Courses of Study 2017-2018 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
Courses of Study 2017-2018 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

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ANTHR 7413 - Walter Benjamin

(crosslisted) GERST 6413 , JWST 7913 , NES 7913  
     
Spring. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

Co-meets with ANTHR 4413 /COML 4429 /GERST 4413 /JWST 4913 /NES 4913 .

J. Boyarin.

This extraordinary figure died in 1941, and his death is emblematic of the intellectual depradations of Nazism. Yet since World War II, his influence, his reputation, and his fascination for scholars in a wide range of cultural and political disciplines has steadily grown. He is seen as a bridging figure between German and Jewish studies, between materialist critique of culture and the submerged yet powerful voice of theology, between literary history and philosophy. We will review Benjamin’s life and some of the key disputes over his heritage; read some of the best-known of his essays; and devote significant time to his enigmatic and enormously rich masterwork, the Arcades Project, concluding with consideration of the relevance of Benjamin’s insights for cultural and political dilemmas today.



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