Critical laughter: humor, popular culture and Israeli Holocaust commemoration

Abstract

This article explores current trends in the representation of the Holocaust in Israeli popular culture through the analysis of the successful satirical television program: The Chamber Quintet. The article argues that the show's subversive and challenging interpretations of traditional Holocaust commemorations, indicates a major change in the collective memory of the Holocaust. The article explores the cultural role of the show's sketches relating to Holocaust memory by using three perspectives of analysis. The first is a historical–sociological perspective that deals with the development of Holocaust commemoration in Israel. The second perspective deals with the conflict between popular cultural practices and the conventions of Holocaust remembrance. The third perspective deals with the problematic relationship between the content (Holocaust memory) and the form (the genre of humor). Combining these perspectives reveals a dialectical discourse that connects prior voices with new modes of Holocaust representation in popular culture. The article suggests that the use of the popular medium and the genre of humor undermine the program's content. This process indicates a situation of deadlock in collective memory in which new voices criticize the traditional commemoration but can offer no alternative and subvert their own criticism.

Dynamics of memory: Commemorating the 2005 London bombings in British television news

“…Shandler, 1999), comedy sketch shows (e.g. Zandberg, 2006) and, most significantly for our purposes, news. A constant selection and recycling of images of the past has been found to characterize the workings of news discourse vis-à-vis memory (Hoskins, 2001(Hoskins, , 2004.…”

Is it OK to laugh about it yet? Hitler Rants YouTube parodies in Hebrew

“…(Fiske 1987: 312-330). These questions become more complex where humorous skits are concerned due to humour's polysemous nature and the multiple meanings it inherently possesses (Meyer 2000: 310-333;Lynch 2002: 423-445;Shifman, 2008: 143-150; on the ambivalent perception of Holocaust satire in Israel, see Zandberg 2006;Shifman 2008). Satirists on Israeli television programs such as Gav haUmah and Eretz Nehedereth have to think twice before using Holocaust satire, and often have to apologise, even while on-air and sometimes after the show when dealing with letters of complaint (Steir-Livny 2015: 193-219).…”

“Ketchup Is the Auschwitz of Tomatoes”: Humor and the Collective Memory of Traumatic Events

“…The most popular examples of the use of humor to criticize Israeli Holocaust memory can be found in skits produced for the satiric television show HaHamishia Hakamarit (“The Chamber Quintet”), which criticized the politicization and commercialization of Holocaust memory, as well as the dominance of media memory over the historical events (Zandberg, ). These skits created memorable characters, like the “Israeli delegates” who in an athletic competition held in Germany ask the German starter to allow the Israeli runner to begin the race a few meters ahead of the others, arguing “Haven't the Jewish people suffered enough?” Another skit created the son of Holocaust survivors attempting to become a painter or violinist because, as a postal worker, he does not fit the media stereotype of the “second generation.” This highly praised and influential show expressed shrewd criticism of the saturation of Holocaust memory in Israeli culture and public life.…”