Questions, Resources, and General Banter - The Arcades Project

[Jim]

Can you read a book that hasn’t been written?


Answer: Not really...
Despite two attempts, it seems that as interesting as this book might seem at first glance, it isn't really readable, in the traditional sense of the term, and doesn't really generate much in the way of discussion. Oh well..... (July 5, 2014)


This is a question we’ll be exploring as we begin a long-term reading of Walter Benjamin’s, The Arcades Project. Beginning on Monday, February 17, 2014, we will be reading and discussing this “book” in 48 weekly installments which will end in mid-January 2015. Several supplemental books will be included in our discussion:

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)

Paris Spleen, Baudelaire (week 15)

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, Susan Sontag (week 35)

(Refer to our reading schedule for dates.)


plus a few additional texts:

The Culture Industry, Theodor W. Adorno

The Poetics of Space, Gaston Bachelard



Benjamin began this book project in 1927, and it remained unfinished upon his death in 1940 by suicide. Consisting of some written passages and many notes and comments, The Arcades Project is an interesting look at Benjamin’s scholarship and work process as he assembled his unfinished manuscript. Our challenge will be to search and hopefully find the book – or at least our version – that Benjamin didn’t have time to complete.

The arcades Benjamin refers to are the 19th century iron-and-glass covered shopping "arcades" of Paris. These can be thought of as early versions of shopping malls. Benjamin explored the life of the Parisian streets, specifically as represented in the “arcades”. For our purposes, we might also explore how Benjamin’s work might relate to the digital arcades of Amazon dot com – the ultimate global arcade…

At first glance, this might seem like a daunting project, but many of the weekly chapters (convolutes) are less than 20 pages long. By spreading the reading our over nearly a year, we can look at The Arcades Project as a side read which can supplement our fiction reading. Also, since this is not a novel, members can drop into the various discussions at any time without having to worry about following a fictional plot.


Wikipedia page for The Arcades Project:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcades_...


Wikipedia page for Walter Benjamin:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_B...



Feel free to use this thread to ask questions and post links to resources for Walter Benjamin and The Arcades Project.

Also, if you’ve written a review of the book, please post a link to share with the group.

[Nathan "N.R."]

Jim wrote: "***ON HOLD Until 2014***"

That's good news for me. I know Benjamin mostly by reputation and at second hand; 2014 might give me an opportunity to ramp up to this and join the reading. I could use some first hand Benjamin.

For what it's worth, I've been chewing on his thesis on art in the age of mechanical reproducibility;; re: books in the age of bits-and-bytes reproducibility.

[Ellen]

Good news for me too-I really want to be a part of this but I haven't even caught up on the other books for this group. Hopefully by 2014...

[Nathan "N.R."]

I have a copy now. I don't have the time to get started now; but 2014 still looks good.

You have a co-moderator? (how not? ;) ) From only an initial glance through the book, I might be able to make a few suggestions for changing the reading schedule. Some of the back-matter--early drafts, for example, which might make for a good introductory path--might be beneficial for reading at the beginning. But I'd have to take a closer look. There might be good reason to not assume a frontcover-to-backcover pathway in reading The Arcades Project.

For my part at least, I probably won't be able to participate too much with with the supplementary readings. It's always helpful to be familiar with that which a given thinker (Benjamin) is familiar with; but there is also the first stage encounter with the thinker himself; and that latter is likely all that I'll be able to commit myself to.

Thanks for the excuse to bring home this beautiful volume today.

[Inna]

You totally can. The book is fascinating. Highly recommend Buck-Morss as a supplementary reading and in general. One of my favorite authors. She really manages to make me see things differently.

[Jim]

Nathan "N.R." wrote: " From only an initial glance through the book, I might be able to make a few suggestions for changing the reading schedule. Some of the back-matter--early drafts, for example, which might make for a good introductory path--might be beneficial for reading at the beginning. But I'd have to take a closer look. There might be good reason to not assume a frontcover-to-backcover pathway in reading The Arcades Project..."

Yes, I agree with you. Reading the end portions, drafts, etc. first will certainly help. I think we'll also recommend a concurrent read of the Buck-Morss book. Despite the object we hold in our hands, this is not really a book, but the raw materials of a book. I also added in several books to keep our interest, like Baudelaire, Marx, Edmund White, and whatever else might pop into our plans between now and then. I'm imagining this will be a year-long side-read kind of thing. No plot to follow, so the schedule is really just about keeping us moving forward from cover to cover.

[Nathan "N.R."]

Jim wrote: "I also added in several books to keep our interest, like Baudelaire, Marx, Edmund White, and whatever else might pop into our plans"

I can only imagine that The Arcades Projects will increase everyone's tbr list. One name I'd suggest at this point is Theodore Adorno; but other than Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments I don't have a specific suggestion. And myself I'd like to return to a few of Benjamin's essays before the end of this year. I like the year-span schedule; no need to move too quickly.

[Nathan "N.R."]

Happy to see The Arcades confirmed for the 2014 schedule. thnks, Jim.

[Larry]

Awesome! Been on my list for years.

[Jim]

Nathan "No Reviews" wrote: "Happy to see The Arcades confirmed for the 2014 schedule. thnks, Jim."

De rien...

[Jim]

Nathan "No Reviews" wrote: "Jim wrote: "I also added in several books to keep our interest, like Baudelaire, Marx, Edmund White, and whatever else might pop into our plans"

I can only imagine that The Arcades Projects will i..."

Here's an Adorno page that might give us a clue or two. I gave it a quick scan.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ado...


Minima Moralia looks interesting


Also this one, which I suspect might link into some of Benjamin's themes - The Culture Industry

[tia]

I just bought my copy, the Kindle edition, so I could read it on my tablet. Does anyone know how reliable that edition is? Thanks!

[Jim]

Tia wrote: "I just bought my copy, the Kindle edition, so I could read it on my tablet. Does anyone know how reliable that edition is? Thanks!"

I looked at the kindle store because I didn't think it was available, and I don't see it there, only some study guides. Does your version appear to be the same book? Or is it the commentary by Andrew Benjamin?

[Ruth]

Aimlessly moosing around Google this morning brought me to this interesting link, a few years old now, about the work of NYC poet Kenneth Goldsmith - http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harri...

[Ellen]

There's a Kindle copy?

I got a lovely copy for Christmas so I am ready.

I remember loving Minima Moralia-I have found my copy of that too.

[Ellen]

Ruth wrote: "Aimlessly moosing around Google this morning brought me to this interesting link, a few years old now, about the work of NYC poet Kenneth Goldsmith - http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harri......"

Thanks Ruth, that was an interesting article.

[tia]

It appears that in my excitement to read Benjamin's Arcades, I accidently bought a collection of his essays, Illuminations. Hah! But to answer someone's question, no, there isn't a Kindle edition available (yet)
Sorry for the confusion, folks!

[Jim]

Some comments relocated from the Schedule thread (because I forgot to lock the comments for the schedule!)


Tia wrote: I loved reading Edmund White's conversational essays in La Flaneur and am definitely up for a reread as a supplement to the Arcades project

Jim wrote: I read it too many years ago to remember much other than that I enjoyed the read - so looking forward to rereading this year.

Historygirl wrote: I am interested in participating. I read illuminations years ago and now searching for my copy. The Arcades looks challenging, and I have become so addicted to Kindle reading that a REAL book will be an experience. Looking forward to updates. Glad to find some other modernists. Did year of Reading Proust last year.

Ellie wrote: It's funny-I too am now more used to ebooks than paper ones. But the Arcades book is a beauty-I got a paperback and it's massive and beautiful.

[Jim]

Okay, the revised Schedule has been posted. Ladies and gentlemen, let the games begin...

[Joni]

I read a lot of this stuff as an ungrad studying art and cultural history. Feels like I'm in a time warp looking at the list...

[Jim]

Joni wrote: "Feels like I'm in a time warp..."


It's just a jump to the left
Then a step to the right
Put your hands on your hips
And bring your knees in tight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg-vg...


The Benjamin, Fourier, and Adorno are new for me, but I've also read the rest, mostly at university

[Joni]

You're funny to boot Jim and also a great moderator ;-)! I'll be joining in the reading and the commentary on The Arcades. Bought a copy on Abebooks.com if anyone else is looking for one. So, I have no idea when it'll arrive in the post down under from the States or when I'll begin.
Love the choice of Bachelard! :-) Though I'm curious about choosing Sontag's On Photography over her Against Interpretation?

[Jim]

Joni wrote: "You're funny to boot Jim and also a great moderator ;-)! I'll be joining in the reading and the commentary on The Arcades. Bought a copy on Abebooks.com if anyone else is looking for one. So, I hav..."

I chose On Photography to match up with Benjamin's chapter on photography. I haven't read Against Interpretation and Other Essays, but as we make our way into The Arcades Project, if you can make a case for AI as a good addition, we can add it in to the supplemental reads.

[Mertin]

Hey all. I like the idea of a long term read. I hope I can keep the pace, since I'm interested in this book.

[Jim]

Mertin wrote: "Hey all. I like the idea of a long term read. I hope I can keep the pace, since I'm interested in this book."

TAP seems to be a book that needs slow reading, especially since, because of it's form, we need to construct our own meaning based on the clues Benjamin left us - an activity best done slooow-ly...

Happy to have you along for the discussion!

[Book Portrait]

I kept wondering what "panoramas" were. Here's what I found:

The word "panorama", from Greek pan ("all") horama ("view") was coined by the Irish painter Robert Barker in 1792 to describe his paintings of Edinburgh, Scotland shown on a cylindrical surface, which he soon was exhibiting in London, as "The Panorama".

In 1793 Barker moved his panoramas to the first purpose-built brick panorama rotunda building in the world, in Leicester Square, and made a fortune.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panorami...






http://www.surrealites.com/?page_id=955

[Book Portrait]

I just stumbled upon this great link full of photographs of XIX-century Paris:

http://www.info-histoire.com/156/pari...

It's really good. The first few photos are actually by Louis Daguerre who invented "Daguerréotypes." Other photos include the construction of the Opéra Garnier, La Commune de Paris (1871) or the "Expositions Universelles"...



Essai par Daguerre en 1836 – 1837
Au premier plan le pont neuf et la statue d’Henri IV


Mars 1871 – Barricade rue de la Roquette, place de la Bastille

[Book Portrait]

I found some excellent documentaries on how Haussmann dramatically changed Paris (sadly all in French):

Paris : la révolution Haussmann (3/4) (12 min, in French)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEvgRd...
(Excellent. Probably available in German too)

Comment Haussmann a transformé Paris (50 min, in French):
http://youtu.be/IAyMFGFAIvU?t=2m20s
(very good)

C'est pas sorcier - Paris lumière (26 min, in French)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6AhK_...
(very educational kids' program)

[Jim]

Book Portrait wrote: "I found some excellent documentaries on how Haussmann dramatically changed Paris (sadly all in French):

Paris : la révolution Haussmann (3/4) (12 min, in French)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u..."

Good stuff! Thanks for posting

[Book Portrait]

I'd like to order Susan Buck-Morss' book in French but I'm not sure I have the correct one. Could this Voir le capital: Théorie critique et culture visuelle be it? I cannot tell from the content description. It's only 218 pages (compared to 500+ for the English version) so I'm doubting it's the right one but otherwise it'd mean it isn't translated into French?!

[Jim]

Book Portrait wrote: "I'd like to order Susan Buck-Morss' book in French but I'm not sure I have the correct one. Could this Voir le capital: Théorie critique et culture visuelle be it? I cannot tell fro..."

I'm pretty sure it isn't the same. This page shows that the book is translated into Spanish, German, Portuguese, and Turkish.

http://susanbuckmorss.info/books/the-...

Best to get the English version...

[Book Portrait]

Thanks Jim. I ordered the English version. I'd bet the French version is sans illustrations, which would be a shame. Having read Susan Buck-Morss' preface and introduction found in your link I'm looking forward to the form she adopted, her "alternative hermeneutic strategy" as she calls it, and which relies on the "interpretive power of images that make conceptual points concretely" {so nicely said, why paraphrase?}. It will make the perfect companion to the Passagen-Werk. B-M's language is wonderfully clear and engaging for an academic book. ^^

ETA: I actually think the French book is a collection of essays... Probably!

[Book Portrait]

One-Way Street and Other Writings is in my shopping basket. I'd like to add a biography of Walter Benjamin. Any recommendations?

[Book Portrait]

For the francophones an excellent series of radio programs on Walter Benjamin on France Culture:


Walter Benjamin 1/4: Biographie et correspondance
http://www.franceculture.fr/emission-...

Walter Benjamin 2/4 : L'oeuvre d'art à l'époque de sa reproductibilité technique
http://www.franceculture.fr/emission-...

Walter Benjamin 3/4 : Thèses sur le concept d'histoire
http://www.franceculture.fr/emission-...

Walter Benjamin 4/4 : Paris, capitale du XIXème siècle
http://www.franceculture.fr/emission-...-

Sadly no longer "podcastable" but available to listen to online...

[Jim]

Book Portrait wrote: "One-Way Street and Other Writings is in my shopping basket. I'd like to add a biography of Walter Benjamin. Any recommendations?"

The only one I've heard of so far is, Berlin Childhood around 1900, which is his unfinished autobiography.

[Nathan "N.R."]

Book Portrait wrote: "One-Way Street and Other Writings is in my shopping basket. I'd like to add a biography of Walter Benjamin. Any recommendations?"

Walter Benjamin: A Critical Life may be what you're looking for. Pub'd last month.

Or,
Walter Benjamin: A Biography
Walter Benjamin: An Intellectual Biography
Walter Benjamin: The Story of a Friendship by Gershom Scholem
Moscow Diary

[Book Portrait]

Nathan "N.R." wrote: "Walter Benjamin: A Critical Life may be what you're looking for. Pub'd last month..."

Thank you both! I was looking at the first one Nathan. Have you read it?

I'm also looking at Walter Benjamin: Une vie dans les textes but it seems the biographer puts himself in the narration (not good if confirmed!).

I just watched a good documentary on Benjamin (here in French: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PawXvD... Also in German on YouTube).

[Nathan "N.R."]

Book Portrait wrote: "Thank you both! I was looking at the first one Nathan. Have you read it?"

I have not.

[Joni]

The selfie - a modern take on the dandy and the flaneur. Quite an interesting article which puts the concept in a contemporary context.
http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/20...

[Jim]

Joni wrote: "The selfie - a modern take on the dandy and the flaneur. Quite an interesting article which puts the concept in a contemporary context.
http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/20..."

Great article and definitely related to TAP. Although I feel nauseous after seeing KK's name in the Paris Review -Ick!!

[Book Portrait]

Couple of interesting articles:

Read an exploration of Walter Benjamin’s œuvre in the Los Angeles Review of Books:
https://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/for...

Walter Benjamin: “A Contradictory and Mobile Whole”
Adapted from Walter Benjamin: A Critical Life, by Howard Eiland and Michael W. Jennings:
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/features/w...

The reviews for the new biography look good:
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.ph...
I'm very tempted but it's a little pricey >:(

[Book Portrait]

I loved the article on selfies & Dandys Joni. I've had Joris-Karl Huysmans's Against Nature on my shelves for ages... Maybe I'll finally find a slot for it this year?! #ADD-Reader

I'd never heard of Jean Richepin but I found his Deshoulières short story (in French) published in "Les Morts Bizarres:"
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6...

[Book Portrait]

Book Portrait wrote: "Couple of interesting articles:"

From the second article:

Although the arcades project remained a massive unfinished “torso,” the research and reflection that informed it generated a series of groundbreaking studies, such as the celebrated polemic of 1936, “The Work of Art in the Age of its Technological Reproducibility,” and the essays on Charles Baudelaire that established the poet as the representative writer of modernity.

Does it sound like we would be well-inspired to read said studies & essays? #YesItDoes

[Jim]

Book Portrait wrote: "Book Portrait wrote: "Couple of interesting articles:"

From the second article:

Although the arcades project remained a massive unfinished “torso,” the research and reflection that informed it ge..."

An interesting text which takes some of its cues from Baudelaire's essays is The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and his Followers by T.J. Clark. Marxist criticism is included in Clark's look at 1860's and 70's Paris, which fits right in with The Arcades Project.

[Book Portrait]

A very good documentary on Art Nouveau in Paris (Mucha, Lalique, Gallé, Guimart, and their links to Baudelaire, Sarah Bernhardt, the 1899 World Fair and the Dreyfus affair):

BBC Documentary The Allure of Art Nouveau (56 min, in English)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PHHhm...


ETA: the episode on Art Nouveau/Jugendstil in Vienna/Wien (BBC, 56 min, in English):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O34YVQ...

[Book Portrait]

Jim wrote: "An interesting text which takes some of its cues from Baudelaire's essays is The Painting of Modern Life: Paris in the Art of Manet and his Followers by T.J. Clark..."

Thanks Jim. It looks very good...