Mar 25, 2020
The accusative of violence, like that of love, destroys the in-between, crushes or burns it, renders the other defenceless, strips itself of protection. In contrast to this stands the dative of saying and speaking, which confirms the in-between, moves within it. Then again there is the accusative of the singing poem, which removes and releases what it sings from the in-between and its relations, without confirming anything. When poetry and not philosophy absolutises, there’s rescue.
Hannah Arendt, Denktagebuch, vol. 1, p. 428. Tr. Patchen Markell. (via arabellesicardi)
