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Representing Nazism: Advocacy And Identity At The Trial Of Klaus Barbie, Guyora Binder

Journal Articles

Noting the enormous media interest in the war crimes trial of Klaus Barbie, and the surprising emphasis of this coverage on its cultural significance, this essay provides a literary reading of the trial as a contest over identity. More specifically, it treats the trial and its coverage as a struggle among competing groups - including the French state, various strands of the French left, the French right, resistance veterans, holocaust survivors, Zionists, Arabs, anti-colonialists - for the power to represent Nazism. All of these groups sought to define Nazism so as to claim a privileged identity as essential victims or …