Walter Benjamin and the Critique of Culture

Undergraduate / Graduate

This seminar aims to introduce students to the work of Walter Benjamin, one of the most important literary theorists and cultural critics of the twentieth century. More than any other member of the so-called Frankfurt School, Benjamin was committed to bringing German letters into dialogue with other national literary traditions and literature itself into contact with the newly emergent media of his time. He fundamentally changed the way we study both literature and culture to this day. While we will be reading most of his best known works, we will be organizing our syllabus around four major topics: 1) Benjamin's studies of media and technology, especially photography and film, and their impact on literature and culture; 2) his writings on allegory in early modern drama; 3) his essays on modern literature and culture and, more generally, his theorization of modernity; and 4) his theoretical essays on language and history. Reading and discussions in English. A reading knowledge of German is helpful.