11 Sep.

Is a post-colonial memory of the Holocaust possible? The case of the German public sphere

Veranstaltungsort: Robert-Musil-Institut, Bahnhofstraße 50/1. Stock

At the intersection of postcolonialism, Holocaust commemoration and coming to terms with the past, a controversial debate about the supposed certainties of German remembrance culture has unfolded over the past year. Is the memory of Jewish victims privileged over African victims? The debates that surrounded the opening of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin are now forcing Germany too to confront its colonial past. What distinguishes racism from antisemitism? Hannah Arendt and Edward Said were not the only people to ask such questions in the past. Will it ultimately be possible to remember the victims of the Holocaust and of colonialism without relativizing history?