The “female engagement” in the XX century: the paradigmatic lives of Hillesum, Weil, Zambrano and Badano

Main Article Content

Giuseppe Vailati
https://orcid.org/0009-0007-2416-0809

Abstract

Based on the concept of engagement, developed in 20th century France, the possibility of a typically feminine engagement is questioned. It will show the relationship between some paradigmatic experiences lived by four women of the last century: Etty Hillesum’s confinement in God, María Zambrano’s exile, Simone Weil’s vocation to live on the threshold and Chiara Badano’s illness. Thanks to this dialogue at a distance, some typical characteristics of the feminine form of engagement are offered: the preservation of life and its meaning, generative donation, participation in suffering, suffering as a way of welcoming life and, finally, total union in difference.

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