Planet Auschwitz: Holocaust Representation in Science Fiction and Horror Film and Television
Description
Planet Auschwitz explores the diverse ways in which the Holocaust influences and shapes science fiction and horror film and television by focusing on notable contributions from the last fifty years. The supernatural and extraterrestrial are rich and complex spaces with which to examine important Holocaust themes - trauma, guilt, grief, ideological fervor and perversion, industrialized killing, and the dangerous afterlife of Nazism after World War II. Planet Auschwitz explores why the Holocaust continues to set the standard for horror in the modern era and asks if the Holocaust is imaginable here on Earth, at least by those who perpetrated it, why not in a galaxy far, far away? The pervasive use of Holocaust imagery and plotlines in horror and science fiction reflects both our preoccupation with its enduring trauma and our persistent need to “work through” its many legacies.
Planet Auschwitz website (https://planetauschwitz.com)
Praise for Planet Auschwitz: Holocaust Representation in Science Fiction and Horror Film and Television
"A great text....original in scale and scope."
— Jonathan C. Friedman
Compelling and persuasively argued ... shows the extent to which Holocaust ideas and images have crept into popular horror and science fiction film and TV.
— Oren Baruch Stier
"In this deeply researched and insightful study, Crim lucidly reveals how the Nazi genocide has left an indelible and often unsettling mark on American popular culture."
— Gavriel Rosenfeld
"The industrialized murder of the Shoah, forever associated with concentration camps during World War II, was coined with the term Planet Auschwitz as another world, but is hardly imaginable for younger generations. Brian E. Crim explains astutely how the ripple effect of the Holocaust resonates in American popular culture, especially in the genres of Science Fiction and Horror. This book studies the imagery that persists in visual media but avoids the normalization of the genocide. It keeps the study of the Holocaust alive to guarantee that the “torrent of testimony” will not perish with the last witnesses."
— Karen A. Ritzenhoff
"History professor writes about life on ‘Planet Auschwitz’"
https://www.lynchburg.edu/news/2020/04/history-professor-writes-about-life-on-planet-auschwitz/?fbclid=IwAR38ua3a_14Gehg9cY2D7Xi9JzHCfSyTFaUlARdIVemESFGuIsWId20uFQ0
— University of Lynchburg
"Planet Auschwitz: Holocaust Representation in Science Fiction and Horror Film and Television" interview with Brian Crim
https://newbooksnetwork.com/brian-crim-planet-auschwitz-holocaust-representation-in-science-fiction-and-horror-film-and-television-rutgers-up-2020/
— New Books Network - New Books in German Studies
"Crim contributes to the scholarship exploring how the Holocaust has filtered down and across popular culture, leaving its trace in numerous ways. His focus is on how it has influenced and shaped science fiction and horror film and television over the past half-century but particularly over the past 20 years."
— Times Higher Education
"Crim offers an engaging interdisciplinary consideration of the Holocaust in horror and science fiction. Across chapters, this book engages with many primary film and television sources [and] supplies an excellent resource for identifying media imprinted by the legacy of the Holocaust."
— Journal of Popular Culture Review
"Crim provides a valuable contribution to Holocaust scholars by having us pay attention to metaphorical representations in works of horror and science fiction."
— Central European History
"Planet Auschwitz ends on a strong note. The book’s deceptively simple premise –reading sf and horror for Holocaust metaphor –reveals its complex layers piece by piece as it goes on, showing how film and television reflect the enduring influence of the Holocaust in the psyche of Western society."
— Science Fiction Film and Television
"His research is up-to-date and meticulous, demonstrating his long familiarity with the complexities and vicissitudes of modern German culture."
— SFRA Review
"A great text....original in scale and scope."
— Jonathan C. Friedman
Compelling and persuasively argued ... shows the extent to which Holocaust ideas and images have crept into popular horror and science fiction film and TV.
— Oren Baruch Stier
"In this deeply researched and insightful study, Crim lucidly reveals how the Nazi genocide has left an indelible and often unsettling mark on American popular culture."
— Gavriel Rosenfeld
"The industrialized murder of the Shoah, forever associated with concentration camps during World War II, was coined with the term Planet Auschwitz as another world, but is hardly imaginable for younger generations. Brian E. Crim explains astutely how the ripple effect of the Holocaust resonates in American popular culture, especially in the genres of Science Fiction and Horror. This book studies the imagery that persists in visual media but avoids the normalization of the genocide. It keeps the study of the Holocaust alive to guarantee that the “torrent of testimony” will not perish with the last witnesses."
— Karen A. Ritzenhoff
"History professor writes about life on ‘Planet Auschwitz’"
https://www.lynchburg.edu/news/2020/04/history-professor-writes-about-life-on-planet-auschwitz/?fbclid=IwAR38ua3a_14Gehg9cY2D7Xi9JzHCfSyTFaUlARdIVemESFGuIsWId20uFQ0
— University of Lynchburg
"Planet Auschwitz: Holocaust Representation in Science Fiction and Horror Film and Television" interview with Brian Crim
https://newbooksnetwork.com/brian-crim-planet-auschwitz-holocaust-representation-in-science-fiction-and-horror-film-and-television-rutgers-up-2020/
— New Books Network - New Books in German Studies
"Crim contributes to the scholarship exploring how the Holocaust has filtered down and across popular culture, leaving its trace in numerous ways. His focus is on how it has influenced and shaped science fiction and horror film and television over the past half-century but particularly over the past 20 years."
— Times Higher Education
"Crim offers an engaging interdisciplinary consideration of the Holocaust in horror and science fiction. Across chapters, this book engages with many primary film and television sources [and] supplies an excellent resource for identifying media imprinted by the legacy of the Holocaust."
— Journal of Popular Culture Review
"Crim provides a valuable contribution to Holocaust scholars by having us pay attention to metaphorical representations in works of horror and science fiction."
— Central European History
"Planet Auschwitz ends on a strong note. The book’s deceptively simple premise –reading sf and horror for Holocaust metaphor –reveals its complex layers piece by piece as it goes on, showing how film and television reflect the enduring influence of the Holocaust in the psyche of Western society."
— Science Fiction Film and Television
"His research is up-to-date and meticulous, demonstrating his long familiarity with the complexities and vicissitudes of modern German culture."
— SFRA Review