Ecologies of Exile: Exploring Literature Penned by Persecuted Writers during the Holocaust

Northeast Modern Language Association

Submission Deadline: September 30, 2023, at: https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/20750

Abstract

This seminar concerns the powerful and poignant canon of exile literature and focuses on works penned by authors who were forced to flee Nazi Germany. Working together, we will consider the diverse range of voices, themes, and artistic expressions that emerged from these exiled authors and artists. We will embark on a literary journey as we traverse across lines of identity to analyze works of memoir, fiction, essays, and poetry cultivated by individuals who sought safety transnationally. We will explore the interrelations between exile, stylistic and thematic choices, and conceptions of identity, belonging, and resistance.

Some areas of consideration are to include, but are not limited by, the following:

· The relationship between loss, displacement, and artistic imagination

· Sentiments of belonging, longing for home, and cultural identity

· Writing as resisting totalitarianism, persecution, and the Holocaust

· The transformative power of narrating survival and resilience

· Connections between emotional experiences and literary form

This seminar explores identity in exile and the powerful role literature plays as an act of resistance against oppression. We invite participants to engage with a diverse array of voices and perspectives from authors who underwent displacement and persecution, thus nurturing a deeper understanding of literary contributions as they are located within the broader socio-political context of their respective situations. We additionally seek to encounter how literary expression, survival, and displacement allow a deeper understanding regarding how their contributions to a literary landscape prove to be a remaining act of resistance and fortitude.

The seminar seeks to nurture the opportunity for participants to encounter the multilayered, transnational, and multilingual legacy penned by exiled writers fleeing Nazi Germany. Working together, we will honor the voices, perspectives, experiences, and work of our chosen authors and consider how their works continually contribute to understanding how human experience shapes persecution and the search for belonging.

Description

This seminar will consider the diverse range of voices, themes, and artistic expressions that emerged from exiled authors and artists during and following the Holocaust.

Additional Information

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the session organizer at: andrea.dawn.bryant@gmail.com