Remco Ensel – författare

Narratives of War considers the way war and battle are remembered and narrated across space and time in Europe in the twentieth century.

The book reflects on how narratives are generated and deployed, and on their function as coping mechanisms, means of survival, commemorative gestures, historical records and evidence. The contributions address such issues as the tension and discrepancy between memory and the official chronicling of war, the relationship between various individuals’ versions of war narratives and the ways in which events are brought together to serve varied functions for the narrators and their audiences. Drawing upon the two World Wars, the Spanish Civil War and the ex-Yugoslav wars, and considering narrative genres that include film, schoolbooks, novels, oral history, archives, official documents, personal testimony and memoirs, readers are introduced to a range of narrative forms and examples that highlight the complexity of narrative in relation to war.

Approached from a multidisciplinary perspective, and taken together, analysis of these narratives contributes to our understanding of the causes, experience, dynamics and consequences of war, making it the ideal book for those interested in twentieth-century war history and the history of memory and narrative.

Narratives of War considers the way war and battle are remembered and narrated across space and time in Europe in the twentieth century.

The book reflects on how narratives are generated and deployed, and on their function as coping mechanisms, means of survival, commemorative gestures, historical records and evidence. The contributions address such issues as the tension and discrepancy between memory and the official chronicling of war, the relationship between various individuals’ versions of war narratives and the ways in which events are brought together to serve varied functions for the narrators and their audiences. Drawing upon the two World Wars, the Spanish Civil War and the ex-Yugoslav wars, and considering narrative genres that include film, schoolbooks, novels, oral history, archives, official documents, personal testimony and memoirs, readers are introduced to a range of narrative forms and examples that highlight the complexity of narrative in relation to war.

Approached from a multidisciplinary perspective, and taken together, analysis of these narratives contributes to our understanding of the causes, experience, dynamics and consequences of war, making it the ideal book for those interested in twentieth-century war history and the history of memory and narrative.

This book is a case study into the affective history of Holocaust drama offering a new perspective on the impact of The Diary of Anne Frank, the pivotal 1950s play that was a turning point in Holocaust consciousness.

Despite its overwhelming success, criticism of the Broadway makeover has been harsh, suggesting that the alleged Americanization would not do justice to the violence of the Holocaust or Anne Frank’s budding Jewishness. This study revisits these issues by focusing on the play’s European appropriation delving into the emotional intensity with which the play was produced and received. The core of the exploration is a history of the Dutch staging in ethnographic detail, based on unique archival material such as correspondence with Otto Frank, prompt books, original tapes, blueprints of the set and oral history. The microhistory of the first Dutch performance of the stage adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary examines the staging in the context of the postwar hesitant development of publicly voiced Holocaust consciousness.

Influenced by memory studies and affect theory, the emphasis is on the emotional impact of the drama on both the members of the cast and the audience and will be of great interest to students and scholars in theater and performance studies, memory studies, cultural history, Jewish studies, Holocaust studies and contemporary European history.

This book is a case study into the affective history of Holocaust drama offering a new perspective on the impact of The Diary of Anne Frank, the pivotal 1950s play that was a turning point in Holocaust consciousness.

Despite its overwhelming success, criticism of the Broadway makeover has been harsh, suggesting that the alleged Americanization would not do justice to the violence of the Holocaust or Anne Frank’s budding Jewishness. This study revisits these issues by focusing on the play’s European appropriation delving into the emotional intensity with which the play was produced and received. The core of the exploration is a history of the Dutch staging in ethnographic detail, based on unique archival material such as correspondence with Otto Frank, prompt books, original tapes, blueprints of the set and oral history. The microhistory of the first Dutch performance of the stage adaptation of Anne Frank’s diary examines the staging in the context of the postwar hesitant development of publicly voiced Holocaust consciousness.

Influenced by memory studies and affect theory, the emphasis is on the emotional impact of the drama on both the members of the cast and the audience and will be of great interest to students and scholars in theater and performance studies, memory studies, cultural history, Jewish studies, Holocaust studies and contemporary European history.

This book is the first comprehensive study of postwar antisemitism in the Netherlands. It focuses on the way stereotypes are passed on from one decade to the next, as reflected in public debates, the mass media, protests and commemorations, and everyday interactions. The Holocaust, Israel and ''the Jew'' explores the ways in which old stories and phrases relating to ''the stereotypical Jew'' are recycled and modified for new uses, linking the antisemitism of the early postwar years to its enduring manifestations in today''s world., The Dutch case is interesting because of the apparent contrast between the Netherlands'' famous tradition of tolerance and the large numbers of Jews who were deported and murdered in the Second World War. The book sheds light on the dark side of this so-called ''Dutch paradox,'' in manifestations of aversion and guilt after 1945. In this context, the abusive taunt ''They forgot to gas you'' can be seen as the first radical expression of postwar antisemitism as well as an indication of how the Holocaust came to be turned against the Jews. The identification of ''the Jew'' with the gas chamber spread from the streets to football stadiums, and from verbal abuse to pamphlet and protest. The slogan ''Hamas, Hamas all the Jews to the gas'' indicates that Israel became a second marker of postwar antisemitism. The chapters cover themes including soccer-related antisemitism, Jewish responses, philosemitism, antisemitism in Dutch-Moroccan and Dutch- Turkish communities, contentious acts of remembrance, the neo-Nazi tradition, and the legacy of Theo van Gogh. The book concludes with a lengthy epilogue on ''the Jew'' in the politics of the radical right, the attacks in Paris in 2015, and the refugee crisis. The stereotype of ''the Jew'' appears to be transferable to other minorities.

This book is the first comprehensive study of postwar antisemitism in the Netherlands. It focuses on the way stereotypes are passed on from one decade to the next, as reflected in public debates, the mass media, protests and commemorations, and everyday interactions. The Holocaust, Israel and ''the Jew'' explores the ways in which old stories and phrases relating to ''the stereotypical Jew'' are recycled and modified for new uses, linking the antisemitism of the early postwar years to its enduring manifestations in today''s world., The Dutch case is interesting because of the apparent contrast between the Netherlands'' famous tradition of tolerance and the large numbers of Jews who were deported and murdered in the Second World War. The book sheds light on the dark side of this so-called ''Dutch paradox,'' in manifestations of aversion and guilt after 1945. In this context, the abusive taunt ''They forgot to gas you'' can be seen as the first radical expression of postwar antisemitism as well as an indication of how the Holocaust came to be turned against the Jews. The identification of ''the Jew'' with the gas chamber spread from the streets to football stadiums, and from verbal abuse to pamphlet and protest. The slogan ''Hamas, Hamas all the Jews to the gas'' indicates that Israel became a second marker of postwar antisemitism. The chapters cover themes including soccer-related antisemitism, Jewish responses, philosemitism, antisemitism in Dutch-Moroccan and Dutch- Turkish communities, contentious acts of remembrance, the neo-Nazi tradition, and the legacy of Theo van Gogh. The book concludes with a lengthy epilogue on ''the Jew'' in the politics of the radical right, the attacks in Paris in 2015, and the refugee crisis. The stereotype of ''the Jew'' appears to be transferable to other minorities.