WALTER BENJAMIN A Philosophical Portrait W A L T E R B E N J A M I N A P h i l o s o p h i c a l P o r t r a i t Eli Friedlander Harvard University Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England 2012 Copyright © 2012 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Friedlander, Eli. Walter Benjamin : a philosophical portrait / Eli Friedlander. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978- 0- 674-0 6169- 9 (alk. paper) 1. Benjamin, Walter, 1892–1 940. 2. Benjamin, Walter, 1892– 1940. Passagen- Werk. I. Title. B3209.B584F75 2011 193—dc22 2011013394 For my parents, Hagith and Saul CONTENTS List of Abbreviations xi Introduction 1 1 Language 9 2 Image 37 3 Time 60 4 Body 74 5 Dream 90 6 Myth 112 7 Baudelaire 139 8 Rescue 157 9 Remembrance 190 Notes 223 Index 279 AC KNOWL EDG MENTS This book has been long in the making and many signifi cant conversa- tions have contributed to its fi nal shape. I am grateful to Carolyn Ab- bate, Stanley Cavell, Howard Eiland, Ilit Ferber, Angus Fletcher, Saul Friedlander, Michal Grover- Friedlander, Ido Geiger, Werner Hamacher, Arata Hamawaki, Michael Jennings, Hagi Kenaan, Irad Kimhi, Josi Mali, Ashraf Noor, Ofra Rechter, Ori Rotlevy, Yaron Senderowicz, Lindsay Waters and David Wellbery. Anonymous referees for boundary 2 and Har- vard University Press gave illuminating and helpful comments on earlier versions of the material. Lindsay Waters, himself involved in assimilating Walter Benjamin into his own writing, provided much support and en- couragement throughout the different phases of the project. Discussions with students in the seminars on Benjamin I have taught at Tel Aviv Uni- versity over the years have greatly helped to clarify the central points of my reading and to elaborate its various nuances. A fellowship at the School of Historical Studies of the Princet on Insti- tute for Advanced Study has provided an ideal setting for the develop- ment and maturation of the ideas presented in the book. I have benefi ted from a generous grant from the Israel Science Foundation funding my research on Benjamin. The devoted assistance of Ori Rotlevy and Noa Merkin has been invaluable in the fi nal stages of writing and in the prepa- ration of the manuscript for publication. My thanks also go to Michael Haggett for overseeing the production pro cess. This book is dedicated with love to my parents Hagith and Saul. ix