The Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures presents a talk with Diefenbaker Chair Prof. Dr. Werner Nell (MLU Halle-Wittenberg/Queen’s University):

Preserving Memory in View of Diverse Historic Narratives?
The reception of Michael Rothberg’s Multidirectional Memory in contemporary German discourse on Holocaust memory.

The German translation of Michael Rothberg’s Multidirectional Memory: Remembering the Holocaust in the Age of Decolonization (2009) was published in 2021. The translation brought the extensive discussion of Rothberg’s study of essayistic and autobiographical texts into the German-speaking context. In Germany, a discussion ensued that reveals the relevance and specificities of Holocaust memory in German academic and public discourses in general and with respect to the reception of Rothberg’s book in particular. The talk examines the specific challenges of Rothberg’s claims in the context of Germany’s multi-layered societies: The post-colonial challenges discussed in Multidirectional Memory are informative for an ongoing importance of Holocaust memory in a society that includes various groups of migrants and complex Jewish-Muslim relations.

Prof. Dr. Werner Nell
John G. Diefenbaker Professor at Queen’s University
Chair in Comparative Literature at Martin-Luther-University in Halle, Germany
Adjunct Associate Professor at Queen’s University
Associate director of the Muhlenberg Center for American Studies (Halle)