LEADER 03423cam a2200409Ia 4500001    117503
005    20240621201550.0
008    060504s2005    xx      rb    000 0 eng d
028 52 3184391 |bUMI
035    (OCoLC)ocm71280944
035    117503
049    LHMA
040    LHM |beng |erda |cLHM
090    D13 |b.S38 2005
100 1  Scuro, Jennifer.
245 14 The phenomenon of bearing witness : |bhistory, testimony, and the face of the other / |cby Jennifer Scuro.
264  1 [Place of publication not identified] : |b[publisher not identified], |c2005.
300    x, 254 pages
336    text |btxt |2rdacontent
337    unmediated |bn |2rdamedia
338    volume |bnc |2rdacarrier
502    Thesis (Ph. D.)--New School University, 2005.
504    Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-254).
520     This dissertation is an argument for a post-Holocaust ethics that genuinely responds to the injunction, "Never again!" Using Levinas' ethical metaphysics as a foundation, and providing an exegesis of the ontological meaning of time and historicity, I interrogate the structure of the world legacy that is capable of genocide and systematic dehumanization. The problem outlined throughout this project is the aesthetic interest in history that contributes to an evasion of ethical considerations. I also describe and defend the position of the witness as an alternative to the meaning of the individual as an agent in history, disposing and critiquing the metaphors of the hero, possession and authenticity. The Western view of history has reduced historical meaning to experiential psychology, avoiding the underlying problems of intergenerational responsibility, accountability and sincerity. With this ethical injunction, I also use Levinas' ethical metaphysics to connect the passing of time and the meaning of history with the importance of the face-to-face relationship as it informs testimony. The work of hearing and listening for the Other [ Autre], in resistance to the dominance of the self-same and the implicit institutionalized violence of this particular world-legacy, becomes an alternative hypothesis for how we may preserve meaning and historical memory. "A work distinguished from games and from calculation, is being-for-beyond-my-death...to aim at this world without me, to aim at a time beyond the horizon of my time...an eschatology without hope for oneself."1 This dissertation is an effort at just this kind of eschatology, a tracework to redeem the meaning of historical significance as a one-for-the-other, to validate a form of generosity offered to the world without an interest in the return.
530    Electronic version(s)  |bavailable internally at USHMM.
533    Photocopy. |bAnn Arbor, Mich. : |cUMI Dissertation Services, |d2006. |e22 cm.
590     Dissertations and Theses
591    Record updated by Marcive processing 21 June 2024
650  0 Historiography |xMoral and ethical aspects.
650  0 Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) |xHistoriography.
650  0 History |xPhilosophy.
856 41  |uhttp://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=982807651&sid=1&Fmt=6&clientId=54617&RQT=309&VName=PQD |zElectronic version from ProQuest
956 41  |u http://dc.ushmm.org/library/bib117503/3184391.pdf  |z Hosted by USHMM.
994    C0 |bLHM
852 0   |bstacks |hD13 |i.S38 2005
852     |bwww
852 0   |bebook