Geoffrey Hartman, Sterling Professor of English and Comparative Literature, will read from his new book, "The Longest Shadow: In the Aftermath of the Holocaust," on Tuesday, May 14, at 5 p.m. on the second floor of the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale, 80 Wall St.
"The Longest Shadow: In the Aftermath of the Holocaust" is a collection of essays, both scholarly and personal. An expert in the field of literary criticism, Professor Hartman has become increasingly involved in recent years in the study of Holocaust literature and the transmission of Holocaust memory. Born in Frankfurt, he was forced to leave Germany in 1939, at the age of 9. In this book, he brings together personal testimony and analytical approaches to assess the continuing struggle for meaning, consolation and closure to the Holocaust through the establishment of a collective memory.
Professor Hartman is author and editor of several books, including "Bitburg in Moral and Political Perspective" and "Holocaust Remembrance: The Shapes of Memory." He has served as project director and advisor for the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale since 1981, and is currently cochair of a Holocaust Awareness and Prejudice Reduction program for high schools in the Greater New Haven area.
The reading, cosponsored by Yale Hillel and Book Haven, is free and open to the public. A wine-and-cheese reception will follow. Copies of "The Longest Shadow: In the Aftermath of the Holocaust" will also be available for purchase and signing.