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Discussion - Week Three - The Arcades Project - The Dialectics of Seeing - Buck-Morss
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I found Buck-Morss' introductory analysis very useful. There are so many layers to Benjamin and his work. It feels like we are on the verge of entering into a very old, traditional Funhouse. There are bound to be surprises behind every door.
I'm confused. In the article about Benjamin's last days they refer to a manuscript that he was guarding with his life. Now in this chapter of Buck Morss book I see that his notes for the project were 'left behind in Paris, and survived'. If I remember correctly, they were hidden in a 'medieval section' of a library, right? Anyway... so what happened to that manuscript that Benjamin was transporting with him in that heavy bag until his suicide?
My understanding is that no one knows-maybe (hopefully) I'm wrong.
Mark B wrote: "I found Buck-Morss' introductory analysis very useful. There are so many layers to Benjamin and his work. It feels like we are on the verge of entering into a very old, traditional Funhouse. There ..."I concur Mark. I found her writing to be extremely engaging and concise. Her mix of biographical details together with Benjamin's aims and theories for the The Arcades Project was just what I needed before diving in. I thought the "The Dialectics at a Standstill" essay useful, though tedious in its execution.
Buck-morss really does add some great context to the project for Benjamin. I must admit I thought the sleeping beauty allegory Benjamin made at first a little unexpected. The next sections of her book open the door even more.
Mertin wrote: "I'm confused. In the article about Benjamin's last days they refer to a manuscript that he was guarding with his life. Now in this chapter of Buck Morss book I see that his notes for the project we..."Benjamin left the draft (mess?) of Passagen-Werk in Paris with Georges Bataille who hid it at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. No one knows what Benjamin took with him and went missing.
http://www.liberation.fr/cahier-speci...
In English (with Google Translate):
http://translate.google.fr/translate?...
This is quite a mystery. So the police report mentions the bag, but not specifically the manuscript. I can't believe that, after all that trouble, when he decides to commit suicide, he would just forget about the fate of the manuscript. He must have given it to someone... make sure that it survives. Judging from the zeal with which he guarded it, it must have been the finished work on the Arcades Project, no doubt. I can't believe this
Mertin wrote: "This is quite a mystery. So the police report mentions the bag, but not specifically the manuscript. I can't believe that, after all that trouble, when he decides to commit suicide, he would just f..."Maybe you should go to Port-Bou and investigate? I'm sure a lot of people would like to know what happened to this sacoche! ;-)
Another interesting thing in the Libération article I linked is that Bataille apparently did NOT hand over all the documents Benjamin had left with him, in effect "editing" Benjamin's work as he transmitted it to Pierre Missac (who ultimately gave them to Adorno... for more editing...).
Even more puzzlling is that in June 1981 another FIVE envelops were discovered at the Bibliothèque Nationale (apparently in addition to the remaining documents that Bataille's wife handed over after her husband death in 1962... >_<).
So now I'm wondering if the version we're reading has integrated all these various streams of documents...
*mysterious mystery*
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It would be interesting to know if the police report mentioned a manuscript, or just a bag. It's possible that Benjamin could have destroyed the manuscript before he took his life. Either way, given the times, I can't imagine the border police would have cared much for an unpublished manuscript found with a refugee who committed suicide rather than return to France. If they did find the manuscript, it was likely used for kindling...
Whatever the manuscript was, it might be mentioned in his correspondence from the time.
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.
“I would be hard put to say whether this form of scholarship is a process of discovering the Arcades project, or inventing it. The reader is thus forewarned.” Preface, p. ix
It is to Buck-Morss’ credit that she says this up front, and I think we are well forewarned to consider this statement as we proceed through our reading of Benjamin’s unwritten book.