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THE VULGARIZATION OF EVIL

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article examines the Eichmann trial as a turning point in Holocaust memory, where law, trauma, and media converged. Its pioneering multi-camera broadcast transformed a legal proceeding into a global spectacle, amplifying survivor testimony while inaugurating what is here called the vulgarization of evil: the conflation of justice and performance. Engaging Hannah Arendt’s critique, the essay highlights Primo Levi’s refusal to testify as poetic resistance to theatrical justice, contrasted with Natan Alterman’s embrace of the trial as national redemption. Tracing these divergent responses alongside political debates on staging justice, the article argues that the trial established lasting conditions for both the possibilities and the risks of Holocaust remembrance.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)81-97
Number of pages17
JournalModerna
Volume27
Issue number1-2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2025

Keywords

  • Banality of Evil
  • Eichmann Trial
  • Hannah Arendt
  • Holocaust Memory
  • Justice
  • Media Spectacle
  • Natan Alterman
  • Performance
  • Primo Levi
  • Testimony
  • Vulgarization of Evil

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