Elli Bookhalter

Topic

Resonant Relationality: Sonic Explorations of a Berlin Holocaust Memorial

Anthropology

Date & location

• Wednesday, December 20, 2023

• 1:00 P.M.

• Cornett Building

• Room A319

Reviewers

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier, Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria (Supervisor)

• Dr. Daromir Rudnyckyj, Department of Anthropology, UVic (Member)

   

External Examiner

• Dr. Charlotte Schallie, Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies, UVic

   

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Kristin Semmens, Department of History, UVic

   

Abstract

This thesis examines how engaging with sound at Berlin’s Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (MMJE) can be used to broaden discourses of Holocaust commemoration. Situated in central Berlin, the MMJE is a massive public memorial that is approximately 19,000 square meters in size and consists of 2711 rectangular concrete stelae with space to walk in between. Opening in 2005, it has become a well-known site of contemporary Holocaust memory, as it is regularly visited by tourists from all around the world.

For this project, I spent 17 days in Berlin conducting fieldwork, recording sounds at various locations and times in the memorial. I also worked with 6 research participants, each of whom shared their own reflections and/or sound recordings displaying the different ways in which they relate to the overlapping and ever-evolving sonic environments at the memorial. They were asked to walk around the space, actively listen and identify the sounds they heard, and share their thoughts on the experience. Each participant was invited to upload their contribution to a website (www.mmjesounds.org) where all of their work can be appreciated.

This project demonstrates that much of the current discourse surrounding Holocaust commemoration is lacking regarding how the modality of sound is engaged with at existing sites of Holocaust memory. Using sonic and musical metaphors as well as soundscape compositions, this thesis explores various ways in which Steven Feld’s acoustemology, or knowing through sound, can be used to broaden these discourses. At a time where there are fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors to tell their stories, expanding our understanding of how public Holocaust memorialization is related to and engaged with is more crucial than ever before.