Benjamin's -abilities

374 Pages·2008·1.18 MB·English

by  Benjamin

Benjamin’s -abilities

Benjamin’s -abilities
SAMUEL WEBER
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge,Massachusetts,andLondon,England 2008
Copyright©2008bythePresidentandFellowsofHarvardCollege
Allrightsreserved
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Weber,Samuel,1940–
Benjamin’s-abilities / SamuelWeber.
p. cm.
“Appendix:WalterBenjamin’s“Seagulls”:atranslation”—P.
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. )andindex.
ISBN-13:978-0-674-02837-1(cloth : alk.paper) 1.Benjamin,Walter,1892–1940.
I.Benjamin,Walter,1892–1940.Möwen.English. II.Title.
B3209.B584W43 2008
193—dc22 2007049785
Contents
ListofAbbreviations vii
I Benjamin’s-abilities
1 Introduction 3
2 Prehistory:Kant,Hölderlin—etcetera 11
3 Criticizability—Calculability 20
4 Impart-ability:LanguageasMedium 31
5 TranslatabilityI:Following(Nachfolge) 53
6 TranslatabilityII:Afterlife 79
7 Citability—ofGesture 95
8 AbilityandStyle 115
9 AnAfterlifeof-abilities:Derrida 122
II Legibilities
10 GenealogyofModernity:History,Myth,andAllegory
inBenjamin’sOriginoftheGermanMourningPlay 131
11 Awakening 164
12 TakingExceptiontoDecision:WalterBenjaminand
CarlSchmitt 176
vi Contents
13 ViolenceandGesture:AgambenReadingBenjamin
ReadingKafkaReadingCervantes... 195
14 SongandGlance:WalterBenjamin’sSecretNames
(zugewandt—unverwandt) 211
15 “Streets,Squares,Theaters”:ACityontheMove—
WalterBenjamin’sParis 227
16 GodandtheDevil—inDetail 240
17 ClosingtheNet:“CapitalismasReligion”(Benjamin) 250
18 TheRingasTrauerspiel:ReadingWagnerwithBenjamin
andDerrida 281
19 ReadingBenjamin 297
20 “Seagulls” 310
Appendix.WalterBenjamin’s“Seagulls”:ATranslation 325
Notes 327
Acknowledgments 357
Index 359
Abbreviations
AP WalterBenjamin,ArcadesProject,trans.HowardEilandandKevin
McLaughlin(Cambridge:HarvardUniversityPress,2002)
CoJ ImmanuelKant,CritiqueofJudgment,trans.W.Pluhar(Indianapo-
lis:Hackett,1987)
EE GiorgioAgamben,Etatd’Exception(Paris:EditionsduSeuil,
2003).EnglishversioninStateofException,trans.KevinAttell
(Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,2005)
GS1,GS2,GS4 WalterBenjamin,GesammelteSchriften—Werkausgabe,vols.1–4
(FrankfurtamMain:Suhrkamp,1980)
GS5 WalterBenjamin,GessammelteSchriften,vol.5(Frankfurtam
Main:Suhrkamp,1982)
GS6 WalterBenjamin,GessammelteSchriften,vol.6(Frankfurtam
Main:Suhrkamp,1988)
KdU ImmanuelKant,KritikderUrteilskraft,vol.6(FrankfurtamMain:
Suhrkamp,1981)
Origin WalterBenjamin,OriginoftheGermanTragicDrama,trans.John
Osborne(London:Verso,1998)
Pdl JacquesDerrida,Politiquesdel’Amitié(Paris:Galilée,1994)
PoF JacquesDerrida,PoliticsofFriendship,trans.GeorgeCollins(Lon-
don:Verso,1997)
PolitischeTheologie CarlSchmitt,PolitischeTheologie,VierKapitelzurLehrevonder
Souveränität(Berlin:Duncker&Humblot,1985)
viii Abbreviations
PT CarlSchmitt,PoliticalTheology:FourChaptersontheConceptof
Sovereignty,trans.GeorgeSchwab(Cambridge:MITPress,1985)
SW1 WalterBenjamin,SelectedWritings,vol.1:1913–1926(Cambridge:
HarvardUniversityPress,1996)
SW2 WalterBenjamin,SelectedWritings,vol.2:1927–1934(Cambridge:
HarvardUniversityPress,1999)
SW3 WalterBenjamin,SelectedWritings,vol.3:1935–1938(Cambridge:
HarvardUniversityPress,2002)
SW4 WalterBenjamin,SelectedWritings,vol.4:1938–1940(Cambridge:
HarvardUniversityPress,2003)
Benjamin’s -abilities