"Blonde poison": the Holocaust and the case of Stella Goldschlag in Joseph Kanon's The Good German. Issue 1 (2nd January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lake, Anthony
• Is Part Of: Holocaust studies. Volume 22:Issue 1(2016)
• Page Start: 84
• Page End: 99
• Publication Date: 2016-01-02
• Subjects: Holocaust -- identification -- victim -- perpetrator -- witness -- judgment; Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; 940.5318
• DOI: 10.1080/17504902.2015.1117839
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1750-4902

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Joseph Kanon's 2001 Holocaust novel The Good German explores problems of identification between reader and character. The Good German manipulates reader and character identification by challenging its readers to identify with Renate Naumann, who is a fictional representation of the Holocaust victim turned perpetrator Stella Goldschlag. She is portrayed with qualified sympathy, raising questions about Holocaust perpetrators as "monstrous" and the value of perpetrators as Holocaust witnesses. The Good German, however, interrupts the processes of identification to problematize questions of guilt, responsibility, and judgment.