Fictional Indexes for a singular testimony: Shoah and the quest for an unspeakable historical narrative

Authors

  • Fernando Andacht Universidad de la República

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17851/1982-3053.4.6.43-58

Keywords:

Shoah, Semiotic, Cinema

Abstract

Based on the semiotic analysis of an episode of the documentary Shoah (Lanzmann, 1985), the present text deals with a problem related to the indexical action of signs in it. What is the nature of a film which attempts to reconstruct meticulously the time of unimaginable horror based on the testimonies of survivors, but which sometimes uses staged, fictional indexes? This is precisely what takes place in one of the most evoked and moving moments in the over nine hour-long documentary Shoah. The aim of this article is to reflect systematically on the semiotic characteristics of a film genre which has a historical calling but which differs overtly from the traditional historical discourse.

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Author Biography

Fernando Andacht, Universidad de la República

Licenciado em Letras pela Universidad de la República, Uruguai, Mestre em Linguística Geral pela Ohio University, Athens, Ohio e Doutor em Estudios Latinoamericanos pela Universidad de Bergen. Atualmente é Titular da Universidad de la República, Professor Convidado da Universidad Católica del Uruguay, Profesor estable da Universidad Nacional de Misiones, Professor Compartilhado da Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná e Com permanência da University of Ottawa, Canadá.

References

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Published

2010-03-30

How to Cite

Andacht, F. (2010). Fictional Indexes for a singular testimony: Shoah and the quest for an unspeakable historical narrative. Arquivo Maaravi: Revista Digital De Estudos Judaicos Da UFMG, 4(6), 43–58. https://doi.org/10.17851/1982-3053.4.6.43-58

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 6 (2010): Arquivos Israel: literatura, arte, cinema

Section

Artigo-Dossiê

License

Os direitos autorais pertencem exclusivamente aos autores. Os direitos de licenciamento utilizados pelo periódico é a licença Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0): são permitidos o compartilhamento (cópia e distribuição do material em qualquer meio ou formato) e adaptação (remix, transformação e criação de material a partir do conteúdo assim licenciado para quaisquer fins, inclusive comerciais.