Sister in Sorrow: Life Histories of Female Holocaust Survivors from Hungary

3. The Holocaust Experience of Its Listeners and Readers: A Phenomenological-Hermeneutic Analysis of Ten Life Histories

83 3 The Holocaust Experience of Its Listeners and Readers A Phenomenological-Hermeneutic Analysis of Ten Life Histories And in accordance with your point of view, you identify with some of them. When you encounter insolvable questions, you surely o√er a number of solutions, then with great refinement you select one, and circle the square to create the perfect picture. Shoshi Brainer, Ariadna The life histories that are presented and analyzed in this chapter are divided into two major groups. One (including the life histories of Dora Ashkenazi, Rachel Markowitz, and Ruth Matias) presents a mosaic of languages and cultures, and the second (including the accounts of the Heiman and Bihari couples and those of Berta Wazner, Esther Israel, and Piri Meister) is characterized by a tension between revealing and concealing, or presence and absence, and is further subdivided into two subgroups. The narratives of the first group resemble those in the previous chapter in that the pre-Holocaust period in them is relatively short and presented as an introduction to the Holocaust chapter in the lives of the narrators. The Holocaust period is central in terms of both its length and its thematic breadth, while the post-Holocaust period is no less significant and demanding. The second group of stories di√ers in significant ways from the two previous groups (the first group and that of the previous chapter). The period preceding the Holocaust is presented briefly in this group, too, with the exception of Dr. Ernő Bihari, who dwells much on this period. 84 Chapter 3 The Holocaust is described in abbreviated form (sometimes in just a few sentences), with only a general description and listing of names of places or dates, instead of descriptions of the unique experiences that the narrators themselves underwent during this period. In contrast, the post-Holocaust period is described in much more detail. Yet, some of the narrators refer back to the Holocaust period while they describe the post-Holocaust period in their lives, and all of them were willing to elaborate on the Holocaust period when I posed questions for clarification at the end of their spontaneous narration. Concerning this rather reticent group, I will analyze the tension between revealing and concealing in the discourse of its narrators, though the ‘‘revelations’’ of these narrators are limited in scope. Therefore, in this group, the interpretative or hermeneutic activity is that of those who listen to or read the stories, while in the first group of life histories in this chapter this interpretative activity is carried out also by the narrators themselves and even by figures in their narratives, as we shall see. The Phenomenological Approach and Its Application in the Analysis of the Life Histories Before I enter into a discussion of the narratives, it is necessary to enlarge a bit on the principles of the literary phenomenological approach and the hermeneutic activity that is connected to it or results from it. I shall start with hermeneutics. Hermeneutics, as defined as far back as the nineteenth century by the German philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey, is the study of the processes of understanding (Verstehen).∞ This is a scientific and systematic process, and as such it also enables the scholar to generate predictions on the basis of phenomena that have already been recognized and studied.≤ Hans Georg Gadamer relates to play in all its forms, including acting, performance, and the work of art, as objects with a consistent structure that can therefore be studied scienti fically and systematically.≥ Furthermore, the very process of understanding is often a presentation or revelation of the object’s own rules and innate consistency.∂ This principle is further explicated and demonstrated by the work of literary scholars such as Stanley Fish from a predominantly stylistic aspect, and Umberto Eco, Wolfgang Iser, Paul Ricoeur, and others from narratological and philosophical ones. Whatever the specific perspective, all these scholars tend to display their analytic tools and methods through their application while reading and Phenomenological-Hermeneutic Analysis 85 experiencing various literary texts, as will be done in my own implementation of the work of these scholars. The activity of understanding and its pursuit fill an empty void or deficiency in our consciousness, since often the true nature of things is unknown to us, and all that is left for us to do is suggest interpretations or explanations.∑ Hence the connection of...