The Death of the Witness in the Era of Testimony: Primo Levi and Georges Perec

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Abstract

This chapter examines the role of the witness as a narrator, writer, and historian through a comparison of the writings and testimony of Primo Levi and those of Georges Perec. Despite the significant differences between the two, which cannot be ignored, both Levi and Perec focus on the role and the ability of the witness to provide authentic testimony. Based upon this comparison between Levi’s testimony and that of Perec, I argue that the very fact that we are in an era of testimony in which the witness is also his own historian means that there are no innocent “uncontaminated” witnesses. Moreover, I attempt to show that Levi and Perec, each in his own way, propose an authentic model for bearing witness.

Keywords

Witness Primo Levi Georges Perec History Literature 
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Copyright information

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of NeurobiologyWeizmann Institute of ScienceRechovotIsrael

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