Emocje, fakty i krytyka
Emotions, Facts, and Criticism

On Critics’ Reactions to Popular Holocaust Fiction Books

Summary/Abstract: The popularity of Holocaust fiction books is generating interest among scholars ofthe Holocaust and Holocaust memory. The emotional impact on readers is the mostimportant key to the analysis of this phenomenon, and the most prevalent term usedto describe it is kitsch. The article addresses the issue of emotionality manifested incriticism of popular Holocaust fiction books. The article outlines the affective field inwhich scientific and literary discourses on the Holocaust function and clash. The twoapproaches draw boundaries between desirable and undesirable emotions differently,and they apply different criteria and tools to discipline and validate or accept theemotional reactions evoked by the confrontation with the history of the Holocaust. Inthis field, historical truth plays a role of no small importance: reference to facts is thebasis not only of historiographical but also affective evaluation as factual errors combinewith emotional and ethical judgments.

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