The Reprieve: Weak Messianism and the Event in Primo Levi's Moments of Reprieve

McAvan, E. (2011) The Reprieve: Weak Messianism and the Event in Primo Levi's Moments of Reprieve. Literature and Theology, 25 (2). pp. 172-184.

Abstract

In this article, I analyse Primo Levi's work on Auschwitz, in particular his Moments of Reprieve. Against the overdetermined inhuman economy of the camp, I find that 'the reprieve' is what philosopher John D. Caputo has described as an Event, a stirring prompted by a call from alterity. Because it does not redeem or provide salvation, the reprieve is a weak form of messianism, suspending but not cancelling the camp. Because every other Other remains ultimately incomprehensible, I argue that even in the most repressive of the circumstances there remains the possibility of the reprieve.