Tracing Theory on the Body of the “Walking Dead”: Der Muselmann and the Course of Holocaust Studies

The history of philosophical positions about the meaning of Holocaust victim experience can be organized around three general stances identified by the moral implications that follow: the redemptive, nihilistic, and narcissistic positions. Further, each stance includes a distinct view of the muselmann—that category of Holocaust victim generally referred to as the walking dead —that serves to confirm its larger theoretical claims. These categories have served as a helpful pedagogical tool when teaching a wide variety of texts in the field of Holocaust studies, and students can identify the limitations of each position in terms of the caricature of the muselmann on which it rests. Lastly, organizing a syllabus around these three positions encourages a certain intellectual progression from moral judgment, to moral uncertainty, to renewed engagement with the world