The Necessary Invention of Sense: from If This Is a Man to Son of Saul

Abstract

This paper presents a critical study of the problem of the representation of extreme horror and particularly the Nazi Holocaust. The purpose of this analysis is inquire into the classic –and perhaps even more relevant today than ever– subject of the ineffability of horror from a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective, with particular attention to the possibilities of transgressing the representative interdict of the Shoah and the causes that encourage this hypothetical need for transgression. To do this we have focused in the comparative analysis of the work If This Is a Man (1947) by the Italian writer Primo Levi, and the film Son of Saul (2015) by the Hungarian director Lázsló Nemes.

Keywords

• representación, Shoah, literatura, cine, Si esto es un hombre, El hijo de Saúl.