ABSTRACT
To interpret competing memories of the Holocaust as they are represented in the writings of historians and novelists, I draw on psychoanalytic theory. It becomes important for educators to understand the complexities of psychoanalytic theory and some of the differences between classical Freudian theory, post-Freudian interpretations, and object relations theory and how these theories have been applied to Holocaust scholarship in what is termed psychohistory. In this chapter, my aim is to offer a brief historical overview of some general trends in psychoanalytic thinking so that we might be able to raise questions around the Holocaust in complex ways. Freudian, Laplanchian, Kleinian, and Fairbairnian psychoanalytic theory help raise questions around the ways in which we deal with the Holocaust. I want to point out that when we are talking about complex responses to difficult memories, complexifying the subject matter becomes key. I think reducing psychoanalytic terms to simple ones does not help to unpack Holocaust texts. Moreover, I think it is crucial to grasp a sense of the historical developments in psychoanalytic thinking in order to better contextualize and situate my own post-Freudian position. Psychoanalysis is a form of hermeneutics that offers insights helpful for understanding the ways in which we might psychologically frame memories, especially when these memories are repressed. The way in which we frame memories might be a clue to our own resistances and limitations when grappling with this horrific event called the Holocaust.
