Texte remanié de: Dissertation (Ph. D.)--Theologie--Paderborn--Universität Paderborn, 2000. / Bibliogr. p. 287-311.

Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, confronts a tragic dilemma: he must bear witness in order to pay respect to the memory of victims and perhaps help prevent a repetition of history. But are there words that can express the horror of the Holocaust? Would silence not be more appropriate in respect to the victims? / Elie Wiesel is not the first to confront such a dilemma. Throughout Jewish history, tragedies and catastrophes have forced Jewish writers to face the issue. Many literary schools have emerged, particularly in the "modern period" (1850-1945), which have dealt with the question of how to best respond to the tragedy. It is therefore fitting to try and consider Elie Wiesel's works in light of these various literary currents. / However, the Holocaust is not just another tragedy, not even another catastrophe. The event has no precedent; it is unique; it represents the ultimate evil. How to come to terms with it? What is the way between the powerlessness of language and the impossibility of silence? Elie Wiesel must find the delicate art of making silence be heard beyond the noise of words. He will suggest rather than tell the event. He will maintain a distance to protect the secret of the victims in front of the horror. Survivors who share the secret, express themselves with a code, which is not transmissible. Language has been devalued and words have lost their meaning. But to remain silent might also be a form of treason. / From Night, his first book, and throughout all his works, Wiesel assiduously develops his way of bearing witness in the name of the victims. He rejects the silence which would be synonymous with passive acceptance. He identifies with Job and demands account from God for His absence and His silence, while evil was committed. He distrusts language but must find the way to translate the uniqueness of the Holocaust. He finds his inspiration in the tales and legends of the literature of the Bible, the Talmud and the Hassidism. He evokes, suggests and tells while trying to respect the blanks between the words. In language and in silence, Wiesel developed a certain art of suggesting for what cannot be told otherwise.

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This project sets out to frame and examine the theoretical and practical challenges involved in the process and effect of translating Holocaust testimony, which has been largely overlooked in Holocaust discourses. Research pertaining to the fields of Holocaust memorialisation, historiography, literary theory, and translation studies is drawn together, with a view to shedding light on what it means to write Holocaust testimony, what it means to read it, and how these often conflicting processes affect and are affected by translation. Using a canonical testimonial text by Elie Wiesel as a case study allows the exploration of these questions to be grounded in detailed and wide-ranging textual analysis, demonstrating the extent to which translation impacts Holocaust testimony. The Holocaust is an unparalleled event in the twentieth century and testimony to it is born of a unique desire to relate one’s experiences, coupled with a certainty that these experiences cannot be expressed. This dual set of challenges requires a distinctive approach to reading testimony, which is shaped through a range of textual and paratextual features. Furthermore, the reader’s perception of the author figure is argued here to have a discernible bearing on this reading process. Translation has the potential to unsettle this reading, by undermining the readers’ belief in the author figure and in the referential status of the text. The analysis of Wiesel’s La Nuit in translation demonstrates that translation not only has a marked effect on the content and nature of this piece of testimony, but that the way in which this effect is presented to the readership is a reflection of the text’s shifting target locale and strongly impacts the reading of testimonial texts.

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Elie Wiesel's work has its roots in the concentrationary universe. Wiesel, the survivor, has committed himself to the role of witness. This thesis attempts to clarify the uncertain position of what could be called the "literature of testimony" considered midway between on the one hand, a formal literature, which tends to be out of touch with its "subject", and on the other hand, the writing of "reportage" and history. The study is divided into three chapters. In the first one we will examine the act of bearing witness and the act of writing. In the second chapter, we will analyse the components of bearing witness in Elie Wiesel's writings regarding to the enunciation and commitment, the pragmatic aspect and the difference between bearing witness and reporting. Finally, the narrative La Nuit will be at the centre of our analysis of Wiesel's work.

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Zugl.: Trier, Univ., Diss., 2006

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Virginia, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 239-246). Also available online through Digital Dissertations.

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