The Cambridge Introduction to Walter Benjamin

174 Pages·2008·1.04 MB·English

by  David S. Ferris

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TheCambridgeIntroductionto
Walter Benjamin
Forstudentsofmoderncriticismandtheory,WalterBenjamin’s
writingshavebecomeessentialreading.Hisanalysesofphotography,
film,language,materialculture,andthepoetCharlesBaudelaire,and
hisvastexaminationofthesocial,political,andhistoricalsignificanceof
theArcadesofnineteenth-centuryParishaveleftanenduringand
importantcriticallegacy.Thisvolumeexaminesindetailasubstantial
selectionofhisimportantcriticalwritingsonthesetopicsfrom1916to
1940andoutlineshislifeinpre-warGermany,hisassociationwiththe
FrankfurtSchool,andthedisseminationofhisideasandmethodologies
intoavarietyofacademicdisciplinessincehisdeath.DavidFerristraces
thedevelopmentofBenjamin’skeycriticalconceptsandprovides
studentswithanaccessibleoverviewofthelife,work,andthoughtofone
ofthetwentiethcentury’smostimportantliteraryandculturalcritics.
DavidS.FerrisisProfessorofComparativeLiteratureattheUniversity
ofColoradoatBoulder.

The Cambridge Introduction to
Walter Benjamin
DAVID S. FERRIS
CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITYPRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB28RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521864589
© David S. Ferris 2008
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2008
ISBN-13 978-0-511-42907-1 eBook (EBL)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-86458-9 hardback
ISBN-13 978-0-521-68308-1 paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls
for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
“Images–mygreat,myprimitivepassion.”
WalterBenjamin

Contents
Preface pageix
Acknowledgments xi
Listofabbreviations xii
1 Life 1
1892–1912Berlin:childhoodandschoolyears 2
1912–1917University,war,andmarriage 4
1917–1925Pursuitofanacademiccareer 8
1925–1933Criticalambitions 12
1933–1940ExileinParis 16
1940FlightfromEurope 19
2 Contexts 22
ThestudentyouthmovementandtheFirst
WorldWar 22
TheGeorgeSchool 23
TheWeimarRepublicandtheriseofNationalSocialism 24
MarxismandtheFrankfurtSchool 26
3 Works 29
(a)Metaphysicalbeginnings1914–1918 29
“TheLifeofStudents” 29
“TwoPoemsbyFriedrichHo¨lderlin” 33
“OnLanguageinGeneralandontheLanguage
ofMan” 36
“OntheProgramoftheComingPhilosophy” 42
(b)Raisingcriticism1919–1925 45
TheConceptofCriticisminGermanRomanticism 47
vii
viii Contents
“CritiqueofViolence” 52
“Goethe’sElectiveAffinities”57
“TheTaskoftheTranslator” 62
OriginoftheGermanTragicDrama 66
(c)Culture,politics,andcriticism1926–1931 74
One-WayStreet 75
“Surrealism.TheLastSnapshotofthe
EuropeanIntelligentsia” 78
“OntheImageofProust” 82
“TheoriesofGermanFascism” 84
“KarlKraus” 88
(d)Mediaandrevolution1931–1936 91
“LittleHistoryofPhotography” 92
“TheAuthorasProducer” 96
“FranzKafka.OntheTenthAnniversaryofHisDeath” 102
“TheWorkofArtintheAgeofItsTechnical
Reproducibility” 104
“TheStoryteller” 111
(e)History,materialism,andthemessianic
1936–1940 114
TheArcadesProject 115
CharlesBaudelaire:ALyricPoetintheAgeof
HighCapitalism 122
“OntheConceptofHistory” 130
4 Critical reception 136
Translationandearlyhistoryofreception 136
PoliticalandMarxist-influencedreception 140
Receptioninliteraryandcriticaltheory 141
Benjaminacrossdisciplinesandinrecent
criticalapproaches 143
Notes 146
Guidetofurtherreading 148
Index 155