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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.
Introduction
1. A Berlin Childhood: 1892–1912
2. Metaphysics of Youth: Berlin and Freiburg, 1912–1914
3. The Concept of Criticism: Berlin, Munich, and Bern, 1915–1919
4. Elective Affinities: Berlin and Heidelberg, 1920–1922
5. Academic Nomad: Frankfurt, Berlin, and Capri, 1923–1925
6. Weimar Intellectual: Berlin and Moscow, 1925–1928
7. The Destructive Character: Berlin, Paris, and Ibiza, 1929–1932
8. Exile: Paris and Ibiza, 1933–1934
9. The Parisian Arcades: Paris, San Remo, and Skovsbostrand, 1935–1937
10. Baudelaire and the Streets of Paris: Paris, San Remo, and Skovsbostrand, 1938–1939
11. The Angel of History: Paris, Nevers, Marseilles, and Port Bou, 1939–1940
Epilogue
Abbreviations
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index
Description
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.
