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Walter Benjamin: A Biography
Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) is now generally recognized as one of the most original and influential thinkers of this century. In Britain and the United States in particular, he has acquired a status unlike that of any other German philosopher, as successive generations of readers find their own paths through the endlessly fruitful ambiguities of his work. The conflicts and conjunctions between Benjamin’s Marxism and his messianic Judaism, between his fascination for surrealism and his explorations of the Cabbala, between the philosopher of language and the ever-observant flâneur on the streets of Berlin or Paris—all these have inspired a wealth of interpretations and critical studies.
Widely acclaimed in Germany, Momme Brodersen’s Walter Benjamin is the most comprehensive and illuminating biography of Benjamin ever published. Not only does Brodersen provide a fuller and more coherent account of Benjamin’s nomadic career than has any previous scholar, he also demonstrates the fallacy of the popular, romanticized notion of his life as the sorrowful progression of a melancholic personality. The only real tragedy, he argues, was Benjamin’s suicide at Portbou on the Franco-Spanish border in 1940. Using previously unavailable material, Brodersen pays particular attention to Benjamin’s childhood in Berlin, to his conflicts with his bourgeois, Jewish family, his activities in the German Youth Movement, and the formative, irreconcilable influences of idealism, socialism and Zionism. He gives an exceptionally vivid picture of Benjamin’s life during the Weimar Republic, of his success as a literary critic and his work as a translator and radio journalist, as well as of his friendships and love affairs. Finally, he follows Benjamin’s harrowing journey through exile, internment and flight, and for the first time unravels the mysteries surrounding his death. At the same time, Brodersen provides a fresh and lucid presentation of Benjamin’s written work, and of the extraordinary range of his ideas and enthusiasms.
Thoroughly revised and expanded for this edition, and accompanied by more than a hundred photographs, this biography is an essential study of the man who himself remains an indispensable guide to the ruins and enchantments of the twentieth century.
Widely acclaimed in Germany, Momme Brodersen’s Walter Benjamin is the most comprehensive and illuminating biography of Benjamin ever published. Not only does Brodersen provide a fuller and more coherent account of Benjamin’s nomadic career than has any previous scholar, he also demonstrates the fallacy of the popular, romanticized notion of his life as the sorrowful progression of a melancholic personality. The only real tragedy, he argues, was Benjamin’s suicide at Portbou on the Franco-Spanish border in 1940. Using previously unavailable material, Brodersen pays particular attention to Benjamin’s childhood in Berlin, to his conflicts with his bourgeois, Jewish family, his activities in the German Youth Movement, and the formative, irreconcilable influences of idealism, socialism and Zionism. He gives an exceptionally vivid picture of Benjamin’s life during the Weimar Republic, of his success as a literary critic and his work as a translator and radio journalist, as well as of his friendships and love affairs. Finally, he follows Benjamin’s harrowing journey through exile, internment and flight, and for the first time unravels the mysteries surrounding his death. At the same time, Brodersen provides a fresh and lucid presentation of Benjamin’s written work, and of the extraordinary range of his ideas and enthusiasms.
Thoroughly revised and expanded for this edition, and accompanied by more than a hundred photographs, this biography is an essential study of the man who himself remains an indispensable guide to the ruins and enchantments of the twentieth century.
- GenresPhilosophyBiography
350 pages, Paperback
First published November 17, 1996
About the author
Momme Brodersen
8 booksMomme Brodersen teaches German literature and cultural history at the University of Palermo. He has compiled two Benjamin bibliographies and has edited a casebook of Benjamin studies.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 23, 2019
تا آنجا که به روایت زندگی بنیامین مربوط می شود خواندنی است و جذاب اما کتاب در بخشی که به آثار او می پردازد هم به دلیل حجم بسیار کمش (برای شرح متفکری که قریب به 8000 صفحه نوشته داشت) و هم ارجاعات مطول و گاها پینگ پنگی اش، در ترسیم خطوطی از بن مایه های اصلی اندیشه بنیامین چندان ره به جایی نمی برد، از این بابت کتاب پتانسیل این را دارد که خواننده را از رجوع به متون خود بنیامین منصرف کند، در نتیجهِ ارائه تصویری دشوار، سخت فهم و به غایت پیچیده.
September 4, 2021
اساساً آنقدر بنیامین نمی‌فهمم که بنویسم این کتاب چقدر وفادارانه یا کامل یا جامع به موضوعش پاسخ درخور داده یا نه. ولی چند نقطه قوت دارد کتاب که نمی‌شود نگفت:
۱- ترجمه‌ی خواندنی و درست و فهمیدنی و تمیز و نسخه‌پردازی درخور نام نشر و موضوع. کوروش بیت‌سرکیس مترجم خوبی باید باشد و محمدرضا خانی ویراستار خوبی.
۲- فصل شرح آثار از شرح زندگی حتماً بهتر بود. و سعی در ترسیم خطی از آثار مؤلفی پرکار که سالها بعد احضا نوشته‌هایش ممکن شد کار سختی‌ست. راستش حتی من یکجورهایی یاد گرفتم اگر بخواهیم هفت-هشت کار اصلی و کلی کار پراکنده‌ی یکی را فهرست تفصیلی بنویسیم چطور ممکن است و با چه مصالحی باید سراغ این کار رفت.
۳- وجه پنهانیِ یهودی‌بودگی و ربطش به کارهاش در کتابهای دیگر ندیده بودم مثل این اشاره‌ی اول کتاب به دو میان‌نام پنهانی که سالها بعد فاش می‌شود و ربطش به رگه‌های تربیتی مذهبی خانوادگی.
۴- نقاط برخورد. به خوبی در بیان مواضع و کارها به «نقاط برخورد» او با دوستانش توجه داده و برای فهمیدن موضع هرکس این از نان شب واجب‌تر است که من بدانم کجاها بنیامین با آدورنو و شولم و برشت «مخالف» بوده نه کجاها موافق بوده‌اند.
۱- ترجمه‌ی خواندنی و درست و فهمیدنی و تمیز و نسخه‌پردازی درخور نام نشر و موضوع. کوروش بیت‌سرکیس مترجم خوبی باید باشد و محمدرضا خانی ویراستار خوبی.
۲- فصل شرح آثار از شرح زندگی حتماً بهتر بود. و سعی در ترسیم خطی از آثار مؤلفی پرکار که سالها بعد احضا نوشته‌هایش ممکن شد کار سختی‌ست. راستش حتی من یکجورهایی یاد گرفتم اگر بخواهیم هفت-هشت کار اصلی و کلی کار پراکنده‌ی یکی را فهرست تفصیلی بنویسیم چطور ممکن است و با چه مصالحی باید سراغ این کار رفت.
۳- وجه پنهانیِ یهودی‌بودگی و ربطش به کارهاش در کتابهای دیگر ندیده بودم مثل این اشاره‌ی اول کتاب به دو میان‌نام پنهانی که سالها بعد فاش می‌شود و ربطش به رگه‌های تربیتی مذهبی خانوادگی.
۴- نقاط برخورد. به خوبی در بیان مواضع و کارها به «نقاط برخورد» او با دوستانش توجه داده و برای فهمیدن موضع هرکس این از نان شب واجب‌تر است که من بدانم کجاها بنیامین با آدورنو و شولم و برشت «مخالف» بوده نه کجاها موافق بوده‌اند.
September 27, 2023
Pretty much exactly enough detail for what I wanted out of this. The popular conception of Benjamin is much different from what actually happened to him in his life and the intellectual circles he floated between. It seems obvious in retrospect that he never properly read Marx, his mystical tendency was far too strong for him to have done so (and it makes Scholem’s anti-Marxism polemics that much stranger). The hurried, weighty tone of On the Concept of History makes a great deal of sense in context as well.
The funniest through-line is that every time Benjamin wrote an article and sent it to a friend they would say they honestly couldn’t understand what he was saying. Now an uncountable number of academics do precisely the opposite: dishonestly claim they understood everything!
The funniest through-line is that every time Benjamin wrote an article and sent it to a friend they would say they honestly couldn’t understand what he was saying. Now an uncountable number of academics do precisely the opposite: dishonestly claim they understood everything!
February 18, 2008
Benjamin is a fascinating man and his journey to his eventual suicide will make a great Hollywood movie someday (I'm casting Ben Kingsley as WB).
However, this book is not a pleasurable read. As biography, it paints his life using only the broad brushstroke. The small photos, included in the margins, are interesting--lots of portraits of very intense looking men. You'll also can see some of WB's postcard collection--lonely images of ancient ruins and landscapes. This book is not something I'd rush to recommend to people interested in WB however it seems to be one of the few biographies out there.
However, this book is not a pleasurable read. As biography, it paints his life using only the broad brushstroke. The small photos, included in the margins, are interesting--lots of portraits of very intense looking men. You'll also can see some of WB's postcard collection--lonely images of ancient ruins and landscapes. This book is not something I'd rush to recommend to people interested in WB however it seems to be one of the few biographies out there.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews