The Metaphor of Dancing and the Human Body in Nazi Concentration Camps

In my paper I will discuss literal and metaphorical uses of dancing in the context of Nazi concentration camps in memoirs of (Polish) survivors of the Holocaust. Since fragmentation of the body, typical for slave narratives (Spillers), is also one of characteristic features of dealing with corporeal experiences in (Polish) memoirs of survivors of Nazi concentration camps, I will look at “dance” and “dancing” as an act/art/performance of the entire body, and thus as a means of preserving the “wholeness” of the body. Using the concept of the female body as a situation (Moi/ Beauvoir ) I also analyse gender specific usages of the metaphor of dancing and see them as ways of expressing a unity of the female/male body in the context of Nazi concentration camps.