Heimkehr, regresso, volta à casa, tierra natal, vuelta a casa, vuelta hacia casa, homecoming

HOMECOMING (Heimkehr) is the process of coming to belong to or “be at home” in one’s own historical community and people. According to Heidegger’s assertion in “Letter on ‘Humanism,’” the homeland (Heimat) needs to be understood “not patriotically or nationalistically, but in terms of the history of being” (GA9:338/257). He discusses the homeland in the context of the homelessness (Heimatlosigkeit) of human beings in the modern era, and sees this homelessness as “the symptom of oblivion of being (Seinsvergessenheit)” (GA9:339/ 258). In Heidegger’s thought, the homeland is essentially conceived of in terms of the destiny (Geschick) of the German people; a people, however, that needs to be seen “in the context of a belongingness to the destiny of the West (Abendland)” (GA9:338/257). (CHL)