Gegenbild, Reihenfolge, Sprung: An Essay on Related Figures of Argument in Walter Benjamin

«Die Rettung hält sich an den kleinen Sprung in der kontinuierlichen Katastrophe.» Behind this typical aphorism of Walter Benjamin there lies an elaborate system of metaphors drawn from Arabian geometric ornament. The present work examines the operation of this system in a variety of contexts: «Berliner Kindheit», the posthumous writings «Über Haschisch», the essays on Brecht, and elsewhere. The focus is heuristic: how do Benjamin's rhetorical figures become instruments of invention and cognition?