Arendt and Breaking with Tradition

Kate Bermingham, a graduate student in political theory at the University of Notre Dame, recently shared an image with us of her personal Arendt library. Please see below:

Here is what Kate has to say about her image:

"I work primarily on Arendt and the Frankfurt School, but--a la Arendt--my interests span the history of political thought. Right now, my questions are especially focused on the interaction between theories of modern alienation, civic belonging, and aesthetic experience. Other areas of interest include critical feminist theory and politics and literature.

"This bookshelf contains most of my political theory collection from Homer and the Greek tragedians (political through and through) up through Rawls and Habermas. Arendt is prominently placed on the top right (along with Heidegger, Benjamin, and Adorno). (See Right.)

"I didn't start reading Arendt's work seriously until graduate school, but as soon as I did, I felt I understood what Heidegger must mean by "a clearing"; for me, Arendt brought a world into view. More than any other thinker I've read--even more than Machiavelli or Nietzsche who can be so scathing--she seems to breathe life into the tradition, a tradition she clearly loves even as she breaks with it (and breaks it).

"Stylistically, I admire the vitality and confidence in Arendt's writing. I also admire her for being a thinker who confounds categories, drawing on and recovering perspectives sometimes so far afield from her own."