Historical narrative, identity and the Holocaust

Attempts to tell the story of the Holocaust have invariably proved contro-versial and the continuing problem as to how we can speak about the event has prompted a conviction that it represents an ’unmasterable ’ episode in our history. What precisely this means is somewhat unclear. Additional light may be shed upon the theoretical character of the problem by reference to an examination of a particular instance of fragmented Holocaust debate. This particular problem consists in the emergence of differing perspectives- scep-tical empirical inquiry on the one hand and personal memory on the other-which, in this case, appear not only as different ways of exploring the past but also as standpoints peculiarly at odds with one another. At the same time, each standpoint fails in one way or another to escape looming questions of veracity. These problems can be generalized to reflect the unprecedented nature of the Holocaust itself and, I want to suggest, can best be explained by juxtaposition with the requirements involved in a narrative conception of history. The Holocaust arguably resists the full development of an historical