The Wise Fool: Simone Weil (1909-1943)
Publication Type |
Book Chapter |
Year of Publication |
2000 |
Author |
|
Book |
Alternatives to Militarism 1900-1989 : Women Against the Iron Fist |
Pages |
67-95 |
Publisher |
Edwin Mellen |
Place Published |
Lewiston |
Language |
English |
Edition |
2nd Edition |
Chapter |
4 |
Keywords |
Alain (Emile Chartier) |
Annotation |
In this chapter, Oldfield traces Weil’s attitudes towards militarism as they changed and evolved throughout her life. She begins with a brief biography of Weil, notes the influence of Weil's teacher Alain on her pacifist thought and the development of that thought up to the Spanish Civil war where she departs from it to briefly take up arms. Oldfield chronicles Weil’s return to pacifism and once again her reluctant rejection of it in the face of the events of the Second World War. Oldham then turns to a discussion of Weil’s attempt to offer an alternative to the violence and militarism endemic to western civilization. |
Notes |
First published in 1989. Published in German as: "Die weise Närrin: Simone Weil (1909-1943)." Trans. Fehhaber, Heidi in Frauen gegen den Krieg. Die Frau in der Gesellschaft. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 1995. 77-105; reprinted in Oldfield, Sybil. "Simone Weil (1909-1943): The Wise Fool." Chap. 14 In "Thinking against the Current": Literature and Political Resistance, 143-64. Sussex: Sussex Academic Press, 2013 |