Cahier Arendt Herne

 Le Cahier de L'Herne on Hannah Arendt

is dense, interesting, absolutely captivating. 

Hannah, born in Germany, studied in prestigious schools, before the advent of the war, when she was forced to go away, in Paris before, and then in the United States later. If most Jewish, emigrants in the USA refused to learnt that new language, blocked by the shock, and determined to remain anchored at the melancholic refugee of past and their homeland, Hannah learnt english very well, but she always, always found a profound and articulated relationship with Germany: she firstly returned there in 1949, and it will be her native language, German that will cement her future relationships with the land where she was born, continuing to think, as she confirmed, in german. Her language. The three questions Arendt will answer in his first book started in 1945 The Origins of Totalitarism are big: What did it happen? Why did it happen this? How, a horror like this one was possible? Three big questions, and two totalitarisms taken in consideration: the german and russian ones.

Totalitarism after all build something that doesn't exist, transforming a plurality of people in unity: with, also the complete destruction of the exterior and interior freedom. Arendt thought that totalitarism was a new phaenomenon in the political scenarios of the times: it was in grade, to build new political systems, destroying completely the past governments, but also juridic, socials and politic traditions. And to Arendt totalitarian regimes didn't appear for case or because there was a charismatic leader behind: no. There are more profound reasons interconnected with the problematic of our times. Which were the problematics of the past century? The atomization of the world, desolation intended as a person abandoned by everyone, including by himself/herself: mutism without dialogue: the idea of didn't find the proper place in the world. To Arendt totalitarism can be one of the answers to the problems of the modern man, finding these regimes as originals. Without sense to this existence, and thanks to the appearance of desolation, very different from other human feelings, the advent of Totalitarism.

Of course man should have rights. Hannah was sure of it and explained that we aren't born equals. We become equals because members of a group, because we want to give rights to everyone: man acts in a world that it is free for building, changing world and society with and only equals. These words permitted to change the most important Declarations: in particular the Declaration universelle des droits de l'Homme 1948, but in particular the statut of refugees. 

Hannah Arendt tried a lot of times to touch the Palestinian discussion with a public appeal signed by most intellectuals in particular when there was the war in 1967. Noam Chomsky, Umberto Terracini, a member of the italian communist party, Aldo Zargani signed this petition. 

Writing a rapport on the language and terminology used by Eichmann during the trial, Hannah arrives at the conclusion that it was impossible to communicate with Eichmann: he didn't see the reality. But also examining the language in profoundity, the birth of the idea of the banality: what produced by Germans has been the most horrific scenario never seeen in the modern world: but in their terms that one was what they did in a daily base. The banalité du mal. A banality that after all it's the product of the relationship of the man with himself. Arendt wrote that the regime prepared historically and politically walking corpses: dismantelling their rights, men became superfluous. With the time Arendt modified the position from mal radical to the banalitè du mal. She wrotes that to her the mal is extreme, true, but never radical. Like a fungi it expands itself on its surface.

What is the role of intellectuals in the society? It is, to Hannah biggest than not for any other individual because power and interest sometimes can have limits. Telling the truth is the only responsability of the intellectuals if they want to be called intellectuals. There are deviant voices: citizens, politicians: everyone affirming their own voice. Intellectuals, affirms Arendt musn't represent the conscience of the nation. 

A beautiful cahier, erudite, dense, explores with great fascination the entire intellectual history of Hannah Arendt and the one of this tribulated world.

I thank L'Herne for the physical copy of the book.

Anna Maria Polidori