Hanna Arendt and the Theoretical Elaboration of her own Exile

Abstract

One cannot separate the material exile suffered by Hannah Arendt from the way she transformed it into one of the central themes of her thought. In her specific case, this topic meant a recount of her experiences. The contribution of this exceptional thinker was the outcome of the elaboration of her heartbreaking experience in universal terms. In this paper, we will join her on her journey through different places and moments in order to give sense to her situation as an exiled person, taking into consideration the context that marked her Jewish condition as a pariah. We will see afterwards how she explained this to herself in two main topics of her life: freedom for the human condition and the different ways in which the Jews could return to the world after being segregated.