Description
Book SynopsisIn this account of the life, work and ethics of four Jewish female intellectuals in the Holocaust, Brenner explores the ways in which they sought to maintain their faith in humanity. She argues that through their autobiographical self-assertion they resisted the Nazi dehumanization.
Trade Review“Brenner writes a compelling book that is both informative and engaging. . . . Writing as Resistance is exactly what good work in the humanities should be: accessible yet challenging.”
—Maurice Hamington National Catholic Reporter
“Writing by women victims and survivors of Nazi persecution is discussed by scholars—if at all—largely as testimony, rarely as thought. . . . By looking at the thinking of Stein, Weil, Frank, and Hillesum, Brenner has helped to reverse this.”
—Sara R. Horowitz Modern Fiction Studies
“This is a book of great poignancy. Brenner catches the feminist, humanistic, and cultural milieu of the time and places it in the context of the Holocaust. She accomplishes this with such creativity that we are able to see the lives of her subjects with rare historical vividness.”
—Michael Phayer,Marquette University
“Rachel Feldhay Brenner has written a stunning work of Holocaust hermeneutics, combining insights from a variety of disciplines including feminist thought, theology, ethics, and literature. Brenner's fresh and original insights reveal the essential connection between writing, resistance, and dedication to life in the face of absolute evil. Analyzing the writings of Edith Stein, Simone Weil, Anne Frank, and Etty Hillesum, Brenner skillfully reveals how each of these women chose to bear witness to an ethic of compassion amidst a nightmare of brutality and doom.”
—Alan L. Berger,Chair of Holocaust Studies and Director of Judaic Studies, Florida Atlantic University
“This book is an engaging and, indeed, riveting account of how each of these women affirmed values of empathy, caring, and connectedness in her real-life choices as well as in her writings. Rachel Brenner succeeds wonderfully in penetrating the personal and ethical dilemmas of the women and in explaining how their prose grew out of and answered the overlapping crises in their own lives and their contemporary world. Writing about what Edith Stein called ‘empathy,’ Brenner has achieved just such an intimate comprehension of her subjects, and she effectively communicates her insights to her reader.”
—Anne Carver Rose,Penn State University
