Schindler’s List Literary Devices

Explanation and Analysis:

Schindler’s List is a 1982 historical fiction novel by Australian writer Thomas Keneally. Sometimes referred to as a “documentary novel,” the narrative is closely based on the life of German industrialist and humanitarian Oskar Schindler, a Nazi party member accredited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jewish people during the Holocaust. Understandably, Schindler’s List bears many similarities to a biography, retaining the designation of “fiction” primarily because of its use of imagined dialogue and sensory details.

Keneally was inspired to write Schindler’s List after meeting Peter Pfefferberg, a Jewish man who survived the Holocaust with Schindler’s help. Pfefferberg showed Keneally his extensive files on Schindler, thus spurring Keneally’s investigation. Indeed, the term “documentary novel” alludes to the extensive research Keneally conducted in writing Schindler’s List, which included sifting through archival documents, visiting historical sites, and conducting interviews with Schindler’s friends, family, and acquaintances.

Controversially, Schindler’s List won the 1982 Booker Prize, an honor reserved for fiction; many critics and readers felt Keneally’s book was closer to historical reporting than a work of fiction and therefore should not have been considered for the award. The novel was later adapted into an Oscar-winning 1993 film directed by Steven Spielberg. Spielberg claimed to approach the film as a documentary, although critics categorized it as a drama, a nuance that, in a way, reflected the debate over whether Keneally’s novel should be considered fiction or nonfiction.

Schindler’s List: Genre 1 key example