On Wednesday, November 9, 2011, Dr. Elizabeth Baer, Professor of English and Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Gustavus Adolphus College, previewed her new book, The Golem Redux. Baer spoke about how contemporary Jewish-American writers have created golem stories as a re-imagining of text-centered Jewish traditions by appropriating, adapting, revising and riffing on older golem legends. Such appropriation, deploying the imagination to seek a better understanding of human nature, is crucial in light of the Holocaust experience under the Nazis. The presentation included golems from novels, comic books, graphic narratives, and "The X-Files."
Dr. Baer's new book, The Golem Redux: From Prague to Post-Holocaust Fiction is now available from Wayne State University Press. You can watch the lecture on the Center's YouTube channel, CHGSumn.
