ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the resonances between the representation of Holocaust perpetrators and perpetrators of other genocides, in film and literature. It begins by briefly sketching the stereotypical representation of the Holocaust perpetrator in mainstream film and literature—as a figure generally signed as unambiguously “evil,” whose actions remained largely unexplained (except by their “evilness”) and who is usually cast as either cold, ruthless, and efficient in carrying out the murderous plan, or as part of a brutal, violent mob. The bulk of the chapter will then show how this stereotype has been used to represent perpetrators of other genocides, drawing examples from the Armenian, Australian, Cambodian, Bosnian, Rwandan, and Darfur genocides. The chapter explores how re-using these stereotypes permits authors/filmmakers to tap into the cultural codes surrounding the Holocaust, for a variety of reasons—an “easily comprehensible” narrative, to buttress calls for action or make political claims in the present—and also problematizes this process as one that flattens understanding and potentially effective action. It concludes by pointing towards some of the varying methods by which other, often less mainstream, representations have sought to complicate these stereotypical representations of genocide perpetrators.
