Dehumanization and the banality of evil

an analysis based on Primo Levi’s literature of testimony and Hannah Arendt’s historical narrative

Abstract

This article presents as its main purpose an exposition about the theme of dehumanization present in the testimonial literature of Primo Levi (1919-1987) and in the reflections of Hannah Arendt (1906-1975), especially in her work "Eichmann in Jerusalem". The investigation about the phenomenon of dehumanization in the Nazi concentrationist universe will be carried out, primarily, from its relationship with the thesis of the banality of evil, which addresses the impersonalization and the loss of moral conscience as parts of the totalitarian project of suppression of individuality and the banalization of barbarism. In a first analysis, a brief consideration of the main aspects of "banal evil" was established from the perspective of Arendt's historical narrative and how these elements dialogue with depersonalization. Next, the theme of dehumanization was analyzed exactly in Primolevian literature. Finally, a parallel between the two authors was drawn, attesting, in a categorical way, a direct link between totalitarianism, the proliferation of the banality of evil, and dehumanization. Based on the methodology of deductive approach, the present work was built with the use of bibliographic sources.