The moral dimension of literary studies: the case of Tadeusz Borowski’s testimonies

Abstract

This essay explores the moral dimension of literary studies in dealing with the literary representations of the horrors of the Holocaust. It discusses Elie Wiesel’s (1977) stance on the matter, for whom the literary treatment of Auschwitz entails something intrinsically immoral. This paper questions to what extent his viewpoint leads to a mystification of such horrors, which may thwart the literary exploration and scholarly discussion of tales such as Tadeusz Borowski’s testimonies. In that sense, it is proposed that literary criticism may provide the theoretical framework to inform a moral approach to analyse the Holocaust literature. In addition, it is suggested that, following Wiesel (1977), those testimonies engender a new literary genre, this is, a new writer-reader pact in which certain moral and emotional attitudes towards the narration are expected from both parts involved. In order to support this hypothesis, Borowski’s “This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen” (1946) is examined, focusing on its narrative perspective, a perspective that underscores the moral crisis triggered by the horrors of the Holocaust.