In this lecture, Kathryn Brackney will reflect on the month she has spent conducting research on the topic of “otherworldliness” in narratives by Holocaust survivors. Brackney uses “otherworldliness” as a term to refer to moments in literature and testimony when survivors describe their experiences as being from an entirely different dimension, space or time. At the Shoah Foundation, she is expanding the scope of her project beyond the Holocaust by examining how survivors have narrated their post-liberation transitions into displaced persons camps and the major countries of resettlement. She is particularly interested in exploring the variety of figurative images that survivors who have given multiple testimonies overtime use to convey their experiences. Her lecture will highlight moments in the Shoah Foundation’s archive when survivors characterize pre-war and post-war life as separated by a chasm — and moments when survivors describe themselves as inhabiting both worlds simultaneously.

Please RSVP to cagr@usc.edu. Click here for more information regarding the event. Refreshments will be served.

This program is open to all eligible individuals. USC Annenberg operates all of its programs and activities consistent with the University’s Notice of Non-Discrimination. Eligibility is not determined based on race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited factor.