Schedule for Discussions - The Arcades Project

[Jim]

Unfortunately this book has not been a success, and the discussion schedule is being terminated effective July 7, 2014


This is our planned reading and discussion schedule for Walter Benjamin’s The Arcades Project. This is a long-term reading/discussion project which will include several additional books beyond the Benjamin book.

Page numbers refer to the English paperback edition published by Harvard University Press, 2002.


Additional texts included in this reading project:

The Dialectics of Seeing: Walter Benjamin and the Arcades Project, Susan Buck-Morss (week 3)
The Painter of Modern Life and Other Essays, Charles Baudelaire (week 14)
Le Spleen de Paris (Paris Spleen), Baudelaire (week 15)
Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil), Baudelaire (week 16)
The Flaneur, Edmund White (week 20)
Fourier: The Theory of the Four Movements, Charles Fourier (week 31)
The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (week 33)
On Photography, by Susan Sontag (week 35)

Additional texts, read separately, for general discussion:

The Culture Industry, Theodor W. Adorno
The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard

Plus whatever else surfaces as we dig into the book…


Week One – February 17, 2014
Exposés, p. 3 – 26

Week Two – February 24, 2014
Dialectics at a Standstill, by Ralph Tiedemann, p. 929 – 945
The Story of Old Benjamin, by Lisa Fittko, p. 946 – 954

Week Three – March 3, 2014
The Dialectics of Seeing: Walter Benjamin and the Arcades Project, by Susan Buck-Morss, Preface, p. ix – xii, and Part I, p. 1 – 43

NOTE: This a separate book from The Arcades Project. This week’s reading is to help orient us to the Benjamin book. The remainder of the Buck-Morss book will be discussed separately.

Week Four – March 10, 2014
Convolute A, Arcades, Magasins de Nouveautés, Sales Clerks, p. 31 - 61


Week Five – March 17, 2014
Convolute B, Fashion, p. 62 - 81


Week Six – March 24, 2014
Convolute C, Ancient Paris, Catacombs, Demolitions, Decline of Paris, p. 82 - 100


Week Seven – March 31, 2014
Convolute D, Boredom, p. 101 - 119


Week Eight – April 7, 2014
Convolute E, Haussmannization, Barricade Fighting, p. 120 – 149


Week Nine – April 14, 2014
Convolute F, Iron Construction, p. 150 – 170


Week Ten – April 21, 2014
Convolute G, Exhibitions, Advertising, Grandville, p. 171 – 202


Week Eleven – April 28, 2014
Convolute H, The Collector, p. 203 – 211


Week Twelve – May 5, 2014
Convolute I, The Interior, The Trace, p. 212 – 227


Week Thirteen – May 12, 2014
Convolute J, Baudelaire, p. 228 – 387


Week Fourteen – May 19, 2014
The Painter of Modern Life and Other Essays, by Charles Baudelaire


Week Fifteen – May 26, 2014
Le Spleen de Paris (Paris Spleen), by Charles Baudelaire


Week Sixteen – June 2, 2014
Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil), by Charles Baudelaire


Week Seventeen - June 9, 2014
Convolute K, Dream City and Dream House, p. 388 - 404


Week Eighteen – June 16, 2014
Convolute L, Dream House, Museum, Spa, p. 405 - 415


Week Nineteen – June 23, 2014
Convolute M, The Flâneur, p.416 – 455


Week Twenty – June 30, 2014
The Flaneur, by Edmund White


Week Twenty-one – July 7, 2014
Convolute N, On the Theory of Knowledge, Theory of Progress, p. 456 – 488


Week Twenty-two – July 14, 2014
Convolute O, Prostitution, Gambling, p. 489 - 515


Week Twenty-three – July 21, 2014
Convolute P, The Streets of Paris, p. 516 - 526


Week Twenty-four – July 28, 2014
Convolute Q, Panorama, p. 527 - 536


Week Twenty-five – August 4, 2014
Convolute R, Mirrors, p. 537 - 542


Week Twenty-six – August 11, 2014
Convolute S, Painting, Jugendstil, Novelty, p. 543 - 561


Week Twenty-seven – August 18, 2014
Convolute T, Modes of Lighting, p. 562 - 570


Week Twenty-eight – August 25, 2014
Convolute U, Saint-Simon, Railroads, p. 571 - 602


Week Twenty-nine – September 1, 2014
Convolute V, Conspiracies, Compagnonnage, p. 603 - 619


Week Thirty – September 8, 2014
Convolute W, Fourier, p. 620 – 650


Week Thirty-one – September 15, 2014
Fourier: The Theory of the Four Movements, by Charles Fourier, 1808


Week Thirty-two – September 22, 2014
Convolute X, Marx, p. 651 – 670


Week Thirty-three – September 29, 2014
The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels


Week Thirty-four – October 6, 2014
Convolute Y, Photography, p. 671 – 692


Week Thirty-five – October 13, 2014
On Photography, by Susan Sontag


Week Thirty-six – October 20, 2014
Convolute Z, The Doll, The Automaton, p. 693 - 697


Week Thirty-seven – October 27, 2014
Convolute a, Social Movement, p. 698 - 739


Week Thirty-eight – November 3, 2014
Convolute b, Daumier, p. 740 - 743


Week Thirty-nine – November 10, 2014
Convolute d, Literary History, Hugo, p. 744 - 778


Week Forty – November 17, 2014
Convolute g, The Stock Exchange, Economic History, p. 779 - 785


Week Forty-one – November 24, 2014
Convolute i, Reproduction Technology, Lithography, p. 786 -787


Week Forty-two – December 1, 2014
Convolute k, The Commune, p. 788 - 795


Week Forty-three – December 8, 2014
Convolute l, The Seine, The Oldest Paris, p. 796 - 799


Week Forty-four – December 15, 2014
Convolute m, Idleness, p. 800 - 806


Week Forty-five – December 22, 2014
Convolute p, Anthropological Materialism, History of Sects, p. 807 – 817


Week Forty-six – December 29, 2014
Convolute r, Ecole Polytechnique, p. 818 – 824


Week Forty-seven – January 5, 2015
First Sketches, p. 827 – 868
Early Drafts, p. 869 – 889
Addenda, p. 891 – 925


Week Forty-eight – January 12, 2015
Conclusions/Book as a whole