attenborough (extracts; 8 minutes)
   The Great Dictator (1940) Charlie Chaplin


II HOLOCAUST LITERATURE WRITTEN FROM MEMORY

September 18 - 24

Book: Night, Elie Wiesel
Films: L’Oeil de Vichy (1993) Claude Chabrol (extracts; 30 minutes)
          Le Silence de la Mer (1947) Jean-Pierre Melville

September 25 – October 1

Book: Survival in Auschwitz, Primo Levi
Film: The Grey Zone (2002) Tim Blake Nelson

October 2 - 8

Book: The Drowned and the Saved, Primo Levi
Film: The Truce (1997) Francesco Rosi

October 9 - 15

Book: Auschwitz and After (pp.VII-231), Charlotte Delbo
Film: Une Affaire de femmes (1987) Claude Chabrol

October 16 - 22

Book: Auschwitz and After (pp.223-355), Charlotte Delbo
Film: Playing for Time (1980) Daniel Mann (written by Arthur Miller)

October 23 - 29

Book: Rue Ordener/Rue Labat, Sarah Kofman
Film: Monsieur Klein (1976) Joseph Losey

October 30 – November 5th (Paper due: November 4th; 4 p.m. in my box in Olin)

Films: Docteur Petiot, (1990) Christian de Chalonge;
          Un Héros très discret (1997) Jacques Audiard


III HOLOCAUST LITERATURE OF THE SECOND GENERATION

November 6 - 12

Book: Night Rounds, Patrick Modiano
Film: Lacombe, Lucien (1974) Louis Malle

November 13 - 19

Book: Maus: A Survivor’s Tale (I:My Father Bleeds History), Art Spiegelman
Film: Le Chagrin et la pitié (1969) Marcel Orphüls (Part One: The Collapse)

November 28 – December 3

Book: Maus: A Survivor’s Tale (II: And Here My Troubles Began), Art Spiegelman
Film: Le Chagrin et la pitié (1969) Marcel Orphüls (Part Two: The Choice)

December 4 - 10 (Paper due: December 9th; 4 p.m. in my box in Olin)

Films: Au revoir les enfants (1987) Louis Malle
(Excerpts):
   The Courage to Care (1985)
   Weapons of the Spirit (1987)
   Assignment Rescue: Varian Fry (1997)
   The Children of Chabannes (2000)
   The French Catholic Church’s Apology (1997)

Please Note:
1. Final grade is based on three papers, exposés given in class, general class participation and Blackboard postings.

2. You will have to write three papers: one on literature written during the Holocaust (4 pages); one on Holocaust literature written from memory (6 pages); one on Holocaust literature of the second generation (4 pages). These papers are due respectively at 4 p.m. in my box in Olin on the following dates: September 16; November 4; December 9.

3. No Absences allowed.

4. Blackboard Postings: By 8 a.m. on the mornings of our class (except for the two weeks when there are no readings), students will be expected to have posted a one-page response to the readings for that day. All of us will also be expected to read all postings in preparation for classroom discussion.

5. Books on Reserve

1. Michael R. Marrus, The Holocaust In History (Penguin, 1987)
2. Michael R. Marrus (and) Robert O. Paxton, Vichy France and the Jews, (Stanford University Press, 1981)