The Cambridge Introduction to Walter Benjamin

Cambridge Introductions to Literature

by David Ferris

For students of modern criticism and theory, Walter Benjamin's writings have become essential reading. His analyses of photography, film, language, history, allegory, material culture, the poet Charles Baudelaire, and his vast examination of the social, political and historical significance of the Arcades of nineteenth-century Paris have left an enduring and important critical legacy. This volume examines in detail a substantial selection of his important critical writings on these topics from 1916 to 1940 and outlines his life in pre-war Germany, his association with the Frankfurt School, and the dissemination of his ideas and methodologies into a variety of academic disciplines since his death. David Ferris traces the development of Benjamin's key critical concepts and provides students with an accessible overview of the life, work and thought of one of the twentieth-century's most important literary and cultural critics.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Academic

174 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2003

Reviews

[Ehsan · Rating 4 out of 5]

معمولاً به این شکل کتاب‌ها بدبینم؛ به کلی‌گویی می‌افتند و خیلی تقلیل‌گرایانه با موضوع/مؤلف برخورد می‌کنند و سرسری از مفاهیم می‌گذرند. ولی این مقدمه بر بنیامین واقعاً این بین استثنا بود. مقاله‌های کلیدی بنیامین رو انتخاب کرده و به خوبی شرح می‌ده. ترم‌های اساسی نوشتار بنیامین رو هم به شکل مناسبی بررسی می‌کنه. موقع نوشتن پروپوزال خیلی برام روشنگر بود.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read selections of this and they’ve been quite helpful. Try to get a used copy or an online version if you can. While good, I’m not sure it was worth the cover price (but that’s not a reflection of the book’s contents).

[Joshua]

as accessible an introduction as i think u could get. well-structured too.

[Zara · Rating 4 out of 5]

والتر بنیامین شاید متفکر به نسبت گمنامی باشد اما بسیار ارزش توجه، خواندن و اندیشیدن دارد. این کتاب شاید کتاب خوبی برای ورود به جهان بنیامین و فلسفه وی باشد و راهنمایی باشد برای خواندن آثار عمیق تر او

[Damian · Rating 5 out of 5]

so amazing and useful.
I imagine I'll be returning to the this A LOT.
Some really great summaries of some of Benjamin's many works.

The few sentences are essential:
"As the effect of an expanded range of his writings in English takes hold, the task of addressing fully not just what Benjamin means for us but also what he meant within the intellectual and historical context that marked his writings can begin in earnest. Then the answer to what is received in the name of Benjamin will be less splintered, as the complexity of his writing and his insistence on a continuity in the development of his career comes to the fore."

[Ali Amiri · Rating 3 out of 5]

cf journal.