This book provides a lucid introduction to Benjamin's oeuvre through a close and sensitive reading not only of his major studies, but also of some of his less familiar essays and fragments. Gilloch offers an original interpretation of, and fresh insights into, the continuities between Benjamin's always demanding and seemingly disparate texts.
Gilloch's book will be of particular interest to students and scholars in social theory, literary theory, cultural and media studies and urban studies who are seeking a sophisticated yet readable overview of Benjamin's work. It will also prove rewarding reading for those already well-versed in Benjaminian thought.
* Exam copies only available to lecturers for whom the book may be suitable as a course text.
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"A fine text to accompany a firsthand reading of Benjamin, such reading is necessary to understand the thinker critiqued here." Library Journal
"The book highlights some major motifs of Benjamin's work and will probably be of interest, above all, to students of media and related aspects of social history or theory" Brendan Moran, Philosophy in Review
Abbreviations.
Introduction: Benjamin as a Key Contemporary Thinker.
Chapter 1. Immanent Criticism and Exemplary Critique.
Chapter 2. Allegory and Melancholy.
Chapter 3. From Cityscape to Dreamworld.
Chapter 4. Paris and the Arcades.
Chapter 5. Culture and Critique in Crisis.
Chapter 6. Benjamin On-Air, Benjamin on Aura.
Chapter 7. Love at Last Sight.
Conclusion: Towards a Contemporary Constellation.
Notes.
Bibliography.
Index.
