'The Black Book': John Berryman's Holocaust Requiem

Boswell, MJ

Abstract

This essay looks in detail at an unfinished cycle of Holocaust poems called The Black Book that was begun by the American poet John Berryman in 1948. The essay includes close readings of three published poems and analysis of unpublished material from the Berryman archive. It also considers Berryman's use of Holocaust testimony. Drawing on Susan Gubar's concept of 'proxy-witnessing', this essay argues that Berryman's unfinished cycle highlights some of the distinct challenges of Holocaust representation, occupying an uneasy middle ground between language and silence.

Citation

Boswell, M. (2007). 'The Black Book': John Berryman's Holocaust Requiem. In P. Coleman, P. McGowan, & K. Richard (Eds.), 'After thirty falls': new essays on John Berryman (11-27). Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi

• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2007
• Deposit Date: Aug 24, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Publisher: Rodopi
• Pages: 11-27
• Series Title: DQR Studies in Literature
• Book Title: 'After thirty falls': new essays on John Berryman
• ISBN: 9789042022195