Near and Middle East Department, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Armenian Studies – Turkish Studies 
Armenian-Turkish Encounters Series
The second seminar of the series:
Professor Ayşe Kadıoğlu
Sabancı Fellow at Oxford, St Anthony’s College
Reviewing and discussing
Edgar Hilsenrath’s “fairy tale” about Anatolian Armenians
Chaired by Dr Krikor Moskofian
Friday, 7 May 2010
6:30 pm, Brunei 102 SOAS
Edgar Hilsenrath’s novel titled The Story of the Last Thought brings to light the story of the Armenians in the village of Yedi Su before and after the 1915. The story is witnessed by the character Thovma Khatisian in his “last thought” just before he dies. The author, Hilsenrath, is not only a survivor of the Holocaust but has also written extensively about his experiences by resorting to a rare style of nihilism and black humor. His accounts of the Holocaust are ladden with a curious mix of presumably incompatible motifs such as grotesque depictions of violence and wit. His work encourages a comparison of the catastrophes of the Anatolian Armenians with the tragedies of the Jews in Europe. This novel is most visibly distinguished by the identity of its author who can position himself both as an insider and outsider in depicting the story of the Anatolian Armenians.
English
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