Danish. I was asked to review a new Danish translation of Seneca’s De Consolatione ad Helviam matrem. I read Seneca’s attempt to suppress grief with philosophical arguments up against the German police’s violent attempts to suppress vigils for Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli bombardment in the weeks following Oct. 7. How can we understand these two very different silencings of sorrow in light of each other? The editors opted not to run the piece, which is published here instead.
“Sorgens forstummelse” (“The silencing of grief”), sophushelle.com (30 October 2023).