What Olga Tokarczuk’s notion of the tender narrator, certain philosophical ideas and the Buddha’s teachings all have in common is a kind of caring guardianship.

Where can we meet someone who cares for us? At home, in the family, but also in religion and philosophy. In each of these areas, it is currently hard to find such a figure. Not impossible, but definitely difficult. In our culture, more and more women are giving up the archetypal role of carer (unless they are caring for one another, motivated by the idea of feminist sisterhood). With the revolutionary wave of emancipation, the archetype of the female warrior comes to the fore. Men – as Zimbardo and other psychologists have long claimed – are weak and are becoming weaker, increasingly submissive, and lack a sense of the meaning of life. Meanwhile, the carer should provide a sense of security, thanks to – among others – the strength