Abstract

Abstract:

This article examines how Aleida Assmann's thoughts on "transnational memory" and Michael Rothberg's concept of "multidirectional memory," in which competing memories find common ground, manifest themselves in Vladimir Vertlib's play ÜBERA LL NIRGENDS lauert die Zukunft (2016). Holocaust survivor David returns from Israel to his former displaced persons camp—now a refugee camp—in order to bring the buried remnants of his lover to the Holy Land. Through dialogue, David and the asylum seekers coexist and eventually confront and, to a surprising extent, come to understand one another. The painful past and present intermingle against a backdrop of the Holocaust and the conflict between Jews and Palestinians in the Middle East. Vertlib's own insistence on the power of dialogue both within and outside of the play testifies to his commitment to a more just, inclusive society.

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