Lisa Schwendemann: Implementation in Theaters as a New Form of Rememberance?
Biographical statement
I became engrossed in the holocaust very early in my life. In school I followed the topic with a growing interest and in my free time I read books like "The Diary of Anne Frank". After graduating from high school, I studied history in university so that I could attended many classes and seminars on the holocaust. To this day my interested in the holocaust has not wavered; as a result I want to do scientific research on it.
The following picture illustrates my current point of view:
Source: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B-PmV0cdJDlpREY1bzVTaEsxQVk
Research interest
In recent years there has been a noticeable increase, in the theater, in holocaust themed productions. Productions like "Spurensuche. Was für ein Mensch willst Du sein?" (Seeking traces. What kind of person do you want to be?) or "Kinder des Holocaust" (Children of the holocaust) are only two out of many examples. In the first production, done by the theater club of Ernst-Mach-Gymnasium in Haar, 35 teenagers process the atrocities of the Third Reich both internally and within their hometown’s community. The theater production "Kinder des Holocaust" is based on Jewish children who survived the holocaust either hidden or in camps. These productions are based on thorough research and reports of witnesses. Further, they enable the audience to contemplate the many issues of the holocaust in an active and present-related way. This trend is supported by the fact that we have arrived in a time where holocaust witnesses will no longer be an unlimited source. This raises the question whether the implementation in theaters might be a new form of remembrance. For this reason, I find it interesting how the subject is implemented by actors in the various productions and how it is received by the audience.
Goal
I want to use the gathered data to find out how holocaust issues can be implemented in theaters:
- How is pain being expressed?
- Which props are used?
- Are stereotypes used? Etc.