E. Jane Doering, professional specialist, Program of Liberal Studies, University of Notre Dame
“Everything submitted to contact with force is debased, whatever the contact.
To strike or be struck results in the same corruption.
The coldness of steel is equally mortal at the sword hilt or point.
Everything exposed to contact with force is susceptible to perversion.
All things in this world are exposed to contact with force, without exception, save love.”
—Simone Weil in “Of What Does the Occitanian Inspiration Consist?”
This lecture is part of the Ph.D. in Literature Program’s seminar and colloquium series called Cosmopolitanism in Feminine Writing.