In her talk, Professor Rohr will examine the latest developments in a highly sensitive genre, a genre the philosopher Slavoj Žižek has termed “camp comedy” or “Holocaust comedy.” What are the consequences of a substantial breach in taboo within artistic practice? Does the initial breach create a compulsion to continually push the taboo boundaries, to outperform the taboo as it were, or does the perceived provocation initiate a desire and movement towards reconciliation, or placidity? These are some of the questions Prof. Rohr will address in the context of resurging right-wing extremism around the world.

Susanne Rohr is Professor for American Studies at the University of Ham-burg. Her monograph Von Grauen und Glamour: Repräsentationendes Holocaust in den USA und Deutschland came out with Universitätsverlag Winter this year. Earlier book publications include Die Wahrheit der Täuschung: Wirklichkeitskonstitution im amerika-nischen Roman 1889-1989 (2004) and Comedy –Avant-Garde – Scandal: Remembering the Holo-caust after the End of History (co-authored with Andrew S. Gross, 2010).

Online event, to be streamed via Zoom. Please register via lecturesbonn@gmail.com 

In cooperation with nas.uni-bonn.de  North American Studies Program at the University of Bonn.