Shaping losses

Shaping Losses delves into the impact of traumatic loss on identity and how individuals shaped by such loss attempt to fill the void left by the absence of relationships, family, and culture. Focusing on the devastation of European Jewry during the Nazi era, it addresses the challenge of transforming trauma into cultural memory. This insightful volume analyzes how memoirs, films, photographs, art, literature, family discussions, and personal reflections strive to preserve what has been destroyed. The contributors, distinguished women scholars—many of whom are survivors or daughters of survivors—explore both well-known memorializations like Claude Lanzmann's film Shoah and Roman Vishniac's photographs, as well as lesser-known works. They also investigate how children of Holocaust survivors grapple with inherited memories, attempting to reconcile with losses that define their identities despite experiencing them indirectly. The text critiques the limitations of Holocaust representations, which can only capture fragments of the experience. Contributors discuss artistic endeavors to maintain the rawness of memory, resist redemptive closure in narratives, and prevent the Holocaust from being relegated to mere history. They examine the complexities of memory and trauma, highlighting the ineffable and often unreliable nature of traumatic recollections. Ultimately, the impulse to shape loss emerges as a crucial effort to connect histo