- Summary
- Walter Benjamin is one of the twentieth century's most important intellectuals, and also one of its most elusive. His writings--mosaics incorporating philosophy, literary criticism, Marxist analysis, and a syncretistic theology--defy simple categorization. And his mobile, often improvised existence has proven irresistible to mythologizers. His writing career moved from the brilliant esotericism of his early writings through his emergence as a central voice in Weimar culture and on to the exile years, with its pioneering studies of modern media and the rise of urban commodity capitalism in Paris. That career was played out amid some of the most catastrophic decades of modern European history: the horror of the First World War, the turbulence of the Weimar Republic, and the lengthening shadow of fascism. Now, a major new biography from two of the world's foremost Benjamin scholars reaches beyond the mosaic and the mythical to present this intriguing figure in full. Howard Eiland and Michael Jennings make available for the first time a rich store of information which augments and corrects the record of an extraordinary life. They offer a comprehensive portrait of Benjamin and his times as well as extensive commentaries on his major works, including "The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility," the essays on Baudelaire, and the great study of the German Trauerspiel. Sure to become the standard reference biography of this seminal thinker, Walter Benjamin: A Critical Life will prove a source of inexhaustible interest for Benjamin scholars and novices alike.
- Format
- Manuscript language material
- Author/Creator
- Eiland, Howard.
- Published
- Cambridge, Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2014
- Contents
-
A Berlin childhood: 1892-1912
Metaphysics of youth: Berlin and Freiburg, 1912-1914
The concept of criticism: Berlin, Munich, and Bern, 1915-1919
Elective affinities: Berlin and Heidelberg, 1920-1922
Academic nomad: Frankfurt, Berlin, and Italy, 1923-1926
Weimar intellectual: Berlin and Moscow, 1925-1928
The destructive character: Berlin, Paris, and Ibiza, 1929-1932
Exile: Paris and Ibiza, 1933-1934
The Parisian arcades: Paris, San Remo, and Skovsbostrand, 1935-1937
Baudelaire and the streets of Paris: Paris, San Remo, and Skovsbostrand, 1938-1940
The angel of history: Paris, Nevers, Marseilles, and Port Bou, 1939-1940.
- Other Authors/Editors
- Jennings, Michael William.
- Notes
-
Includes bibliographical references (pages 719-733) and index.
A Berlin childhood: 1892-1912 -- Metaphysics of youth: Berlin and Freiburg, 1912-1914 -- The concept of criticism: Berlin, Munich, and Bern, 1915-1919 -- Elective affinities: Berlin and Heidelberg, 1920-1922 -- Academic nomad: Frankfurt, Berlin, and Italy, 1923-1926 -- Weimar intellectual: Berlin and Moscow, 1925-1928 -- The destructive character: Berlin, Paris, and Ibiza, 1929-1932 -- Exile: Paris and Ibiza, 1933-1934 -- The Parisian arcades: Paris, San Remo, and Skovsbostrand, 1935-1937 -- Baudelaire and the streets of Paris: Paris, San Remo, and Skovsbostrand, 1938-1940 -- The angel of history: Paris, Nevers, Marseilles, and Port Bou, 1939-1940.
