Catherine Perret's 'L'Enseignement de la torture' Revisits Jean Améry
Philosopher Catherine Perret has published 'L'Enseignement de la torture. Réflexions sur Jean Améry' (Seuil), a study of Jean Améry's 1966 essay 'Par-delà le crime et le châtiment'. Améry (1912-1978), born Hans Mayer, was a Belgian Resistance member deported to Auschwitz-Monowitz, where he worked for IG Farben alongside Primo Levi. Perret unpacks Améry's concept of 'Selbstaufhebung' (self-sublation), his polemical resentment toward Germany, and his refusal to forgive. The book situates Améry within debates on the 'banality of evil' (Hannah Arendt), the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials, and the Frankfurt School critique of rational reason. Perret also addresses the contemporary normalization of torture in democratic states. The work is noted for its ambitious but occasionally incongruous comparisons, such as linking care ethics to Treblinka's toponymy.
Key facts
- Catherine Perret published 'L'Enseignement de la torture. Réflexions sur Jean Améry' with Seuil.
- Jean Améry (1912-1978) was a Belgian Resistance member deported to Auschwitz-Monowitz.
- Améry worked for IG Farben at Auschwitz-Monowitz alongside Primo Levi.
- Améry's essay 'Par-delà le crime et le châtiment' was published in 1966.
- Améry's pseudonym was Hans Mayer; he renounced his German name.
- Perret analyzes Améry's concept of 'Selbstaufhebung' (self-sublation).
- The book engages with Hannah Arendt's 'banality of evil' and the Frankfurt School.
- Perret critiques the normalization of torture in democratic states.
Entities
Artists
- Jean Améry
- Hans Mayer
- Catherine Perret
- Primo Levi
- Hannah Arendt
- Irene Heidelberger-Leonard
- W. G. Sebald
- Claude Lanzmann
- Walter Benjamin
- Theodor Adorno
Institutions
- Seuil
- IG Farben
- École de Francfort
Locations
- Auschwitz-Monowitz
- Belgium
- Germany
- Treblinka
Sources
- artpress —