Issues Arising from Teaching Holocaust Film and Literature

Abstract

Teaching Holocaust Studies in an English Department presents more practical and theoretical challenges to both students and tutors than does any other course offered. In most cases, students are introduced not only to a new subject of study—the Holocaust—but also to a new genre—testimony—which requires a new genre-specific learning approach and analytical technique. The pedagogical encounter with the Holocaust inevitably confronts two central questions which both complicate and contribute to the ongoing process of teaching—why do we teach, and how do we teach? The former invites an ethical and moral stance on the importance of teaching and learning about the Holocaust: this usually takes the form of a hope that through the remembrance and study of the past, future genocide and atrocity will be avoided and the promise of “Never Again” will be fulfilled. In this context, the Holocaust is not simply a subject for study—learning for learning’s sake—but a remedy for the social ills of prejudice, discrimination, and violence.