Sparks Will Fly
Benjamin and Heidegger
Published on 1. April 2015
Book
Hardback
305 pages
978-1-4384-5505-1 (ISBN)
Description
Collected essays consider points of affinity and friction between Walter Benjamin and Martin Heidegger.
Despite being contemporaries, Walter Benjamin and Martin Heidegger never directly engaged with one another. Yet, Hannah Arendt, who knew both men, pointed out common ground between the two. Both were concerned with the destruction of metaphysics, the development of a new way of reading and understanding literature and art, and the formulation of radical theories about time and history. On the other hand, their life trajectories and political commitments were radically different. In a 1930 letter, Benjamin told a friend that he had been reading Heidegger and that if the two were to engage with one another, "sparks will fly." Acknowledging both their affinities and points of conflict, this volume stages that confrontation, focusing in particular on temporality, Romanticism, and politics in their work.
Despite being contemporaries, Walter Benjamin and Martin Heidegger never directly engaged with one another. Yet, Hannah Arendt, who knew both men, pointed out common ground between the two. Both were concerned with the destruction of metaphysics, the development of a new way of reading and understanding literature and art, and the formulation of radical theories about time and history. On the other hand, their life trajectories and political commitments were radically different. In a 1930 letter, Benjamin told a friend that he had been reading Heidegger and that if the two were to engage with one another, "sparks will fly." Acknowledging both their affinities and points of conflict, this volume stages that confrontation, focusing in particular on temporality, Romanticism, and politics in their work.
Reviews / Votes
"...makes a valuable contribution to both Heideggerian and Benjaminian scholarship by bringing to light important connections and points of conflict." - CHOICEMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Albany, NY
United States
Target group
College/higher education
US School Grade: College Graduate Student and over
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 233 mm
Width: 173 mm
Thickness: 27 mm
Weight
649 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4384-5505-1 (9781438455051)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
02/2015
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€37.99
Available for download
Persons
Andrew Benjamin is Professor of Philosophy and Jewish Thought at Monash University, Australia and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and the Humanities at Kingston University, London. He is the author of several books, including Working with Walter Benjamin: Recovering a Political Philosophy. Dimitris Vardoulakis is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Western Sydney, Australia. He is the author of Sovereignty and Its Other: Toward the Dejustification of Violence.
Content
Abbreviations
Introduction: "Sparks Will Fly"
Andrew Benjamin and Dimitris Vardoulakis
Part I. Knowledge
1. Entanglement-Of Benjamin with Heidegger
Peter Fenves
2. Critique and the Thing: Benjamin and Heidegger
Gerhard Richter
Part II. Experience
3. Stimmung: Heidegger and Benjamin
Ilit Ferber
4. Commodity Fetishism and the Gaze
A. Kiarina Kordela
Part III. Time
5. Monad and Time: Reading Leibniz with Heidegger and Benjamin
Paula Schwebel
6. Time and Task: Benjamin and Heidegger Showing the Present
Andrew Benjamin
Part IV: Hoelderlin
7. Who Was Friedrich Hoelderlin? Walter Benjamin, Martin Heidegger, and the Poet
Antonia Engel
8. Sobriety, Intoxication, Hyperbology: Benjamin and Heidegger Reading Hoelderlin
Joanna Hodge
Part V. Politics
9. Beyond Revolution: Benjamin and Heidegger on Violence and Power
Krzysztof Ziarek
10. A Matter of Immediacy: The Political Ontology of the Artwork in Benjamin and Heidegger
Dimitris Vardoulakis
11. Politics of the Useless: The Work of Art in Benjamin and Heidegger
David Ferris
Biographical Notes
Index
Introduction: "Sparks Will Fly"
Andrew Benjamin and Dimitris Vardoulakis
Part I. Knowledge
1. Entanglement-Of Benjamin with Heidegger
Peter Fenves
2. Critique and the Thing: Benjamin and Heidegger
Gerhard Richter
Part II. Experience
3. Stimmung: Heidegger and Benjamin
Ilit Ferber
4. Commodity Fetishism and the Gaze
A. Kiarina Kordela
Part III. Time
5. Monad and Time: Reading Leibniz with Heidegger and Benjamin
Paula Schwebel
6. Time and Task: Benjamin and Heidegger Showing the Present
Andrew Benjamin
Part IV: Hoelderlin
7. Who Was Friedrich Hoelderlin? Walter Benjamin, Martin Heidegger, and the Poet
Antonia Engel
8. Sobriety, Intoxication, Hyperbology: Benjamin and Heidegger Reading Hoelderlin
Joanna Hodge
Part V. Politics
9. Beyond Revolution: Benjamin and Heidegger on Violence and Power
Krzysztof Ziarek
10. A Matter of Immediacy: The Political Ontology of the Artwork in Benjamin and Heidegger
Dimitris Vardoulakis
11. Politics of the Useless: The Work of Art in Benjamin and Heidegger
David Ferris
Biographical Notes
Index