Unwanted beauty : aesthetic pleasure in Holocaust representation

Contends that aesthetic pleasure is pertinent for representation of the Holocaust. Examines a number of works of literature and art dealing with memory of the Nazi mass murder, in which beauty or aesthetic pleasure play a role: beauty as a survival mechanism in Paul Celan's "Todesfuge" and Charlotte Delbo's memoirs; beauty as a tool for retelling traumatic narratives in Jorge Semprún's writings; "aesthetic allusion" to traumatic events in Edmond Jabès' poetry; and "aesthetic mourning" in art works by Anselm Kiefer and Christian Boltanski. Notes the problem of "aesthetic pollution", the fear of many artists to replicate fascist aesthetics in their works and thus to create a counter-monumental aesthetic in works commemorating the Holocaust. Discusses Peter Eisenman's Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin, Jochen Gerz and Esther Shalev-Gerz's Harburg Monument against Fascism, and James Ingo Freed's U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Includes bibliographical references (pages 173-205) and index. xii, 215 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 24 cm