Largely forgotten over the years, the seminal work of French poet, novelist and camp survivor Jean Cayrol has experienced a revival in the French-speaking world since his death in 2005. His concept of a concentrationary art-the need for an urgent and constant aesthetic resistance to the continuing effects of the concentrationary universe-proved to be a major influence for Hannah Arendt and other writers and theorists across a number of disciplines. Concentrationary Art presents the first translation into English of Jean Cayrol's key essays on the subject, as well as the first book-length study of how we might situate and elaborate his concept of a Lazarean aesthetic in cultural theory, literature, cinema, music and contemporary art.
The seminal work of Jean Cayrol has experienced a revival in the French-speaking world since his death in 2005. Concentrationary Art represents the first translation into English of Cayrol's two essays on concentrationary art, as well as the first book-length study of his theory.
"The volume is a true labour of love, makes for fascinating reading, and at last offers us Cayrol in English translation?The articles take us on a fascinating journey in which Cayrol's idea of the concentrationary and the figure of Lazarus are explored as theories with their own histories?These analyses across diferent artistic forms and historical periods demonstrate how fertile Cayrol's ideas were." ? Modern Language Review
"This is a politically urgent volume and an excellent resource for anyone studying the cultural or representational legacies of the concentration camp 'as both event and form', its (post)traumatic manifestations or memory in the contemporary world." ? Textual Practice
"Concentrationary Art is invariably intellectually exhilarating to read, and is hard to put down. It puts forward a new and cogent aesthetic theory in its analysis not only of the wartime 'concentrationary', but also of the role of the survivor in a post-war world where traces of the same phenomena persist unseen in the everyday." ? Sue Vice, University of Sheffield
"This is an authoritative, clear, and insightful book. The contributions to this excellent volume offer a novel take on the concentrationary and provide a wider understanding of post-Holocaust art." ? Kathryn Robson, Newcastle University
