The Complete Correspondence, 1928–1940

by Theodor W. Adorno, Walter Benjamin

The correspondence between Walter Benjamin and Theodor Adorno, which appears here for the first time in its entirety in English translation, must rank among the most significant to have come down to us from that notable age of barbarism, the twentieth century. Benjamin and Adorno formed a uniquely powerful pair. Benjamin, riddle-like in his personality and given to tactical evasion, and Adorno, full of his own importance, alternately support and compete with each other throughout the correspondence, until its imminent tragic end becomes apparent to both writers. Each had met his match, and happily, in the other. This book is the story of an elective affinity. Adorno was the only person who managed to sustain an intimate intellectual relationship with Benjamin for nearly twenty years. No one else, not even Gershom Scholem, coaxed so much out of Benjamin.

The more than one hundred letters in this book will allow readers to trace the developing character of Benjamin's and Adorno's attitudes toward each other and toward their many friends. When this book appeared in German, it caused a sensation because it includes passages previously excised from other German editions of the letters--passages in which the two friends celebrate their own intimacy with frank remarks about other people. Ideas presented elliptically in the theoretical writings are set forth here with much greater clarity. Not least, the letters provide material crucial for understanding the genesis of Benjamin's Arcades Project .

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

400 pages, Paperback

Published December 7, 2001

About the author

Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno was one of the most important philosophers and social critics in Germany after World War II. Although less well known among anglophone philosophers than his contemporary Hans-Georg Gadamer, Adorno had even greater influence on scholars and intellectuals in postwar Germany. In the 1960s he was the most prominent challenger to both Sir Karl Popper's philosophy of science and Martin Heidegger's philosophy of existence. Jürgen Habermas, Germany's foremost social philosopher after 1970, was Adorno's student and assistant. The scope of Adorno's influence stems from the interdisciplinary character of his research and of the Frankfurt School to which he belonged. It also stems from the thoroughness with which he examined Western philosophical traditions, especially from Kant onward, and the radicalness to his critique of contemporary Western society. He was a seminal social philosopher and a leading member of the first generation of Critical Theory.

Unreliable translations hampered the initial reception of Adorno's published work in English speaking countries. Since the 1990s, however, better translations have appeared, along with newly translated lectures and other posthumous works that are still being published. These materials not only facilitate an emerging assessment of his work in epistemology and ethics but also strengthen an already advanced reception of his work in aesthetics and cultural theory.

Reviews

[Jonfaith · Rating 4 out of 5]

These letters offer yet another perspective on the final years of Benjamin, the exchanges were certainly warm and the critique each gave the other’s work was exemplary. I’ll leave the biographical aspects of Benjamin aside and instead marvel at the matching erudition of Adorno.

[Lucía Martín · Rating 5 out of 5]

Libro que me fue regalado. Leer la correspondencia, los cuadernos, y los diarios siempre es una forma de hacer metafilosofía que me gusta mucho. No creo que pudiera entender a Adorno y Benjmain a los márgenes de estas cartas.
Si una cosa puede romper con la barrera de la no re-edición es el amor, porque Daniel me consiguió esta edición por mi cumpleaños. Iber libro you'll always be famous.


Libro que leí en verano y que olvidé apuntar en goodreads.

[Hrafnkell Úlfur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bók sem inniheldur svör við spurningunni: "Hvað myndu óskipulagðasti maður allra tíma og leiðinlegasti maður allra tíma ræða?"

"Flest fólk bíður eftir bréfi á hverjum morgni. Það að ekkert bréf kemur, eða ef það inniheldur einungis einhvers konar höfnun á yfirleitt við þau sem eru leið nú þegar"

[Jennifer Scappettone · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most important book I have read in years....tore through it in one day as if reading a novel, disbelieving that I waited so long to take in this intimate side of the dialogue. The end could destroy you, even if you already know how it goes.

[lu]

"o passado recente sempre se apresenta como se fosse algo destruído por catástrofes."

[Carlo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great read. The correspondence presents the intense intellectual relationship between Walter Benjamin and Theodor Adorno up to Benjamin's death while fleeing fascism in Portbou, Catalonia.

Before embarking on the long journey to {The Arcades Project} and {Aesthetic Theory}, read these letters along with Susan Buck-Morss's {The Origin of Negative Dialectics}. Your interest will spark.

[Blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. Tow of my favourite minds writing letters to each other. The death of letter writing is a sad thing.

[Leonardo]

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