Walter Benjamin: An Introduction to His Work and Thought - Softcover

Steiner, Uwe

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0226772225 ISBN 13: 9780226772226

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2012

Synopsis

Seven decades after his death, German Jewish writer, philosopher, and literary critic Walter Benjamin (1892–1940) continues to fascinate and influence. Here Uwe Steiner offers a comprehensive and sophisticated introduction to the oeuvre of this intriguing theorist.

Acknowledged only by a small circle of intellectuals during his lifetime, Benjamin is now a major figure whose work is essential to an understanding of modernity. Steiner traces the development of Benjamin’s thought chronologically through his writings on philosophy, literature, history, politics, the media, art, photography, cinema, technology, and theology. Walter Benjamin reveals the essential coherence of its subject’s thinking while also analyzing the controversial or puzzling facets of Benjamin’s work. That coherence, Steiner contends, can best be appreciated by placing Benjamin in his proper context as a member of the German philosophical tradition and a participant in contemporary intellectual debates.

As Benjamin’s writing attracts more and more readers in the English-speaking world, Walter Benjamin will be a valuable guide to this fascinating body of work.

About this title

About the Author

Uwe Steiner is professor in and chair of the Department of German Studies at Rice University and the author or editor of numerous books. Michael Winkler is professor emeritus of German studies at Rice University.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226772225
• ISBN 13: 9780226772226
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 244