Illuminations

Product Description

The literary-philosophical works of Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) rank among the most quietly influential of the post-war era though only since his death had Benjamin achieved the fame & critical currency outside his native Germany accorded him by a select few during his lifetime. Now he is widely held to have possessed one of the most acute & original minds of the Central European culture decimated by the Nazis. Illuminations contains his two most celebrated essays The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction & Theses on the Philosophy of History as well as others on the art of translation Kafka storytelling Baudelaire Brechts epic theatre Proust & an anatomy of his own obsession book collecting. The essay is Benjamins domain; those collected in this now legendary volume offer the best possible access to his singular & significant achievement. In a stimulating introduction Hannah Arendt reveals how Benjamins life & work are a prism to his times & identifies him as possessing the rare ability to think poetically.