The Tension between Fact and Fiction in Holocaust Literature

What is it about?

In Holocaust literature as a genre, factual accuracy is highly valued. For a long time, therefore, autobiographical works dominated the field. Nowadays, however, there is a greater awareness that the line between fact and fiction is fluid and cannot always be drawn sharply, as is shown here by several examples. Theologians and philosophers should be cautious in trying to use Holocaust literature as a mine for humanitarian lessons. Furthermore they should always be aware that the great strength of literature is its ability to be ambiguous and to present two different truths at the same time. If they consider Elie Wiesel’s novella Night as (only) a theodicy of God as the One of suffers with his people, they don’t do justice to this literary quality of ambiguity.

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