Postmodernism and Holocaust DenialIcon Books, 2001 - 75 էջ Deborah Lipstadt, in "Denying the Holocaust" (1994), blames postmodernism for creating an intellectual climate favorable to Holocaust denial, and characterizes the latter phenomenon as "deconstructionist history at its worst". Eaglestone argues against this accusation. According to the postmodern view, there is no such thing as objective history. History is a compendium of texts on the past, each of them subjective and dependent on the worldview of its author. However, history as a genre of writing is subject to generic conventions. Holocaust denial is not a kind of history at all, because it does not obey the rules of the genre and has aims different from those of history. This is what the court had in mind in its judgment on the Irving vs. Lipstadt trial in 2000, when it characterized Irving as being not a historian but a racist and antisemite. Argues that the questions postmodernism asks of history and historians are in fact strong weapons in combating Holocaust denial. |
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anti anti-Semitic and racist archival argued argument Bolam test Browning's Christopher Browning conventions cookbook court culture wars Dan Jacobson David Cesarani David Irving Deborah Lipstadt Defence of History deniers claim Denying the Holocaust discussion of postmodernism Elie Wiesel emplotment establish evidence example extremist fact Frank Kermode genocide genre of history Geoffrey Elton Goldhagen Hayden White high-profile historical writing Hitler Holocaust denial Ibid Icon Books ideas important Irving's issues Jews Judgement Keith Jenkins Lipstadt and Penguin Lipstadt's book London Lyotard manipulated historical means ments methodology misrepresented and manipulated murder Nazi negligence neo-Nazism objective Ordinary Germans particular past Paul Gilroy persistently and deliberately philosophy of history phrases Pierre Vidal-Naquet POSTMODERN ENCOUNTERS Postmodernism postmodern questions Postmodernism and Holocaust postmodernist reasonable historian Richard Evans Robert Eaglestone rules Semitic sham debate signified simply sort story style suggested tell texts thinker tion torian torical trial truth University Press worldview