Holocaust literature : an encyclopedia of writers and their work /

The growing interest in the Holocaust over the past 40 years has increasingly engaged scholars and writers from numerous fields and made it the crucible for evaluating the human condition. The proliferation of books, articles, films, academic conferences, museums, university courses, and even state-mandated public education programs reveals the significance of the Shoah. Kremer's excellent reference work provides access to a broad, comparative perspective of differing Holocaust literatures and genres in critical analyses and assessments of literature of the Holocaust by some 300 poets, memoirists, dramatists, novelists, religious thinkers, and secular philosophers. The essays, ranging from 1,800 to 8,000 words, record the literary history of traditional and experimental texts and theories about the Holocaust. They provide fresh insights on familiar writers and introduce both writers of the second and third generations and lesser-known non-English language writers (the latter including Canadian, Latin American, Dutch, Greek, Italian, Russian, Hebrew, Yiddish, and Tunisian authors). Kremer has designed this source to facilitate research by students, scholars, and general readers on a wide range of Holocaust-related themes--e.g., the problematics of Holocaust literary transmission, including survivor memory, trauma theory, gender specificity. Among outstanding Holocaust literary figures are Theodor Adorno, Emil Fackenheim, Saul Friedlander, Dominick La Capra, Sara Horowitz, Alvin Rosenfeld, Sidra DeKoven Ezrahi, and James Young. Kremer's introduction supplies a good overview of various national Holocaust literatures, followed by two important bibliographies that focus on critical-theoretical concerns and on the different language groups. The set's most useful features are its glossary, appendixes, subject indexes, maps, and general index, which enable readers to approach Holocaust literature by literary themes, genres, language distribution, ghettos, camps, authors' birthplaces, and language. The essays were written by 120 specialists. ^BSumming Up: Essential. All Holocaust collections. D. Kranzler emeritus, Queensborough Community College, CUNY

A major addition to Holocaust Studies, this encyclopedia synthesizes a wide range of literary voices and provides a compelling look at more than 300 novelists, poets, memoirists, dramatists, and others writers who experienced the Holocaust (1933^-45) or otherwise integrated the subject into their works. Some experienced the Holocaust firsthand in places like Auschwitz, the Warsaw Ghetto, or Babi Yar, while others lived through it in the U.S., Europe, or elsewhere. Still others were influenced as second-and third-generation writers, as children of survivors, or via other routes. The editor is a professor of English at Kansas State University, where she teaches courses in Holocaust literature and film. The wide range of contributors (from Europe, the U.S., Israel, and elsewhere) greatly enhances the relevance of this work, as scholars from around the world interpret the Holocaust from a variety of perspectives. The encyclopedia provides comprehensive coverage of authors who made the Holocaust the primary focus of their writings (Aharon Appelfeld, Elie Weisel, Viktor Frankl, Nava Semel, and Primo Levi, among others). It also has a significant number of Jewish and some non-Jewish authors who may not be viewed as "Holocaust writers," such as Yehudah Amichai, Cynthia Ozick, Jean-Paul Sartre, and William Styron. The authors have written in Hebrew, English, Yiddish, Polish, German, French, and other languages, but most if not all have had their works translated into English. The detailed entries (between 2,000 and 8,000 words long) treat how each author used her or his literary talents to respond to the Holocaust. Each entry follows a similar pattern of describing the author's work and then placing that work within the framework of Holocaust literature and other forms of literary expression. Generous quotes from the writers' works enhance the analysis and give the entries a powerful journalistic feel without detracting from the academic integrity. Each entry ends with an exhaustive bibliography of primary and secondary sources related to the author's work. The appendixes bring together key events, historical figures, Holocaust literary themes and genres, authors' birthplaces and language composition, and other topics. These appendixes will greatly enhance research by tying together different subcategories of Holocaust studies. For example, researchers will be able to identify which writers experienced specific events, such as Kristallnacht or the Kindertransport, and which wrote on specific themes, such as postwar Jewish identity and resistance to Nazi persecution. This work has a number of similarities with the recently published one-volume Encyclopedia of Holocaust Literature [RBB S 1 02]. The alphabetically arranged entries in both are well written, and some of the same scholars contributed to both titles (including the editor of this encyclopedia). Both are strong survey texts that help put Holocaust writing into a historical and literary context. But the current work is much more comprehensive and includes both first-and second-generation Holocaust writers (and some third-generation). Encyclopedia of Holocaust Literature has about 130 entries and includes only first-generation writers. Libraries with Holocaust studies courses and others with an interest in this topic should purchase this title, as the number of authors covered and the strong bibliographic component make it an impressive resource for researchers and other serious students. This would also be an excellent purchase for large public libraries.

This satisfyingly useful and remarkably comprehensive reference source is sure to support research by academics, students ranging from high school through graduate school, and interested general readers. The bulk of this hefty two-volume set consists of 312 biographical and critical essays on Holocaust authors. Editor Kremer (English, Kansas State Univ.), a recognized expert on Holocaust literature and 20th-century Jewish American writers, has broadened the Holocaust canon by including and bringing fresh insight to bear on well-known writers such as Martin Amis, Jorge Luis Borges, Michael Chabon, Marge Piercy, Adrienne Rich, and others while introducing us to less familiar authors from a wide variety of languages and national literatures, including second- and third-generation writers. Each substantial, signed essay, ranging from 2000 to 8000 words, comments on the Holocaust background or interest of the author and discusses his or her major works, themes, styles, cultural contexts, contribution, and critical reception. Each entry is followed by a complete list of the author's primary works and a selective bibliography of the criticism. Rounding out the encyclopedia are a glossary, maps, and appendixes cross-listing authors and works by ghettoes, camps, historic figures, key events, literary themes, genres, languages, and author birth places. Oryx's Encyclopedia of Holocaust Literature, which covers the same ground, is a fine reference but addresses fewer than half of the authors found here, with shorter articles and less apparatus. Highly recommended.-Paul D'Alessandro, Portland P.L., ME (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.