The traumatic memory of the Holocaust at museum and school

Postgraduate Thesis uoadl:1692324 848 Read counter

Unit:
Κατεύθυνση Μουσειακές Σπουδές
Library of the School of Philosophy
Deposit date:
2017-06-30
Year:
2017
Author:
Psilaki Vasiliki
Supervisors info:
Γιαντσή Νικολέττα, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια Μεσαιωνικής Ιστορίας της Δύσεως, Τμήμα Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Τζώρτζη Καλή , Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια Μουσειολογίας, Τµήµα Διαχείρισης Πολιτισµικού Περιβάλλοντος και Νέων Τεχνολογιών, Πανεπιστήμιο Πατρών
Σολομών Εσθήρ, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια Μουσειολογίας, Τμήμα Εικαστικών Τεχνών και Επιστημών της Τέχνης, Πανεπιστήμιο Ιωαννίνων
Original Title:
Η τραυματική μνήμη του Ολοκαυτώματος στο μουσείο και στο σχολείο
Languages:
Greek
Translated title:
The traumatic memory of the Holocaust at museum and school
Summary:
This Thesis entitled “The traumatic memory of the Holocaust at Museum and School” attempts to illuminate complex questions concerning the handling, the presentation and the transfer of the memory of this uniquely atrocious event, which marked the 20th century and disputed the value system of the ‘civilized’ Europe. It approaches the questions related to the truth (in the sense of non- oblivion), the perspective, the ways and the means of representation and narration, the purpose and the recipients of the produced narrative each time.
The aim of this study is twofold; first to reach the adventures of the traumatic memory of the Holocaust, but also the ways in which this memory is transcripted into the museum narrative and, on the other hand, taking advantage of the educational directions and methodological-didactic tools adopted by museums and educational institutions, to construct an integral teaching proposal of the Holocaust for students of beginning classes of primary school.
Undoubtedly, Holocaust memory occupies a central position not only in Europe, where the events took place, but also beyond it. However, this memory- primary traumatic- poses emotional features, hijacked each time by the place and the time, its social and political context. There cannot be a single, coherent memory, but multiple, unbalanced and sometimes contradictory memories. Persecutors, victims and winners could not be carriers of the same memory. As far as the Holocaust is concerned neutrality cannot exist.
As long as education, both formal and informal, is an entity which changes over time it is constantly fed and feeds on the society in which it operates, many factors determine the characteristics of memory that is preserved and imported. Answers to critical questions form different narratives, impose different readings. Whose memory should be preserved? For what end? By which means?
Methodologically this study is based on case studies of five museum institutions, three of which are in Europe, one is in America and one is in Israel. It is about United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Yad Vashem, Jewish Museum in Berlin, the Auschwitz – Birkenau Museum and Memorial and Jewish Museum of Greece. This selection was based on the dominant perspective of events that each of them takes in order to make possible a comprehensive analysis of the mnemonic culture of the Holocaust through the perspective of the perpetrator, the victim and the winner.
The study initially attempts to trace the paths of the Holocaust memory itself in these countries since the end of the war until nowadays. Then it deals with the presentation of the mission and the philosophy of the selected museums, but also tries to analyse their native and educational policy. Each of these factors contributed to the conception, formulation and final construction of the proposed teaching intervention.
The rich bibliographic research so far has mainly focused around the study of the memory of the Holocaust itself, relating it with both individual, psychological factors and with broader political, social, ideological considerations. This study moving further takes into consideration this traumatic memory with the generated each time museum narrative and the means that this narrative leverages to communicate specific messages to its readers. This study also attempts to highlight any convergences and divergences among museum representations, depending on the point of view that is adopted by each narrator.
The need of introducing systematic teaching in School about the Holocaust is extremely urgent today, at a time when terrorism, the exacerbation of the refugee issue and economic crisis create the prerequisite for the growth of right – wing, xenophobic racist formations throughout Europe.
Accepting the violations of the rights of “others” as well as our natives in the name of security, raises concern for the present and for the future of humanity. The accurate and timely instruction of conflicting historical events and especially the Holocaust, might affect the way we see ourselves and the “others”, but above all the values that we import.
Main subject category:
Museology
Keywords:
Holocaust, Memory, Museum, Education
Index:
No
Number of index pages:
0
Contains images:
Yes
Number of references:
97
Number of pages:
213
File:
File access is restricted only to the intranet of UoA.

Η ΤΡΑΥΜΑΤΙΚΗ ΜΝΗΜΗ ΤΟΥ ΟΛΟΚΑΥΤΩΜΑΤΟΣ.pdf
13 MB
File access is restricted only to the intranet of UoA.