Graduation Year
2025
Document Type
Campus Only Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Politics and International Relations
Reader 1
Owen Brown
Reader 2
Kevin Vennemann
Terms of Use & License Information
Abstract
This thesis analyzes the archetypes that shape collective memory of the Holocaust in the United States and Germany, focusing on the intersections of collective memory, national identity, power, and politics. By drawing on interdisciplinary theories of memory and analyzing archetypes such as “The Good Jew,” “The Nazi,” “The Dead Jew,” and “The Void,” this thesis examines how such representations respond to and reinforce structures of power and identity. Through critical analysis of media, literature, and memorial practices, this study illustrates the intersections between memory and political identities, and thus offers insights into the ways that collective memory serves as a contested process of historical interpretation and moral responsibility. Rather than focusing on questions of effective representation, this work seeks to deepen understandings of how Holocaust remembrance is shaped by cultural and political discourses. Archetypal analysis problematizes current modes of remembrance, in particular the banalization and sacralization of Holocaust remembrance, and in so doing emphasizes a more dynamic approach to memory that is better able to address and respond to evolving contemporary political landscapes.
Recommended Citation
Dinerman, Sophie, "Memory and Myth: Archetypal Remembrance of The Holocaust" (2025). Scripps Senior Theses. 2510.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/2510
This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.
