Walter Benjamin
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Revision as of 14:43, 23 June 2007 WikiSysop (Talk | contribs) ← Previous diff |
Revision as of 19:47, 28 June 2007 WikiSysop (Talk | contribs) Next diff → |
||
Line 2: | Line 2: | ||
'''Walter Benjamin''' ([[July 15]], [[1892]] – [[September 27]], [[1940]]) was a [[Germany|German]] [[Marxist]] [[literary critic]], [[essay|essayist]], [[translator]], and [[philosopher]]. He was at times associated with the [[Frankfurt School]] of [[critical theory]] and was also greatly inspired by the Marxism of [[Bertolt Brecht]] and the Jewish mysticism of [[Gershom Scholem]]. | '''Walter Benjamin''' ([[July 15]], [[1892]] – [[September 27]], [[1940]]) was a [[Germany|German]] [[Marxist]] [[literary critic]], [[essay|essayist]], [[translator]], and [[philosopher]]. He was at times associated with the [[Frankfurt School]] of [[critical theory]] and was also greatly inspired by the Marxism of [[Bertolt Brecht]] and the Jewish mysticism of [[Gershom Scholem]]. | ||
- | As a [[cultural sociology|sociological]] and [[cultural criticism|cultural critic]], Benjamin combined ideas of [[historical materialism]], [[German idealism]], and [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[mysticism]] in a body of work which was an entirely novel contribution to [[western philosophy]], [[Marxism]], and aesthetic theory. As a literary scholar, he translated essays written by [[Charles Baudelaire]] and [[Marcel Proust]]'s famous novel, [[In Search of Lost Time]]. His work is widely cited in academic and literary studies, in particular his essays ''The Task of the Translator'' and ''[[The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction]]'. | + | As a [[cultural sociology|sociological]] and [[cultural criticism|cultural critic]], Benjamin combined ideas of [[historical materialism]], [[German idealism]], and [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[mysticism]] in a body of work which was an entirely novel contribution to [[western philosophy]], [[Marxism]], and aesthetic theory. As a literary scholar, he translated essays written by [[Charles Baudelaire]] and [[Marcel Proust]]'s famous novel, [[In Search of Lost Time]]. His work is widely cited in academic and literary studies, in particular his essays ''The Task of the Translator'' and ''[[The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction]]' and his unfinished magnum opus the ''[[Arcades Project]]''. {{GFDL}} |
- | ==The Arcades Project== | + | |
- | Benjamin's final, [[unfinished work]], known as the ''Passagenwerk'' or ''[[Arcades Project]]'', was to be an enormous collection of writings on the city life of [[Paris]] in the [[19th century]], especially concerned with the roofed outdoor "arcades" which created the city's distinctive street life and culture of [[flâneur|''flânerie'']]. It has been posthumously edited and published in its unfinished form.{{GFDL}} | + |
Revision as of 19:47, 28 June 2007
Related e |
Featured: |
Walter Benjamin (July 15, 1892 – September 27, 1940) was a German Marxist literary critic, essayist, translator, and philosopher. He was at times associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory and was also greatly inspired by the Marxism of Bertolt Brecht and the Jewish mysticism of Gershom Scholem.
As a sociological and cultural critic, Benjamin combined ideas of historical materialism, German idealism, and Jewish mysticism in a body of work which was an entirely novel contribution to western philosophy, Marxism, and aesthetic theory. As a literary scholar, he translated essays written by Charles Baudelaire and Marcel Proust's famous novel, In Search of Lost Time. His work is widely cited in academic and literary studies, in particular his essays The Task of the Translator and The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction' and his unfinished magnum opus the Arcades Project.