The 2015-2016 American Studies Seminar Series began at the
Andrew Hook Centre with a thought-provoking presentation from Dr Rachael
McLennan of the University of East Anglia.
Dr McLennan focussed on the novel, Hope:
A Tragedy by Shalom Auslander and Nathan Englander’s short story, “What We
Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank” to explore how Anne Frank and the
Holocaust are represented in 21st century American fiction. Dr McLennan suggested humour may have an
important place in how we consider both Anne Frank and the Holocaust,
reflecting that Philip Roth’s novel, The
Ghost Writer dealt with both topics irreverently. However, rather than being disrespectful,
irreverence was used to challenge readers’ views and assumptions.
Through her discussion of Auslander and Englander’s work, Dr
McLennan highlighted the ways in which both authors challenge traditionally
held views of Anne Frank as a saintly figure who must be protected from impiety
and criticism. Through deploying the use
of humour, the authors remove the protective aura surrounding popular ideas of
Anne Frank, thus enabling readers to identify a wider frame of reference. In ‘Teaching Anne Frank in the United States’,
Ilana Abramovich suggests popular perceptions of Anne Frank can actually
prevent people properly understanding the full-blown horror of the Holocaust
because they identify with her to such a great extent.[1] Perhaps Auslander and Englander’s approach is
not unlike that of Anne Frank’s own approach in her diary. In ‘Critical Thinking: Scholars Reread the
Diary’, Sally Charnow points out that Anne Frank critiqued her own parents and
their generation in her diary. This
enabled her to find her own voice, free from familial and cultural
expectations.[2] Authors such as Auslander and Englander use
their creativity to keep Anne Frank and the Holocaust in the public
consciousness while challenging widely accepted perceptions. This in turn prompts readers to actively
think, rather than only passively accept.
Dr McLennan also discussed the work of Michael Rothberg who
advocates ‘multidirectional memory’.
Rothberg argues that collective memory, the way in which social groups
establish a link between the past and present, is complex in multi-cultural
societies. He believes memory becomes
‘competitive’, creating a ‘logic of scarcity’ in which groups contest who has
been the most victimised, leading to a ‘hierarchy of suffering’, and notions of
deserving and undeserving groups.[3] Rothberg advocates the use of
‘multidirectional memory’ as a more productive way forward. By acknowledging all atrocities, each group
can support the other to highlight concerns about what happened in the past,
but also what is still happening in the present. He stresses the importance of observing the
narratives which influence how atrocities are remembered as well as the
facts. Rather than focussing on the
Holocaust to demonstrate we remember the past, we should remember it in
conjunction with current events which pose challenges to our identity. Rothberg’s views again highlight the active
nature of remembering and that it carries responsibilities if we wish to be
agents of change.
Dr McLennan concluded by observing that the work of authors
such as Auslander and Englander demonstrate the need to find symbols of the
Holocaust in 21st century America, particularly when many survivors
are dying. This raises the question of
whether Anne Frank is being used as a signifier but, in reality, how can one
person be all things to all people? Has
the exceptionalism which has arisen around Anne Frank obscured the real Anne
Frank? Have popular perceptions of the
Holocaust as the ultimate human tragedy ‘downgraded’ other atrocities and
ironically provided us with a ‘comfortable’ signifier for human suffering on a
scale which we cannot truly face? There
are also wider questions about how American Jews identify themselves within
America. Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett
and Jeffrey Shandler believe that Anne Frank’s life and work will soon “depend
entirely on mediations” because anyone who remembered her, the Holocaust or
World War II will soon have died. No
doubt future authors and scholars will continue to challenge how we remember
Anne Frank and the Holocaust. Dr
McLennan’s discussion highlighted the importance of remembrance as an activity
with which we engage, rather than passively accept.
Valerie MacKenzie
PGR – University of Glasgow
[1]
Ilana Abramovich, ‘Teaching Anne Frank in the United States’ in Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett
and Jeffrey Sanders (eds), Anne Frank
Unbound: Media, Imagination, Memory (Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
2012)
[2]
Sally Charnow, ‘ Critical Thinking: Scholars Reread the Diary’ in Barbara
Kirshenblatt-Gimblett and Jeffrey Sanders (eds), Anne Frank Unbound: Media, Imagination, Memory (Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 2012)
[3]
Michael Rothberg, Multidirectional
Memory: Remembering the Holocaust in the Age of Decolonisation (Stanford:
Stanford University Press, 2009)
