The Politics Of Narrative And Hannah Arendt's On Revolution

This thesis explores the Jewish American political theorist Hannah Arendt's reflection on narrative theory.Generally speaking,Arendt held that the crisis of modernity which widely occurred in the western countries in the 20th century should be attributed to the failure of a public domain;it was concretely embodied in the lack of a sort of narrative philosophy which effectively conveyed the common experience.Thus,Arendt attempted to put forth the limited political relevance of such a narrative,or we could say a politics of narrative,it was employed to ensure the persistence of the realness of a common world to which the narration of all of the human affairs devoted.Published in 1963,On Revolution can be seen as the most complete discussion of Hannah Arendt's late-period political thought.Since Arendt moved to the United States as a political refugee,she had not only dwelled on the destruction of political conditions manipulated by totalitarianism but also started to looked for a new "narrative" that would penetrate the confusion of the 20th century's political discourses.In her view,the ignorance of the theoretical legacy of the American Revolution showed the incapacity of modern historical narrative on understanding the political reality,it was apparent that it never chose to display the significance of the "action" and the identity of "actor" in storytelling and thus failed to be the carrier of human experiences and the relevant stories.In the meantime,it also revealed the necessity of the existence of a public domain which is essential to form the narrative of common experience and where people could find the meaning of their words and action.