Benjamin’s Passages FF66444488..iinnddbb ii 1111//1100//1144 1122::0099::5577 PPMM FF66444488..iinnddbb iiii 1111//1100//1144 1122::0099::5577 PPMM Benjamin’s Passages Dreaming, Awakening Alexander Gelley fordham university press new york 2015 FF66444488..iinnddbb iiiiii 1111//1100//1144 1122::0099::5577 PPMM Copyright © 2015 Fordham University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro- duced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Fordham University Press has no responsibility for the persis- tence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Fordham University Press also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Visit us online at www.fordhampress.com. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gelley, Alexander. Benjamin’s passages : dreaming, awakening / Alexander Gelley. — First edition. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8232-6256-4 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8232-6257-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Benjamin, Walter, 1892–1940—Criticism and interpretation. I. Title. PT2603.E455Z6732 2015 838′.91209—dc23 2014029447 Printed in the United States of America 17 16 15 5 4 3 2 1 First edition FF66444488..iinnddbb iivv 1111//1100//1144 1122::0099::5577 PPMM For Mieke, fi rst of all, and Ora, Mira, Andrew, Reuben, and Levi FF66444488..iinnddbb vv 1111//1100//1144 1122::0099::5577 PPMM FF66444488..iinnddbb vvii 1111//1100//1144 1122::0099::5577 PPMM contents List of Abbreviations ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xiii Introduction 1 1. Contexts of the Aesthetic 42 2. Epigones in the House of Language: Benjamin and Kraus 69 3. Benjamin on Atget: Empty Streets and the Fading of Aura 87 4. Entering the Passagen 102 5. Citation as Incitation: The Political Agenda of the Passagenarbeit 127 6. Messianism, “Weak” and Otherwise 147 7. Forgetting, Dreaming, Awakening 174 Works Cited 197 Index 207 FF66444488..iinnddbb vviiii 1111//1100//1144 1122::0099::5577 PPMM FF66444488..iinnddbb vviiiiii 1111//1100//1144 1122::0099::5577 PPMM abbreviations GB G esammelte Briefe, 6 vols., ed. Christoph Gödde and Henri Lonitz (Frank- furt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1995–2000). GS Gesammelte Schriften, 7 vols., ed. Rolf Tiedemann and Hermann Schwep- penhäuser (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1974–89). SW Selected Writings, 4 vols., ed. Michael W. Jennings, et al. (Cambridge: Har- vard University Press, 1996–2003). TAP T he Arcades Project, trans. Howard Eiland and Kevin McLaughlin (Cam- bridge: Harvard University Press, 1999). ix FF66444488..iinnddbb iixx 1111//1100//1144 1122::0099::5577 PPMM FF66444488..iinnddbb xx 1111//1100//1144 1122::0099::5577 PPMM