Gendered Memories

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Bringing together articles from international scholars across various disciplines, this comprehensive reader focuses on the connection between mediated memories of the Holocaust and concrete medial representations in Israeli, German, and Austrian film and theater. The discussions on memory are interwoven, with cultural artifacts reflecting various aspects of memory discourses that share their discursive effects and flexibility. The collection addresses a crucial yet under-represented aspect: the question of gender. It explores how memory and media are gendered and whether media can ‘gender’ memory. Key inquiries include who is expected to remember and how, the depiction of female and male memorization in film and theater, the use of the gendered body as a dramatic device, and the impact of fictional memory construction on the cultural memory of societies. Examining a range of memory subjects—from early Zionist films to contemporary Hollywood, TV documentaries to autobiographical works, and mainstream theater to avant-garde performance—the book provides insight into the significance, complexities, and ambiguities of commemoration politics. It advocates for viewing transgression as a cultural practice, both in media and critique.