Atavistic Novelty
Questioning Hannah Arendt's Understanding of Totalitarianism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3970451 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Milen Jissov (0000-0001-9412-2938, General Education Office, United International College, 2000 Jintong Road, Tangjawan, Zhuhai, Guangdong, 519087 China, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 38-61 |
| Publication date | 2020-01-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The European Legacy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1084-8770 • E-ISSN: 1470-1316 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10848770.2019.1621080 |
| OpenAlex | W2949643220 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 21 |
This article offers a critique of Hannah Arendt’s interpretation of totalitarianism as formulated in her magnum opus—The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951). It argues that, to comprehend totalitarianism, Arendt forged a heterodox method of historical analysis. Employing that method, she conceived totalitarianism as a form of transcendence of historical context. In doing so, however, she ignored crucial historical contexts that were in fact related to the history of totalitarianism. Subverting her interpretation of totalitarianism as transcendence, these elided contexts erupted inadvertently and repeatedly into her analysis—revealing that totalitarianism was solidly embedded in them. The Origins of Totalitarianism thus exhibits a conceptual contradiction that confuses its attempt to understand totalitarianism
Art · Contradiction · Enlightenment · Epistemology · Literature · Magnum opus · Novelty · Sociology · Theology · Hannah Arendt's Political Philosophy · History · Philosophy · Philosophy, Ethics, and Existentialism · Political Theology and Sovereignty
The crisis of German ideology
The Origins of Totalitarianism
France in Modern Times
Ideology and Experience
The Origins of Totalitarianism
Dictatorship in History and Theory
The Human Condition
The Human Condition
The Rise of Political Anti-Semitism in Germany and Austria
Demonizing the Jews
The Politics of Assimilation
Into the Dark
Nazism, Culture and The Origins of Totalitarianism
The Self and History
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |