Jacques Henric on Love, Sex, and the Divided Self in Arendt, Heidegger, and Gide
Jacques Henric's feuilleton for artpress examines the publication of three works exploring the disjunction between love and sex: the correspondence between Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger (1925–1975), the Pléiade volume of André Gide's travel writings and intimate confessions, and Lydie Salvayre's essay on Picasso's erotic drawings. The Arendt–Heidegger letters reveal the philosopher's early declarations of love, his paternalism, and his refusal to sacrifice his career or family for the affair. Heidegger's Nazi compromise and Arendt's exile led to a long rupture, but their intellectual friendship resumed in 1950 and lasted until their deaths. Gide's marriage to his cousin Madeleine was spiritually deep but sexually absent; he confessed his inability to unite eroticism and sentiment, and his travel writings courageously denounced colonialism and Soviet totalitarianism. Henric also defends Picasso against accusations of heteronormativity, citing Jean Clair and Pascal Quignard, and praises Salvayre's essay for celebrating Picasso's jouissance.
Key facts
- Correspondence between Hannah Arendt and Martin Heidegger spans 1925–1975, comprising about 170 documents.
- Three-quarters of Arendt's letters to Heidegger are missing.
- Heidegger used philosophical terms like 'don', 'présence', 'être' in his early love letters.
- Heidegger refused to sacrifice his career, philosophy, or family for Arendt.
- Heidegger was suspected of antisemitism in winter 1932–33 and later compromised with the Nazi regime.
- Arendt and Heidegger resumed their dialogue in 1950 after the war.
- André Gide married his cousin Madeleine (Emmanuèle) but felt no sexual desire for her; she died on April 17, 1938.
- Gide's travel writings on Congo, Chad, and the USSR criticized colonialism and Soviet totalitarianism.
- Picasso told Jean Leymarie that art and sexuality are the same thing.
- Lydie Salvayre's essay 'Le vif du vivant' accompanies unpublished Picasso drawings owned by Cercle d'Art.
Entities
Artists
- Jacques Henric
- Hannah Arendt
- Martin Heidegger
- André Gide
- Pablo Picasso
- Lydie Salvayre
- Jean Clair
- Pascal Quignard
- Jean Leymarie
- Elisabeth Leibovici
- Pierre Masson
- Daniel Durosay
- Martine Sagaert
- Pascal David
Institutions
- artpress
- Gallimard
- Pléiade
- Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume
- Cercle d'Art
- Libération
Locations
- Congo
- Chad
- USSR
Sources
- artpress —