Primo Levi and Slave Labor at Auschwitz-III

As a Holocaust survivor, Primo Levi was a powerful voice for testimony and for reflections on the ethical consequences of the genocide. But he was also, especially in his first work, If This Is a Man, a careful analyst of the material conditions of camp life, including the workings of economy and labor. This talk examines Levi’s account of labor in Auschwitz-III, and in particular the uses and meanings of the language of slavery in that context.

Robert Gordon is Serena Professor of Italian at the University of Cambridge. He works on the literature, cinema, and cultural history of modern Italy. He is the author or editor of several volumes on the work of Primo Levi (e.g., Primo Levi’s Ordinary Virtues; Auschwitz Report; The Cambridge Companion to Primo Levi; Innesti; Primo Levi magico) and a major study of the wider field of postwar cultural responses to the Holocaust (The Holocaust in Italian Culture, 1944–2010). He coedited the collection Holocaust Intersections and a special issue of the Jewish history journal Quest. He is also author of a recent work of comparative cultural criticism on the role and function of luck in modern storytelling, Modern Luck.

Cosponsored by the Department of Italian Studies

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