The dynamics of memory and remembrance of the Holocaust have passed through different phases. Some aspects have been transmitted, while others have been systematically overlooked, misrepresented, or silenced on national, transnational and international levels.
The Violence of Silence is a two-day conference exploring the conscious and unconscious mechanisms through which silence functions as a transnational tool of exclusion, distortion, and, ultimately, continued violence. It sheds light on the silenced or marginalised dimensions of Holocaust history and memory, and examines literary works that instead, deepen and extend official narratives by offering non-canonical images for cultivating new forms of memory, justice, and solidarity today. The conference brings together keynote speaker Professor Sue Vice (University of Sheffield) and thirty scholars representing a wide range of career stages, genders, and national backgrounds, including Ireland, Canada, the UK, the US, Greece, France, Germany, Poland, and India.
The conference will take place at University College Dublin, 23-24 January 2026, and includes a performance of semi-staged scenes from Such Creatures, written by award-winning Canadian playwright Judith Thompson. This performance-focused event supplements and extends academic discussion by allowing participants to experience the literature under analysis, brought to life on stage by UCD students. It therefore crafts innovative and transdisciplinary intersections of performance with history to consider the role of literature in encouraging writers, readers, and the public to break historical cycles of forgetting.
https://www.ucd.ie/slcl/newsandevents/slclconferences/theviolenceofsilence2026/