News & Events

14:15 Uhr - 15:45 Uhr
A Writer of Cultural Pluralism: Max Czollek
Dr. Courtney Hodrick, Stanford University

A Special Guest in the Department of Anglophone Studies June 23 to July 3, 2025: Dr. Courtney Hodrick, Jewish Studies, Stanford University
Paper Summary: In “Tradition Without Continuity in Hannah Arendt’s On Revolution,” I analyze the role that the concept of the “break in tradition” plays in this book. I argue that, whereas Arendt often treats the break in tradition as a specific historical event, and generally presents the lost tradition in elegiac tones, On Revolution offers a different vision of the break in tradition that treats it as an almost metaphysical aspect of the human condition and highlights the generative possibilities for new political forms that are enabled by leaving old traditions behind. I discuss her understanding of the American founders’ use of tradition, including the stories of Moses and Aeneas, as a patchwork of freely chosen appropriations rather than an organic, continuous whole and I argue that this model of relating to tradition allows for a national identity that is free from ethnonationalist conceptions of belonging. I also discuss the possible critiques of this approach to history, particularly their reliance on a settler-colonial conception of America as “empty.” Finally, I explore whether Arendt’s understanding of the role of history in the American founding and the role of tradition in American national self-conception can shed light on Arendt’s understanding of and criticisms of the State of Israel.


Prof. William Collins Donahue
The Department of Anglophone Studies welcomes Prof. William Collins Donahue, who will be a Senior Fellow at the College for Social Sciences and Humanities of the Research Alliance Ruhr and will be collaborating with Prof. Jens Martin Gurr as his tandem partner.
https://www.college-uaruhr.de/fellowship/senior-fellows