Abstract
Despite the controversies surrounding Yann Martel’s Beatrice and Virgil, I argue that Holocaust fiction in general, and this novel in particular, can be a fertile catalyst for dialogue in ways that historical treatments and survivor testimonies cannot be. My analysis of the novel comes from assigning it in an interdisciplinary, team-taught course on 20th century genocide. Martel’s risky venture challenges many fundamental tenets: 1) that the Holocaust is unique to the point that it cannot be compared to any other event, 2) that truth is found primarily (or exclusively) in survivor testimonies and not in fiction, and 3) that language is an untrustworthy key to unlocking the Event. Using major elements of the novel—the flip book, the comparison of history with taxidermy, and the conversations between the two Henrys and two animals—I examine how Martel both represents the agony of “the Horrors” and engages his readers in an ongoing dialogue. What I offer, therefore, is a literary analysis as well as pedagogical reflections based on questions and interpretations raised by students and from conversations with my teaching team. Beatrice and Virgil is written by and written for those who “come after,” and has an important function in the ever-evolving fields of Holocaust studies and Holocaust education.
Highlights
Despite the controversies surrounding Yann Martel’s Beatrice and Virgil, I argue that Holocaust fiction in general, and this novel in particular, can be a fertile catalyst for dialogue in ways that historical treatments and survivor testimonies cannot be
After reading Yann Martel’s Beatrice and Virgil for the first time, I was sure I would never assign the novel to my students
The following sections exploring the material in Beatrice and Virgil should not be read as a typical literary analysis based on reading the novel, but rather reflections based on teaching the novel
Summary
After reading Yann Martel’s Beatrice and Virgil for the first time, I was sure I would never assign the novel to my students. In the same course, for my assignments I had opted for selections of Holocaust poetry This second time I required Beatrice and Virgil. Martel is writing out of a specific context: we are within only a few years of losing the generation of Holocaust survivors. With fewer and fewer survivors and witnesses still with us, a new generation will assume the responsibility of understanding and dealing with the Holocaust in the years to come. This responsibility will impact Holocaust education but Holocaust studies. How will we talk about the Event if we do not have the authority of experience and the guidance of personal memory? How will we write about the Holocaust when we must depend upon accounts other than our own? Who will remain passionate about understanding the Holocaust, and what will instill their passion?
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