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.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.69677 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Toledano, Dorith |
| Contributors | Morisot, Jean-Claude (advisor), Anctil, Pierre (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | French |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Département de langue et littérature françaises.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001358170, proquestno: AAIMM91775, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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