The Complete Correspondence, 1928-1940
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.52 (662 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0674154274 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 400 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-01-12 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Steiner said A Classic. This volume constitutes the complete collection of written letters between Theodor W. Adorno and Walter Benjamin, a genuine testament to the richness and intensity of their intellectual collaboration. Perhaps more than any other—only Gershom Scholem comes to mind—Adorno was able to ignite Benjamin’s creative capacities. Beginning as his intellectual junior, Adorno approached the latter with a kind of critical insecurity that is characteristic of many young, ascendant th
When this book appeared in German, it caused a sensation because it includes passages previously excised from other German editions of the letters--passages in which the two friends celebrate their own intimacy with frank remarks about other people. The more than one hundred letters in this book will allow readers to trace the developing character of Benjamin's and Adorno's attitudes toward each other and toward their many friends. Ideas presented elliptically in the theoretical writings are set forth here with much greater clarity. Not least, the letters provide material crucial for understanding the genesis of Benjamin's Arcades Project.. No one else, not even Gershom Scholem, coaxed so much out of Benjamin. Adorno was the only person who managed to sustain an intimate intellectual relationship with Benjamin for nearly twenty years. Benjamin, riddle-like in his personality and given to tactical evasion, and Adorno, full of his own importance, alternately support and compete with each other throughout the correspondence, until its imminent tragic end
The final letter of this collection is a suicide note. In Paris, Benjamin was living hand-to-mouth, working on his "Arcades Project" (see Forecasts, Nov. In England at Merton College, Oxford, Adorno was working on a variety of projects, including raising money to keep Benjamin afloat. In 1938, Benjamin writes to his friend "Teddie": "I do not know how long it will still physically be possible to breathe this European air." Not long, as it turns out. He pressed the elusive thinker hard and in illuminating detail on "The Arcades Project." Over many of its pages, this correspondence delves deeply into this strange, unfinished masterpiece. Joined by a powerful interest in philosophy and criticism, Adorno (1903-1969) and Benjamin (1892-1940) became intellectual allies by the end of the decade. But Adorno was also an exacting reader of Benjamin's work. 29), a penetrating inquiry into the cultural underpinnings of 19th-ce