Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- Introduction
- Music as Metaphor in Etty Hillesum’s Spirituality
- A “staretz” in Camp Westerbork: The Connections Between Slavic Orthodoxy and the Spirituality of Etty Hillesum
- Etty Hillesum: Humanity as a Task
- Etty Hillesum & Albert Konrad Gemmeker: A Twofold Analysis of the Perpetration of the Westerbork Commander
- “Now is the Time to Put into Practice: Love Your Enemies”: Several Notes on Hillesum’s “Love for Enemies” in Levenskunst
- The Cares of the Pagans: The Reading of Matthew 6:25-34 by Søren Kierkegaard and Etty Hillesum
- Dialogizing Life amidst a Culture of Death: Etty Hillesum, Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor and Nazi Reductionism
- Patience and Hope in the Writings of Julian of Norwich and Etty Hillesum
- The Girl Who Could Not Kneel: Etty Hillesum and the Turn Inward
- Etty Hillesum and Charlotte Salomon: Pregnancy as a Theme in Their Lives and Works
- Wandering Beyond Words: Etty Hillesum and Clarice Lispector
- “Verbalize, Vocalize, Visualize”: Creative Death and Performative Writing in the Testimonies of Hillesum and Levi
- A “No” that Is an Affirmation: Etty Hillesum and Simone Weil Against the Laws of Force
- From Enclosure to Disclosure: Images of the Self in Etty Hillesum’s Diary
- A Story of Individuation in the Writings of Etty Hillesum: A Jungian Perspective
- Mad Midrash in the Diaries of Etty Hillesum
- The Mystery of Encounter: Poetry and Faith After Auschwitz in the Work of Paul Celan and Etty Hillesum
- Can Religion Help Heal a World Broken by Trauma?: Etty Hillesum as Our Ancestor in the Qahal Goyim
- The Contours of These Times:Etty Hillesum as Chronicler of Love Transcending Hate in Her Times, for Our Time, for All Time
- Etty Hillesum’s Hand Analysis: The Prologue to Her Diaries
- Suffering, Silence, and Wisdom in the Life of Etty Hillesum
- Feeding the Soul: Etty Hillesum’s Pedagogical and Spiritual Path
- Am I Really a Woman?: A Question About Female Identity in Etty Hillesum
- A Powerless God: Etty Hillesum and Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- New Light on Etty Hillesum’s Actions in Camp Westerbork
- “My Beloved Desk, the Best Place on this Earth”: Etty Hillesum Says Goodbye to Her Familiar Surroundings
- Etty Hillesum’s Humanism: Ethical, Philosophical and Theological Comments
- Etty Hillesum’s Struggle to See Clearly: A Story of Two Worlds
- Present Traces of a Past Existence: Through the Lens of Photography
- Etty Hillesum Bibliography
- Works on Etty Hillesum
- Index of Names and Subjects
- Index of Citations
Etty Hillesum and Charlotte Salomon: Pregnancy as a Theme in Their Lives and Works
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 November 2020
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Preface
- Introduction
- Music as Metaphor in Etty Hillesum’s Spirituality
- A “staretz” in Camp Westerbork: The Connections Between Slavic Orthodoxy and the Spirituality of Etty Hillesum
- Etty Hillesum: Humanity as a Task
- Etty Hillesum & Albert Konrad Gemmeker: A Twofold Analysis of the Perpetration of the Westerbork Commander
- “Now is the Time to Put into Practice: Love Your Enemies”: Several Notes on Hillesum’s “Love for Enemies” in Levenskunst
- The Cares of the Pagans: The Reading of Matthew 6:25-34 by Søren Kierkegaard and Etty Hillesum
- Dialogizing Life amidst a Culture of Death: Etty Hillesum, Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor and Nazi Reductionism
- Patience and Hope in the Writings of Julian of Norwich and Etty Hillesum
- The Girl Who Could Not Kneel: Etty Hillesum and the Turn Inward
- Etty Hillesum and Charlotte Salomon: Pregnancy as a Theme in Their Lives and Works
- Wandering Beyond Words: Etty Hillesum and Clarice Lispector
- “Verbalize, Vocalize, Visualize”: Creative Death and Performative Writing in the Testimonies of Hillesum and Levi
- A “No” that Is an Affirmation: Etty Hillesum and Simone Weil Against the Laws of Force
- From Enclosure to Disclosure: Images of the Self in Etty Hillesum’s Diary
- A Story of Individuation in the Writings of Etty Hillesum: A Jungian Perspective
- Mad Midrash in the Diaries of Etty Hillesum
- The Mystery of Encounter: Poetry and Faith After Auschwitz in the Work of Paul Celan and Etty Hillesum
- Can Religion Help Heal a World Broken by Trauma?: Etty Hillesum as Our Ancestor in the Qahal Goyim
- The Contours of These Times:Etty Hillesum as Chronicler of Love Transcending Hate in Her Times, for Our Time, for All Time
- Etty Hillesum’s Hand Analysis: The Prologue to Her Diaries
- Suffering, Silence, and Wisdom in the Life of Etty Hillesum
- Feeding the Soul: Etty Hillesum’s Pedagogical and Spiritual Path
- Am I Really a Woman?: A Question About Female Identity in Etty Hillesum
- A Powerless God: Etty Hillesum and Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- New Light on Etty Hillesum’s Actions in Camp Westerbork
- “My Beloved Desk, the Best Place on this Earth”: Etty Hillesum Says Goodbye to Her Familiar Surroundings
- Etty Hillesum’s Humanism: Ethical, Philosophical and Theological Comments
- Etty Hillesum’s Struggle to See Clearly: A Story of Two Worlds
- Present Traces of a Past Existence: Through the Lens of Photography
- Etty Hillesum Bibliography
- Works on Etty Hillesum
- Index of Names and Subjects
- Index of Citations
Summary
Abstract
Both Etty Hillesum and Charlotte Salomon were extremely creative and productive young women. They were women of child-bearing age during the Second World War, but their offspring are cultural. In this text, De Costa reflects on the differences and similarities in the lives and legacies of Charlotte Salomon and Etty Hillesum, emphasizing the connection between fertility in a biological as well as cultural sense. Hereby, the author is influenced and inspired by the work of three women: the writer and philosopher Luce Irigaray, the fondly remembered Dutch philosopher Rina Van der Haegen, and the writer and philosopher Hélène Cixous.
Keywords: Charlotte Salomon, fertility, sociomaternal productivity, motherhood, pregnancy, abortion
Charlotte Salomon, a Jewish woman born in Berlin in 1917, left Nazi Germany in January 1939 and lived in exile with her maternal grandparents in the south of France on the famous Côte d’Azur. While there, she stayed on a large seaside estate owned by an American woman, Ottilie Moore. In Berlin, Charlotte had been a student at the art academy. Her passion was drawing. In the South of France from 1940 until her deportation in 1943, she created 1325 small gouaches, most of which form a rich series known as Leben? oder Theater?
Both Etty Hillesum and Charlotte Salomon were extremely creative and productive young women. They were women of child-bearing age during the Second World War, but due to circumstances, their offspring are solely cultural. Here, I will reflect on the differences and similarities in the lives and legacies of Charlotte Salomon and Etty Hillesum, emphasizing the connection between fertility in a biological sense and fertility in a cultural sense. I will focus on Etty Hillesum first and discuss the theme of pregnancy, and then address this same theme with Charlotte Salomon. In this investigation, I am influenced and inspired by the work of three women: the writer and philosopher Luce Irigaray, the fondly-remembered Dutch philosopher Rina Van der Haegen, and the writer and philosopher Hélène Cixous.
Etty Hillesum
Etty Hillesum was a freethinker in many ways, including in her approach to religion. Her image of God had a strong mother-child dynamic. She did not believe in a powerful God. She saw God as small and dependent, and she offered to protect him and to guide him safely through all hardship.
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- Lasting Significance of Etty Hillesum's Writings , pp. 157 - 164Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2019