班雅明：多重面向——詹明信重讀班雅明

by Fredric Jameson, 莊仲黎 (Translator)

後現代主義理論巨擘 深入剖析謎樣哲人
於每一身影重合處，窺見語言核心中的靈光閃現


「為了正確理解班雅明，必須感受到他每個句子背後的轉換，從極端的不安轉換到某種靜止......」──阿多諾（Theodor W. Adorno）
「詹明信以班雅明治班雅明，拆解與重組班雅明的巴洛克世界，釋放出不斷變化的星座解讀，令讀者心神蕩漾，流連忘返。」──耿一偉（台北藝術大學戲劇系兼任助理教授）

從駝背侏儒、遊蕩者、文學評論家到說故事的人
難以歸類、難以理解、難以抗拒的班雅明

被哲學家漢娜．鄂蘭譽為「歐洲最後一位知識分子」的思想哲人班雅明，無疑是20世紀最獨特、最豐富，也最難懂的思想哲人。他一生留下大量評論、書信、研究計畫、筆記雜文，以及許多難以歸類的文字。他從城市的遊蕩直通神學的語法，在新科技與新媒體中尋找彌賽亞的救贖，以文學評論和歷史哲學進行對暴力的批判。其思想與靈光，猶如一座豐富礦脈，各世代的學者均深受其啟發，影響力至今不墜。
1950年代，阿多諾、鄂蘭將其中部分手稿編纂為文集，使班雅明聲名大噪。然而，無數謎團仍遺留在他充滿隱喻、矛盾與實驗性的文字之中，他的身影游移在文學、哲學與神學的邊界。人們著迷於他的著作，卻也往往迷失其中。

大師註解大師之作，妙筆勾連意象如星座
涵蓋書信、雜文、筆記、著作，包含從未翻譯之文本
搭配示意圖解，清晰呈現班雅明思想路徑

在這部巨作中，後現代理論大師詹明信，與素來以晦澀難懂著稱的班雅明文本正面對決，他對班雅明的著作、書評、信件與雜文，進行了前所未有的全面審讀，並發現班雅明作品中的種種矛盾、其多重身份，原本即是他寫作與思想實踐的一部分，不能理解這一點，便會對班雅明產生誤解。
從歷史、寫作、語言、戲劇、寓言、城市、評論、媒體與神學九條路線，詹明信引領我們深入班雅明宏偉的思想迷宮，直探這位謎樣哲人深藏於語言核心的終極命題。此外，也對20世紀重要思潮、人物與事件進行龐大的梳理考察，助我們理解班雅明所身處的歷史語境。
書中並搭配多張示意圖，清楚扼要地展示了這位後現代大師對班雅明複雜思想的理解。喜好班雅明的讀者，必定不能錯過這本絕佳的指南。

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Theory

576 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2016

About the author

Fredric Jameson was an American literary critic, philosopher and Marxist political theorist. He was best known for his analysis of contemporary cultural trends, particularly his analysis of postmodernity and capitalism. Jameson's best-known books include Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (1991) and The Political Unconscious (1981).

Reviews

[Rhys · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful exploration of the constellations of Benjamin's thought.

"Mass politics, however—for which the whole issue of representative democracy has by now become a rhetorical convention, less a cause than a form of corruption in its own right—now once again seems on the point of reinventing a fascism whose name it had forgotten. Perhaps, if we want to learn to read Benjamin correctly and to draw new energies from his prophecies—“weakly messianic” as they may have been—we should once again begin to distinguish the forces of communism and fascism at work beneath the surface of world politics and self-consciously rearticulate a struggle in which he had his word to say. Mass politics lies at the very center of Benjamin’s thought: in Max Horkheimer’s memorable formula, 'He has nothing useful to say about fascism who is unwilling to mention capitalism.'"

[Robert T Bowie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Overview

Walter Benjamin wrote a great deal more than typical readers can get through. Benjamin comes across in his own prose as largely a straight forward observer. Jameson both points out key texts to read and where philosophical analysis reveals Benjamin to be more complex or paradoxical than appears at first glance. Use this book to read or go back and reread the original works of Benjamin referenced. Cheap ebook complete collections are available in German. Illumination and Reflections are good ebook companions in English.

[Marginalia Σημειώσεις στο περιθώριο]

Κριτική του βιβλίου από τον Πάνο Σταθάτο στα Marginalia: https://marginalia.gr/arthro/enas-ast...

[Randy Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last year I read Benjamin’s ‘One-Way Street’ and understood only a fraction of it. I had read Jameson’s ‘Postmodernism’ which while stimulating was a difficult slog and when I saw ‘The Benjamin Files’ I grabbed it. I’m not sure what made me turn to a difficult writer to explain and edify me about another difficult writer. The outcome was predictable. I barely understood either Jameson or what he was saying about Benjamin.

And yet….somehow I made it through the book and enjoyed the act of reading even if I can’t adequately explain what Jameson’s interpretation of Benjamin is. Now I want to reread ‘One-Way Street’ and perhaps other Benjamin essays that Jameson discusses. It’s like slowly translating a text from a language I barely comprehend. If I keep at it, over time, in time, I will gain deep and meaningful insights. Or not!

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jameson reinvigorates the Flaneur in such interesting ways

[michal k-c · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty decent summary reading of Benjamin’s work and thought, with much appreciated attention to Benjamin’s style and peculiar theology. reeeeaaaallllly made me wish Jameson would write something long about Deleuze. i do not ask for much

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This work turned out to be one of my favorites I've read from Jameson in some time. It was a pleasure to read, particularly after having recently finished One-Way Street: And Other Writings (called "Benjamin's only book"), which, along with that work's other essays (in its currently published configuration), Jameson extensively discusses here.

Jameson starts by describing Benjamin's work in what I think your could call a somewhat characteristically lyrical way:

This skiff is moving, but not only under the momentum of the wind of history; he has no control of the current—it is by way of setting the sail and catching that wind that we can control our own destiny. It is an image that can only multiply our questions, not settle them; and in any case, the shift takes place within the first sentence itself, which problematizes the very notion of history and shifts our attention from the question of whether history has a direction to that of how to register that direction (assuming it exists).

He then proceeds to interrogate Benjamin's work with his equally characteristically free-range-roaming discourse, for instance shuttling between André Malraux:

For Malraux, the instant of the bet marks a suspension of reality in time, in which both wealth and poverty are momentarily abolished: gambling, in other words, offers the satisfaction (if not the excitement) of a unique temporal moment in which neither riches nor poverty exist, and a present of time which risks destroying temporality altogether.

And this guy named Morgan:

Marxism has its own tradition of such mixed feelings, which are to be found in Frederick Lewis Morgan, the grandfather of anthropology (according to Lévi-Strauss) as well as the father of Marxist anthropology as such.

(I think there was a problem with the book's editing here; surely he meant Lewis Henry Morgan).

At any rate, if you are a fan of Benjamin's essay, this book will likely be of interest. Jameson does here what he does best: dissect Benjamin's unique vocabulary—terms such as aura and dialectical image---much of which you might take for granted while reading One-Way Street or one of his other collections, and traces their meaning throughout Benjamin's work. Personally I have by no means read all of Benjamin's work, but when I come back to him again my experience will definitely be enriched.

[Goatboy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Benjamin was notoriously gnomic in his writings and so any second source review is always welcome to me. Jameson obviously has the Marxist background to cover that aspect of Benjamin's project, and he does quite well with the other aspects as well. A few places where I felt I wasn't quite understanding Jameson's (or Benjamin's) points, but overall a very clear and easy to understand treatment. Much like Lacan and Lacanian secondary writings, I gain something new with each read or re-read within this terrain, much like a grand park you can't see at all at once from any angle but only learn by physically traversing every nook and cranny, eventually building up a better and better understanding of the land by experiencing it from many angles of engagement.

[Jay Rothermel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Benjamin had many interesting interests, and wrote about them artfully. He was no party ideologue. Neither is Jameson, though Jameson had intellectually internalized the euphemisms and bad faith of petty bourgeois academic "Marxism." Still, a clear and provocative explainer.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive deep-dive into Benjamin’s thought by one of the all-time great deep-divers (RIP king). Final chapter (“History and the Messianic”) is, in an appropriate instance of Benjaminian redemption, the real highlight.

[David Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Depends on knowing Benjamin a lot better than I do Got about 60% but worth it for the periodic Jamesonian nuggets.

[Kit · Rating 2 out of 5]

honestly? disappointingly generic. maybe if you haven't read Benjamin you'll get more out of it. But in that case, just read him instead! Sorry Jameson--I love some of your other books.