Mediating difficult knowledge through storytelling: the Holocaust in German museums in the twenty-first century

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dc.contributor.authorCastillo Marzo, Evelyn
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeHeberger, Alexandra (German and Slavic Studies)
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeMuller, Adam (Peace and Conflict Studies)
dc.contributor.supervisorJaeger, Stephan
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-29T18:48:37Z
dc.date.available2024-08-29T18:48:37Z
dc.date.issued2024-08-26
dc.date.submitted2024-08-26T18:27:19Zen_US
dc.degree.disciplineGerman and Slavic Studies
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts (M.A.)
dc.description.abstractThis thesis presents a comprehensive analysis of two twenty-first-century German museums: the Jewish Museum Berlin, which re-opened in August 2020, and the Jewish Museum Frankfurt, whose new building complex and permanent exhibition was inaugurated in October 2020. It examines the use of storytelling methods for the transmission of “difficult knowledge” in the context of the Holocaust and the Second World War. This research study focuses on how museums in Germany represent traumatic experiences, suffering, and victims’ perspectives through storytelling methods as well as variations in approaches based on the detailed analysis of four categories: agency, authenticity, distance versus proximity, and empathy. These categories help to contrast the dominant narrative approach in each of the two exhibitions, in how they integrate individual stories in their respective representational frameworks, and how these representations align with the experiences of Holocaust persecuted individuals. The analysis reveals how these two new permanent exhibitions utilize diverse elements connected to personal stories (authentic belongings, digital videos with collage designs, excerpts from eyewitness accounts, among many others) to create a sense of agency for victims, highlight the authenticity of their experiences, and navigate the emotional distance between visitors and the historical event. Specifically, the thesis demonstrates how, in the Holocaust-related exhibits of the Jewish Museum Berlin, the possibilities of emotionalization and over-identification are considerably lower in comparison with the Jewish Museum Frankfurt. The latter, however, promotes strategies that make it easy for visitors to connect with individual characters on a personal level, fostering a sense of emotional proximity and empathy, ultimately encouraging visitors to grapple with the lasting impact of the Holocaust.
dc.description.noteOctober 2024
dc.description.sponsorshipFaculty of Graduate Studies Research Completion Scholarship University of Manitoba, U of M: https://doi.org/10.13039/100010318 German and Slavic Studies Special Awards University of Manitoba, U of M: https://doi.org/10.13039/100010318 German and Slavic Studies Research Travel Award University of Manitoba, U of M: https://doi.org/10.13039/100010318 DAAD German Studies Research Grant German Academic Exchange Service: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100021828
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1993/38452
dc.language.isoeng
dc.rightsopen accessen_US
dc.subjectholocaust exhibitions
dc.subjectstorytelling
dc.subjectpersonal stories
dc.subjectdifficult knowledge
dc.subjectmuseum studies
dc.subjectauthenticity
dc.subjectempathy
dc.subjectdistanciation and proximity
dc.subjectvisitors agency
dc.titleMediating difficult knowledge through storytelling: the Holocaust in German museums in the twenty-first century
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
local.subject.manitobano
oaire.awardTitleUniversity of Manitoba Graduate Fellowship (UMGF)
oaire.awardURIhttps://umanitoba.ca/graduate-studies/funding-awards-and-financial-aid/university-manitoba-graduate-fellowship-umgf
project.funder.identifierU of M: https://doi.org/10.13039/100010318
project.funder.nameUniversity of Manitoba
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