{"id":42934,"date":"2024-10-25T20:51:34","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T20:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=42934"},"modified":"2024-10-25T20:51:34","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T20:51:34","slug":"theodor-pelekanidis-how-to-write-about-the-holocaust-the-postmodern-theory-of-history-in-praxis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=42934","title":{"rendered":"Theodor Pelekanidis, &#8220;How to Write About the Holocaust: The Postmodern Theory of History in Praxis&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>How to Write About the Holocaust<\/em> is a contribution to ongoing debates in historiography and Holocaust studies. More specifically, it combines the theoretical framework that has developed in historiography in the last half a century with the demands of Holocaust representation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first part of the book analyzes the newest trends in theory of history, focusing especially on postmodernism, starting from the works of the American historian and theorist Hayden White and tracing the genealogy of the postmodern influence in history both from an epistemological and from a political perspective. The second part continues by incorporating these theoretical developments into specific written examples on the Holocaust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By analyzing major works about it, including Saul Friedl\u00e4nder\u2019s and Dan Stone\u2019s histories of the Holocaust, the book attempts to answer questions like: what is the most appropriate way to write about the Holocaust and what can theory teach us about the practice of history? To conclude, the volume explores the connection between history and literature and asks if the distinction between fact and fiction has become outdated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Introduction\u00a0 <strong>Part 1: The Rise and Fall of Postmodernism in Historiography\u00a0 <\/strong>1. Hayden White and theory of history\u00a0 2. The Legacy of <em>Metahistory<\/em>: Epistemological radicalism and political anxieties for the future of historiography\u00a0 3. Postmodernism and Afterward: Theory and Politics\u00a0 <strong>Part 2: Postmodernism in Praxis: Just another Holocaust History?\u00a0 <\/strong>4. Hayden White and the Holocaust as a modernist event\u00a0 5. The uniqueness-comparability argument: a postmodern approach\u00a0 6. Beyond Historiography: the 21<sup>st<\/sup> century historical novel\u00a0 7. Conclusion<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Biography<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Theodor Pelekanidis<\/strong> is a post-doc researcher at the Free University of Berlin, Germany. His research interests include theory and philosophy of history, history of ideas and historiography of the Holocaust. His\u00a0latest publication in <em>Clio: A Journal of Literature, History and the Philosophy of History<\/em> is titled &#8220;Manifesting Practical Pasts: Legacies of a Declining Postmodernism&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Critics\u00b4 Reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018It is the argument of Theodoros Pelekanidis that, although postmodern historians and history theorists were, in the main, either ignored or critiqued by most professional, academic historians, ironically, in one of the most contentious historiographical &#8220;debates&#8221; ever &#8211; that of the Holocaust &#8211; postmodernist inspired historians played a major, influential role, a role which this book establishes, analyses and articulates with lucidity and persuasiveness. There is no other book quite like this original, wide ranging and insightful study which henceforth deserves to become essential reading in the area.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Keith Jenkins<\/strong>, <em>University of Chichester, UK<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pelekanidis\u2019s book has an impressive range and pertinence for currently debated issues. His comments on the work of other scholars are pointed and useful. He brings together postmodern historiography and the Holocaust in a manner that situates the latter as a crucial test case for the viability of the former. As he sees it, the Holocaust has been a constant challenge for postmodernism, and it remains a guide for the directions historiography should take. He sets the stage by offering a lengthy discussion of Hayden White. Then he moves on to other figures who have responded in various ways to White\u2019s work, at times taking it in diverse directions. Pelekanides also offers a suggestive, thought-provoking reading of Jonathan Littell\u2019s imposing novel <em>The Kindly Ones <\/em>that raises the question of the interaction between history and literature and insightfully supplements the discussion of historians and theorists.\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000\u3000<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Dominick LaCapra<\/strong>, <em>Cornell University, USA<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.routledge.com\/How-to-Write-About-the-Holocaust-The-Postmodern-Theory-of-History-in-Praxis\/Pelekanidis\/p\/book\/9781032123998\">https:\/\/www.routledge.com\/How-to-Write-About-the-Holocaust-The-Postmodern-Theory-of-History-in-Praxis\/Pelekanidis\/p\/book\/9781032123998<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-knjige","category-novosti"],"acf":{"facebook_opis":""},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Pelekanidis.jpg?fit=654%2C1000&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":52625,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=52625","url_meta":{"origin":42934,"position":0},"title":"Omer Bartov, \u201eIsrael: What Went Wrong?\u201c","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"23. travnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"Professor Omer Bartov was born on a kibbutz, grew up in Tel Aviv and served in the Israel Defence Forces during the Yom Kippur War. He went on to become an expert on the German army and the Holocaust, before turning his attention to his native country.In Israel: What Went\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Knjige&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Knjige","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Bartov.jpeg?fit=320%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":54007,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=54007","url_meta":{"origin":42934,"position":1},"title":"BHA Webinar \u201cThe symbolism of signifiers in historiography and publicist writings: the use of the terms \u2018Slavi\u2019 and \u2018Talijana\u0161i\u2019 in the Italian and Croatian examples\u201d","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"10. lipnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"BHA Webinar Series (Zoom)Speaker: Ante Brali\u0107 (University of Zadar)Date & Hour: June 11 (Thursday), 12:00 CET \/ 13:00 EETModerator: Timothy FrenchTechnical assistance: Timothy French, contact: timothymfrench@yahoo.com Webinar linkhttps:\/\/us06web.zoom.us\/j\/85440365125Webinar ID 854 4036 5125 How to name an ethnicity, and in later development a nation, is often not just a historiographical question.\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/BHA-Webinar-Series.png?fit=820%2C312&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/BHA-Webinar-Series.png?fit=820%2C312&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/BHA-Webinar-Series.png?fit=820%2C312&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/BHA-Webinar-Series.png?fit=820%2C312&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53394,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=53394","url_meta":{"origin":42934,"position":2},"title":"Enzo Traverso, &#8220;Singular Pasts: The &#8220;I&#8221; in Historiography&#8221;","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"15. svibnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"Translated by Adam Schoene Columbia University Press Pub Date: November 2022 Today, history is increasingly written in the first person. A growing number of historical works include an autobiographical dimension, as if writing about the past required exploring the inner life of the author. Neither traditional history nor autobiography, this\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Knjige&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Knjige","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Traverso.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":52736,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=52736","url_meta":{"origin":42934,"position":3},"title":"Playing God: Eugenics in Modern History, Gda\u0144sk, 18th\u201320th November 2026 (Deadline: 1st June 2026)","author":"Filip \u0160imunjak","date":"30. travnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"The Museum of the Second World War in Gda\u0144sk (Poland) invites researchers, educators and others to take part in an interdisciplinary academic conference entitled \u2018Playing God: Eugenics in Modern History' (18th-20th November 2026) Playing God: Eugenics in Modern History The history of modern biological engineering and social control is inextricably\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/hsozkult.png?fit=1006%2C241&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53790,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=53790","url_meta":{"origin":42934,"position":4},"title":"&#8220;The Balkans in the Seventh Century: Ethnic and Cultural Transformations&#8221;, eds. P. Sophoulis, G. Kardaras","author":"Filip \u0160imunjak","date":"2. lipnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"The seventh century was a period of radical transformation in the Balkans in terms of political, social, and economic history. The decline in Byzantine power led to the collapse of ancient urban civilization, the arrival of new populations from eastern Europe and the steppes, and, subsequently, the establishment of new\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Knjige&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Knjige","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Balkans-7th-century.webp?fit=596%2C888&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Balkans-7th-century.webp?fit=596%2C888&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Balkans-7th-century.webp?fit=596%2C888&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49777,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=49777","url_meta":{"origin":42934,"position":5},"title":"Marija Vulesica, \u201eFrom Zagreb to Palestine: Yugoslav Zionist Aid Networks for European Jews, 1933-1941\u201c","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"21. studenoga 2025.","format":false,"excerpt":"In the spring of 1933, Yugoslav Jewish communities founded several local aid committees for Jewish refugees from Germany. Very soon, the Zionist led Zagreb local committee took over the management and organisation of all refugee help. Its staff built up connections with Jewish organisations at home and abroad. However, contacts\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Knjige&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Knjige","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Marija_Vulesica.jpg?fit=800%2C490&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Marija_Vulesica.jpg?fit=800%2C490&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Marija_Vulesica.jpg?fit=800%2C490&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Marija_Vulesica.jpg?fit=800%2C490&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42934"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42936,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42934\/revisions\/42936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}