Walter Benjamin

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Walter Benjamin

Walter Benjamin 1892-1940, German essayist and critic. He is known for his synthesis of eccentric Marxist theory and Jewish messianism. In particular, his essays on Charles Baudelaire and Franz Kafka as well as his speculation on symbolism, allegory, and the function of art in a mechanical age have profoundly affected contemporary criticism. Benjamin was influenced by his close friendship with the historian of Jewish mysticism Gershom Gerhard Scholem . In 1933, he moved to France because of the rise of the Nazis. When the Nazis invaded France, he fled to Spain, was denied entry, and committed suicide.

Bibliography: See collections of his essays edited by H. Arendt (1968, 1978); his Moscow Diary (1986); The Correspondence of Walter Benjamin, 1910-1940 (1966, tr. 1994) edited by Manfred R. and Evelyn M. Jacobson; Walter Benjamin: The Story of a Friendship (1981) by G. Scholem; studies by R. Wolin (1982), S. Handelman (1991), and B. Witte (1991); essays by G. Scholem (1965, 1981).

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Benjamin, Walter

A Dictionary of Sociology | 1998 | | Â© A Dictionary of Sociology 1998, originally published by Oxford University Press 1998. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Benjamin, Walter (1892–1940) A literary critic associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory in the 1930s, taken up by sociologists of literature in the 1970s, mainly because of his analysis of the material aspects of literary production (see J. Roberts , Walter Benjamin, 1982
).

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GORDON MARSHALL. "Benjamin, Walter." A Dictionary of Sociology. 1998. Retrieved November 10, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O88-BenjaminWalter.html

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	The everlasting now: Walter Benjamin's archive.(Postmortem) Magazine article from: ArtUS; 3/1/2007
	Walter Benjamin, Selected Writings: Volume 2, 1927-1934.(Review) Magazine article from: The Historian; 1/1/2001
	The Correspondence of Walter Benjamin: 1910-1940. Magazine article from: Artforum International; 11/1/1994

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