Susanne Rohr
Sentiment, Seduction, Soreness: Countering the Right with Holocaust Comedy
In her talk, Susanne Rohr will examine the latest developments in a highly sensitive genre, a genre the philosopher Slavoj Žižek has termed “camp comedy” or “Holocaust comedy.” What are the consequences of a substantial breach in taboo within artistic practice? Does the initial breach create a compulsion to continually push the taboo boundaries, to out-perform the taboo as it were, or does the perceived provocation initiate a desire and movement towards reconciliation, or placidity? These are some of the questions Susanne Rohr will address in the context of resurging right-wing extremism around the world.
Susanne Rohr is professor of American studies at the University of Hamburg. Her most recent book is Von Grauen und Glamour: Repräsentationen des Holocaust in den USA und Deutschland (2021), a study on the representations of the Holocaust in the US and Germany. Earlier book publications include Comedy – Avant-Garde – Scandal: Remembering the Holocaust after the End of History (2010, co-authored with Andrew S. Gross).