Monday, November 12 2018 from 6.30 PM to 7.30 PM CST. Giffels Auditorium, Old Main - University of Arkansas - 416 Campus Dr, Fayetteville, AR 72701. Dr. Druker’s lecture addresses the question of how Judaism informs Primo Levi’s identity and, more importantly, how it is reflected in the thematic and stylistic aspects of his autobiographical texts dealing with the Holocaust. The cultural frame-of-reference that Levi brought with him to Auschwitz certainly shaped his understanding of the nature of the Holocaust and its meaning.

Therefore, it is important to gauge Levi’s early relationship to Judaism in the context of Italian Fascism. Also, since the Holocaust has left an indelible mark on Jewish consciousness worldwide, it is equally important to consider whether Levi’s attitude toward his ethnic and religious heritage changed as a result of his traumatic experiences, and whether, in the face of Nazism’s assault on European Jewry, a renewed commitment to Judaism informs his late-career writings.