Rewriting Good and Evil: The Ethics of Narrative Causality in Holocaust Fiction of Edgar Hilsenrath (1926-2018)

FAIN: FT-278950-21

Corey Lee Twitchell, PhD
Southern Utah University (Cedar City, UT 84720-2415)

Research and writing the fourth chapter of a book on Edgar Hilsenrath's novels, which analyzes the aesthetics of depicting disfigured and deformed characters.

Research and writing leading to publication of book on Holocaust survivor and German Jewish author Edgar Hilsenrath (1926-2018). The Holocaust has generated tremendous discussion about good and evil, much of which revolves around the notion that we can clearly distinguish between perpetrators and victims. In Hilsenrath’s works, both Jewish victims and Nazi perpetrators are rendered disfigured, transformed by violence, despite being on opposite ends of the spectrum. Hilsenrath thus rewrites common conceptions of good and evil. My project, Rewriting Good and Evil: The Ethics of Narrative Causality in Edgar Hilsenrath’s Disfigured Holocaust Fiction, is the first wide-ranging study to introduce the author and his fiction to English-speaking scholars, students, and other readers interested in the history of the Holocaust and its representation in literature. I seek support from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Summer Stipends program to complete the book's fourth chapter.