The Holocaust, Art, and Taboo: Transatlantic Exchanges on the Ethics and Aesthetics of Representation

Representations of the Holocaust changed dramatically in the 1990s, when film, literature, and works of visual art attracted international attention by provoking scandals. Holocaust art turned to genres and styles that had traditionally been considered taboo. This change raises many questions: Why the widespread provocation? Why are representational rules being broken at the turn of the millennium - rules that have been respected and observed for decades? What should we make of art of this kind? The contributors to this volume address these (and other) questions. They juxtapose conventional depictions of the Holocaust with recent works of art which reveal shifting paradigms in the fields of visual art, literature, film, pop culture, and aesthetic theory.