Etty Hillesum's brief life met its tragic end at Auschwitz in the autumn of 1943, when she was just 29 years old, where, along with her family, she was brutally murdered by the Nazis. Luckily for us, though, she managed to leave behind a remarkably rich body of work, composed over the course of merely three years (1941-1943), which has moved – and bewildered – readers and scholars alike ever since its first publication in 1986. The 'problem', however, from a purely theological point of view, has been how (or if) one should interpret these mystical notebooks. This study aims to investigate the 'implicit author' in the text (and thus not necessarily Etty Hillesum herself) from a Christian, Orthodox perspective, with the intention of seeing how the Orthodox understanding of 'deification', θέωσις, comes to expression in it; and in so doing to see what the text, in turn, can teach us about the notion in question. This 'dialectical' approach is characteristic of the investigation. The study seeks to situate itself both (1) in the wider discussion on Etty Hillesum's life and work, where it hopes to bring new and constructive perspectives on how one can interpret her texts, and (2) in the field of Christian, Orthodox research. This latter field of study is fairly young and evolving, and it is my hope to be able to contribute to it, be it ever so little. The result shows that in order to grasp a notion in its entirety, and in order for it to become real in an ontological sense, it must first of all take root in a particular individual; and in the case of the text in question, where the author tries to come to grips with a nearly incomprehensible evil, the notion of 'Theosis' can be seen in many ways; in her emphasis on the personal over and above the social; in her ethical pursuit of 'helping God'; and in her reluctance to adhere to any 'organised religion' – although this, as I hope to show, can be interpreted as a 'Christian' inspiration.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-502767 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Forss, Alexander |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Teologiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
Page generated in 0.0017 seconds