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deny his own doctrine in what was surely a casual criticism of Shake–
speare. And I do not want to let Steiner obtain any credence for his
own criticism with a quotation from the philosopher.
It
has been my assumption that the attitude of someone sitting
in judgement on Greek and European drama should not drastically
differ from the attitude of those we have known as "good Europeans ."
The point, of course, is unprovable. It has been my way of explain–
ing, or finding a background for, what I regard as Steiner's critical
errors. Now I want to take up a work by him for which his lack of
"good" - I should even say "nice" - Europeanness, might well have
proved to be an advantage . He has written a Holocaust fiction-I
don't think it right to call the work, as some have, a novel- and in
the treatment, even fictional, of events of or related to the Holocaust,
strict moral judgement, rather than cultural breadth, which often
brings with it a certain moral laxity, would seem to be in order .
What do we find in Steiner's narrative
The Portage to San
Cristobal of A . H . ,
a direct treatment of the Holocaust and its main
architect , Hitler? The story - I should say the myth - for Steiner
does not expect readers to believe the events related actually oc–
curred , goes something like this: Hitler is presumed to have escaped
from his Berlin bunker (where, in fact, he committed suicide), and
to have found his way to some jungle-nowhere in Brazil. His hideout
is discovered ; he is tracked down by a group of Israelis and forced to
stand trial. Hitler's speech in defense of all his actions ends the nar–
rative.
The Portage
has not escaped attack, and some of its critics have
even charged its author with anti-Semitism. This criticism is wide of
the mark, but to deny that Steiner is anti-Semitic is not to answer the
questions his fiction has raised. What, one may properly ask, is the
author's overall attitude towards the events he describes? I must say
it was a matter of surprise to discover it to be not unlike that of the
"good European" critics he wanted to distance himself from when
comparing Greek tragedy with Renaissance and modern drama. In
those efforts he tried to
disconnect
the Greek playwrights spiritually
and philosophically from the European playwrights who have taken
them as models . But Steiner's tactic in his Holocaust fiction is just
the reverse: here he tries to
connect
the Jews and the Nazis, victims
and executioners in closely resembling moral deficiencies, thus
mitigating the horror of the greater by association with the less hor-
