Holocaust Literature as Metaphysical Revenge

Lily Halpert-Zamir

Jump to Content

Chapter 2 Holocaust Literature as Metaphysical Revenge

In: Eight Faces of Revenge

Author:

Lily Halpert-Zamir

Lily Halpert-Zamir
Search for other papers by Lily Halpert-Zamir in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed

Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 8–24

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004380257_003

Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):

€42.00€35.00 excl. VAT

Add to Cart

Redeem Access Token

Abstract

Revenge as a human and social phenomenon appears in the Bible in various forms, mostly as retaliation that does justice to the victim by inflicting harm on the offender: ‘… life for life, eye for eye …’ This type of revenge aims at effecting punishment through physical harm. Another form of revenge calls for thwarting the offender’s intentions, ensuring that he derives no satisfaction from his deeds: ‘If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink; For thou wilt heap coals of fire upon his head …’ [Proverbs 25:21–22]. The aim of this form of vengeance is not to punish or compensate, but to prevent the offender’s intended outcomes. As such, its significance is metaphysical, as evidenced by the verse’s conclusion: ‘and the Lord will reward thee’ [Proverbs 25:22]. During the Holocaust, the partisans and ghetto rebels sought to inflict physical revenge on the Nazis, while the literary works of authors such as Primo Levi and Imre Kertész express metaphysical revenge. Their writings comprise an ultimate ode to life and love under the harshest conditions imaginable. Even in the death camps, some of their characters did not seek physical vengeance, but continued to struggle for life and love by proving that they are human beings despite Nazi dehumanisation of the Jews. Theirs was a sublimated form of metaphysical vengeance. Furthermore, the Nazis aimed at terminating not only the Jewish people’s physical existence, but also their spiritual heritage. By continuing to produce their creative works in the post-Holocaust era, Levi and Kertész perpetuate Jewish culture and thereby exact their metaphysical revenge.

Citation Info

Save
Cite
Email this content

Share link with colleague or librarian

You can email a link to this page to a colleague or librarian:
Email this content
or copy the link directly:

https://brill.edhh.ma/abstract/book/edcoll/9789004380257/BP000002.xml
The link was not copied. Your current browser may not support copying via this button.

Link copied successfully

Collapse
Expand

Eight Faces of Revenge

Series: At the Interface / Probing the Boundaries, Volume: 105

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004380257

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 15 Nov 2018

Subjects
- Philosophy
  - Social & Political Philosophy
- Social Sciences
  - Cultural Studies

Metrics

	All Time	Past 365 days	Past 30 Days
Abstract Views	490	117	42
Full Text Views	24	2	0
PDF Views & Downloads	39	5	0

African Studies	Education	Media Studies
American Studies	History	Middle East and Islamic Studies
Ancient Near East and Egypt	Human Rights and Humanitarian Law	Musicology
Art History	International Law	Philosophy
Asian Studies	International Relations	Religious Studies
Biblical Studies	Jewish Studies	Slavic and Eurasian Studies
Biology	Languages and Linguistics	Social Sciences
Book History and Cartography	Life Sciences	Theology and World Christianity
Classical Studies	Literature and Cultural Studies

Subjects

Authors

Open Access

Product Information

Company

Contact

Chapter 2 Holocaust Literature as Metaphysical Revenge

Abstract

Citation Info

Share link with colleague or librarian

Eight Faces of Revenge

Table of Contents

Metrics

Metrics