Making Absence Visible: Remembering Claude Lanzmann

Upon hearing about his death, I wrote a piece about Claude Lanzmann. I didn't realize it was going to be called an obituary, but here it is. His film Shoah was one of the most important works with regard to my own thinking about what it means to talk about trauma in the most ethical and authentic way. I once taught a college freshman writing class in which I had the students watch all of the more than 8-hour film for the first two weeks of class. And then when we had finished, I said, "Okay, now write about something traumatic you experienced in your own lives. Or about something you witnessed."

I know, it sounds crazy. I had done so at the suggestion of my former dissertation advisor, Sandor Goodhart, whom I had called to complain about having to teach a freshman writing course. He suggested I turn it into something that fit my expertise. He said it would work, and he was right. It was one of the best and most real teaching experiences I ever had.