Anne Frank and the Irony of the Subverted Victim

Abstract

In this paper I will investigate the changes memory studies, as well as the sheer act of remembering, have undergone in the past eighty-odd years. To do so I will concentrate on one of the most famous contemporary symbols of remembrence: Anne Frank. By sketching the path that her story took through Western media, into globalised media and politics, I will try to distinguish and analyse the different narratives surrounding the story of Anne Frank. Touching on subjects such as the Holocaust Industry, third-generation literature and Israeli-American relations, I hope to explain how Anne Frank's symbol has changed in what it stands for, changed according to what the society remembering it is looking for. To further underline this, I will turn to two very recent works of literature. Shalom Auslander's "Hope: A Tragedy", and Nathan Englander's "What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank".