- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: OUP USA; New Ed edition (17 May 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195139291
- ISBN-13: 978-0195139297
- Product Dimensions: 22.7 x 14.7 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 989,954 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
While America Watches : Televising the Holocaust
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Product Description
Review
... the novelty and value of Shandler's work is that his focus is on the representation of the Holocaust through the relatively new media of television ... Shandler's book is useful not only for those interested in the rise of Holocaust consciousness in contemporary America, but also teachers and students of media studies. (American Studies Today )
Whilst public memory of the past may often be thought as best served through the perceived permanence of monuments created from metal and stone, Shandler points to the ways in which the Holocaust has entered popular consciousness through something so transient and flickering as the television screen. (American Studies Today )
Shandler is a diligent and perceptive observer, and his book offers as comprehensive a review of a half century of flashing images as one could reasonably expect in a single volume. (Columbia Journalism Review )
Whilst public memory of the past may often be thought as best served through the perceived permanence of monuments created from metal and stone, Shandler points to the ways in which the Holocaust has entered popular consciousness through something so transient and flickering as the television screen. (American Studies Today )
Shandler is a diligent and perceptive observer, and his book offers as comprehensive a review of a half century of flashing images as one could reasonably expect in a single volume. (Columbia Journalism Review )
Product Description
The Holocaust holds a unique place in American public culture, and, as Jeffrey Shandler argues in While America Watches, it is television, more than any other medium, that has brought the Holocaust into our homes, our hearts, and our minds. Much has been written about Holocaust film and literature, and yet the medium that brings the subject to most people--television--has been largeley neglected. Now Shandler provides the first account of how television has familiarized the American people with the Holocaust. He starts with wartime newsreels of liberated concentration camps, showing how they set the moral tone for viewing scenes of genocide, and then moves to television to explain how the Holocaust and the Holocaust survivor have gained stature as moral symbols in American culture. From early teleplays to coverage of the Eichmann trial and the Holocaust miniseries, as well as documentaries, popular series such as All in the Family and Star Trek, and news reports of recent interethnic violence in Bosnia, Shandler offers an enlightening tour of television history. Shandler also examines the many controversies that televised presentations of the Holocaust have sparked, demonstrating how their impact extends well beyond the broadcasts themselves. While America Watches is sure to continue this discussion--and possibly the controversies--among many readers.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Holocaust remembrance is a dynamic phenomenon, shaped by the unfolding relationship between the rememberers and the object of recall. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Holocaust remembrance is a dynamic phenomenon, shaped by the unfolding relationship between the rememberers and the object of recall. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
I imagine this is the first book of its kind, to examine the role television has had in "popularizing" the idea of the Holocaust as a specific, historical entity. As such, much of it is groundbreaking. His chapter on the Sunday morning ecumenical religious programming of the 50's and 60's is especially interesting--I remember those shows from my childhood and his plot summaries make me realize that most of those programs, though done on limited budgets, were vastly more thought-provoking and innovative than most present-day programming. The book remains provocative as the author discusses documentaries, dramatic series shows, the Eichmann trial, and the miniseries Holocaust. He keeps the issue of "Holocaust memory culture" and questions of who "owns" the Holocaust front and center. However, when he comes to the 80's and 90's, he strays far afield from his original intent, discussing issues such as Reagan's visit to Bitburg and the recent ethnic cleansing in Bosnia with only tangential ties to the central focus of television. The final section, on Holocaust museums, is interesting but again isn't made to seem terribly relevant to his original thesis. Despite what the Kirkus reviewer said, I think his style is quite good; a nice balance between academic and popular. The book is a fast and fairly easy read, but I found the last third to be disappointing.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Interesting but incomplete
19 July 1999
Format:Hardcover
I imagine this is the first book of its kind, to examine the role television has had in "popularizing" the idea of the Holocaust as a specific, historical entity. As such, much of it is groundbreaking. His chapter on the Sunday morning ecumenical religious programming of the 50's and 60's is especially interesting--I remember those shows from my childhood and his plot summaries make me realize that most of those programs, though done on limited budgets, were vastly more thought-provoking and innovative than most present-day programming. The book remains provocative as the author discusses documentaries, dramatic series shows, the Eichmann trial, and the miniseries Holocaust. He keeps the issue of "Holocaust memory culture" and questions of who "owns" the Holocaust front and center. However, when he comes to the 80's and 90's, he strays far afield from his original intent, discussing issues such as Reagan's visit to Bitburg and the recent ethnic cleansing in Bosnia with only tangential ties to the central focus of television. The final section, on Holocaust museums, is interesting but again isn't made to seem terribly relevant to his original thesis. Despite what the Kirkus reviewer said, I think his style is quite good; a nice balance between academic and popular. The book is a fast and fairly easy read, but I found the last third to be disappointing.
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