Metonymy And Representation: An Interpretation Of The Holocaust In Schindler’s List

This Master thesis makes a critical study of the Holocaust representation in Schindler’sList from the perspective of metonymy. Trauma, as an event or experience which is outsidethe boundaries of normal thoughts is inherently hard to represent in language. Hencerepresentations of traumatic times, like the Holocaust, manifest metonymic aspects in thenarrative of these traumatic events. Drawing on George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’sdiscussions of metonymy, this thesis, through the consideration of Steven Spielberg’sHolocaust representation in Schindler’s List as a paradigm case, attempts an exploration ofmetonymic transformation in the reconstruction of the Holocaust and makes a brief discussionof the place of such work in politics and society.The thesis consists of six parts.The introductory part gives a brief introduction to and literature review of Schindler’sList and raises the research questions this thesis will attempt to deal with. Then Lakoff&Johnson’s conception of metonymy is discussed and informs much of the subsequentargument of the thesis. With the trope metonymy as the prerequisite, trauma theorist CathyCaruth’s notions of trauma representation are examined. The final section outlines both theorganization of the thesis and the original work undertaken in this thesis in viewing therepresentation of the Holocaust provided in Schindler’s List in the light of metonymy.Chapter One,“The Holocaust Representation”, explores the contradictions arising fromthe Holocaust representation in two respects. The first is the dialectic of trauma victims,which centers on the conflict between the will to bury memories of the horrible events and thedesire to proclaim them aloud. The second area is the inefficacy of language in the discussionsof trauma. Survivors of traumatic events are subdued or silent when confronted with recollections of extreme violence and they undergo nightmares and flashbacks to scenes ofunimaginable horror. Plus, language, as a signifier of experiences and events in the socialcommunity, is largely subservient to sovereign power; hence the identification of language toreality is construable in different ways. Due to the crisis inherent in traumatic representation,the Holocaust has become a metonym not for the actual series of events that occurred in theconcentration camp during World War II, but for the set of symbols that reflects contemporarycodification of that experience. The final section of Chapter One explores how the sovereignpower does the Holocaust remembering, which appropriates the metonymical re-creation ofthe Holocaust.Chapter Two,“Representational Strategies in “Schindler’s List” is a study of fivestrategies in “Schindler’s List” Spielberg employs to create the impression of telling a “true”story. The first strategy is the black-and-white visual style utilized to create a documentaryeffect. The second is the use of original locations in the manifestation of traumatic memory,demonstrating the significance of architecture in the representation of a metonymical narrativetrace of history and memory. In the third section, the differences between Schindler’s Ark andSchindler’s List are observed. In this, the shift of emphasis on the different power relations inKeneally’s Schindler’s Ark to that presented by Spielberg in Schindler’s List is focused on bydiscussing the editing of a series of distinct scenes. The fourth section examines Spielberg’smetonymical account of death mainly through the trivialization of Jews as people. The lastsection is on how the music in the Concentration Camp creates the Holocaust representation.Chapter Three “Amon Goeth and Oscar Schindler” focuses on the two main charactersAmon Goeth and Oscar Schindler. These are the main protagonists in the film and, at a basicinterpretation, can be seen to take on the roles of evil and good. How Spielberg has developedthese characters relies heavily on a literary framework, again full of symbolization andmetonymy. The strategies used in developing these characters however provide deeper nuances and these will be discussed in Chapter Four.Chapter Four “Oscar Schindler as a Spirit” explores the truth of the film first and thengoes to the Oscar Schindler who is presented by Spielberg as without any universal motive torescue, but is gradually congealed into a human framework. This is a moral rationale thatSpielberg seeks to highlight in this factual and fictional film and it is shown to be influencedby the political conditions of the1990s. In terms of maxim transition, Spielberg provides atypical example of vacillation that typifies the metonymy of post-Holocaust representation.In “Conclusion”, the thesis synthesizes the foregoing chapters explicitly in terms ofHolocaust representation and metonymy in Schindler’s List. It is pointed out that as arhetorical mechanism that reveals signification, metonymy is suited as a way of viewing andinterpreting contemporary representations of the Holocaust such as Schindler’s List andprovides a possible new tool in apprehending trauma. Finally, further researches and issuesare put forwards.