If you have ever experienced “a sort of strangeness among people”, even when they are “your own people”—those who share your background, language, food and culture—and if you have somehow felt a lingering loneliness amidst crowds, not quite alienated or disconnected but not fully belonging either, a state of being both insider and outsider, both from ‘here’ and ‘everywhere’, then this essay is for you.
While I recognize the names of some of the authors you mentioned, I haven’t read any of them. One thing that did strike me is what poor students of history we are. All the insanity and ugliness happening today has happened before and sadly barely a century ago. The same abuses, and themes, and demagoguery repeats yet we act like sheep and go along with it.
I’m married to a historian and while she’s a hundred times better read than me she’s shared a sense of what history is and how people act. Also, how we ignore the lessons of the past, each generation hell bent on learning the same painful lessons again. This is hard to watch now that I’m older and have lived a lot of life. I try to change what little I have control of and act the best that I can. The rest of the time I retreat to keep my sanity.
I understand why people get lost in books. Thanks for sharing.
To an old woman steadily losing an already threadbare connection to even my 'own people', you Elif and the connections you make to women like Hannah Arendt, offer small footholds and handholds on the edge of the cliff. Thank you.
This is the most poignant at a moment where so many are lost in the lingering terror of what may be to come. Thank you for drawing me back to Arendt and to a place of belief that liquid times are where we must transform and becoming something greater, rather than accept what is.
"Literature nurtures the seeds of hope, the promise of a better future for our shared humanity, and the strength for resilience—even in times of instability, erosion, jingoism and demagoguery. Perhaps especially then, especially now, the human spirit endures through its remarkable capacity to imagine, connect, change, resist and love."
So well said Elif! 👏 We need better nutrition to meet the challenges ahead.
We are living in a strange time indeed. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly why. I have read that unrest often happens after a pandemic. I want peace for the world and not just for some but, for everyone. Without it im not sure that mankind will continue to exist. There are important issues to tackle. Perhaps going to war is a way of covering up the fact that we need to tackle climate change. Dropping bombs is only going to make climate change inevitable. I have often wondered if im living in the end of days. I am in a sense as i am old.
Thanks Elif--so much wisdom here. I'm just reading Hannah for the first time--the Human Condition. I was blown away. That's such a well written book, it should count as literature, not just philosophy. I'm reading it with a substack group from Samantha Ross Hill (who, btw, recently translated Hannah's poetry in a new book). The shear idea that we're "conditioned" beings from the world's beginning had the effect of challenge my view and kept me reading straight through. Either way, I've been thinking a lot about what you mention--what's the counter force to these oligarch-tehno trends and isolation and de-personalization of the self? I wonder. And while many of us don't agree, there's hardly an alternative clear vision of the world from those of us who the see world running ahead of itself. Note: here, I'm thinking of vision as articulated from Yuval Hariri's Homo Deus.
This is a most wonderful piece of writing. It is through culture that we find our common humanity. In the UK, we have the richest mix of people from so many diasporas, each bringing with them, their own music, writers, artists, belief systems, food, families of all shapes and sizes.
In the 70s, there was much racism and a group of young musicians, black and white came together and established ‘Two Tone’. What a breakthrough, in building respect and confidence. Sadly, it didn’t really change anything but for a while there was hope as young people enjoyed each other’s music and expressed their frustration together.
Oh Elif. It's true that language is the only thing that remains. Everything else gets blown away in the flames of destruction... Thank you for sharing Arendt's inner self. We need words from those who have experienced the worst things. We need a little beauty amidst the carnage. Let's make spaces for those whose voices are strangled by grief and loss....
As always a perfect read for traumatizing days here in Los Angeles and in the USA in general. Thank you for your always chosen words which not only tell it like it is, but also inspire the best in us...
I feel a pull toward Arendt’s ideas, even though I’ve never fully immersed myself in her works. It’s fascinating how her voice has reached me more through the fragments and interpretations of others—like whispers carried on the wind—than through her books directly. Perhaps that’s the mark of a truly profound thinker: even her echoes carry weight.
Elif Shafak’s essay reminds me that even without fully stepping into Arendt’s world, her ideas are woven into so much of the discourse that shapes how we think about power, autonomy, and resilience today. They are an invitation—not to rush into reading all her works at once, but to approach them as I would a canyon wall, slowly tracing the contours, letting the layers reveal themselves.
Maybe it’s time to sit with her, not just through others’ lenses, but through her own words. Until then, I’ll continue to explore the fragments, trusting that even a shard of her thought holds the power to illuminate.
While I recognize the names of some of the authors you mentioned, I haven’t read any of them. One thing that did strike me is what poor students of history we are. All the insanity and ugliness happening today has happened before and sadly barely a century ago. The same abuses, and themes, and demagoguery repeats yet we act like sheep and go along with it.
I’m married to a historian and while she’s a hundred times better read than me she’s shared a sense of what history is and how people act. Also, how we ignore the lessons of the past, each generation hell bent on learning the same painful lessons again. This is hard to watch now that I’m older and have lived a lot of life. I try to change what little I have control of and act the best that I can. The rest of the time I retreat to keep my sanity.
I understand why people get lost in books. Thanks for sharing.
To an old woman steadily losing an already threadbare connection to even my 'own people', you Elif and the connections you make to women like Hannah Arendt, offer small footholds and handholds on the edge of the cliff. Thank you.
This is the most poignant at a moment where so many are lost in the lingering terror of what may be to come. Thank you for drawing me back to Arendt and to a place of belief that liquid times are where we must transform and becoming something greater, rather than accept what is.
thank you Elif.
"Nothing is solid anymore. These are liquid times."
"What remains? Language remains."
"Literature remains. Art remains.
thank you Elif. we must go on, creating language, literature, art,
reading, reviewing, discussing.
Another beautiful and extraordinary essay Elif.
'No one has the right to obey.' Hannah Arendt
(The German quote, you might even say: the writing, on the wall.)
"Literature nurtures the seeds of hope, the promise of a better future for our shared humanity, and the strength for resilience—even in times of instability, erosion, jingoism and demagoguery. Perhaps especially then, especially now, the human spirit endures through its remarkable capacity to imagine, connect, change, resist and love."
So well said Elif! 👏 We need better nutrition to meet the challenges ahead.
We are living in a strange time indeed. It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly why. I have read that unrest often happens after a pandemic. I want peace for the world and not just for some but, for everyone. Without it im not sure that mankind will continue to exist. There are important issues to tackle. Perhaps going to war is a way of covering up the fact that we need to tackle climate change. Dropping bombs is only going to make climate change inevitable. I have often wondered if im living in the end of days. I am in a sense as i am old.
Brilliant essay. Poetic and beautiful
Thanks Elif--so much wisdom here. I'm just reading Hannah for the first time--the Human Condition. I was blown away. That's such a well written book, it should count as literature, not just philosophy. I'm reading it with a substack group from Samantha Ross Hill (who, btw, recently translated Hannah's poetry in a new book). The shear idea that we're "conditioned" beings from the world's beginning had the effect of challenge my view and kept me reading straight through. Either way, I've been thinking a lot about what you mention--what's the counter force to these oligarch-tehno trends and isolation and de-personalization of the self? I wonder. And while many of us don't agree, there's hardly an alternative clear vision of the world from those of us who the see world running ahead of itself. Note: here, I'm thinking of vision as articulated from Yuval Hariri's Homo Deus.
I have seen so many references and so much praise for Hannah Arendt's work but have never read any - can you recommend where I should start?
İyi ki sessizliğin sesisiniz iyi ki...Sevgiyle.
This is a most wonderful piece of writing. It is through culture that we find our common humanity. In the UK, we have the richest mix of people from so many diasporas, each bringing with them, their own music, writers, artists, belief systems, food, families of all shapes and sizes.
In the 70s, there was much racism and a group of young musicians, black and white came together and established ‘Two Tone’. What a breakthrough, in building respect and confidence. Sadly, it didn’t really change anything but for a while there was hope as young people enjoyed each other’s music and expressed their frustration together.
Oh Elif. It's true that language is the only thing that remains. Everything else gets blown away in the flames of destruction... Thank you for sharing Arendt's inner self. We need words from those who have experienced the worst things. We need a little beauty amidst the carnage. Let's make spaces for those whose voices are strangled by grief and loss....
As always a perfect read for traumatizing days here in Los Angeles and in the USA in general. Thank you for your always chosen words which not only tell it like it is, but also inspire the best in us...
I feel a pull toward Arendt’s ideas, even though I’ve never fully immersed myself in her works. It’s fascinating how her voice has reached me more through the fragments and interpretations of others—like whispers carried on the wind—than through her books directly. Perhaps that’s the mark of a truly profound thinker: even her echoes carry weight.
Elif Shafak’s essay reminds me that even without fully stepping into Arendt’s world, her ideas are woven into so much of the discourse that shapes how we think about power, autonomy, and resilience today. They are an invitation—not to rush into reading all her works at once, but to approach them as I would a canyon wall, slowly tracing the contours, letting the layers reveal themselves.
Maybe it’s time to sit with her, not just through others’ lenses, but through her own words. Until then, I’ll continue to explore the fragments, trusting that even a shard of her thought holds the power to illuminate.