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Melancholy Dialectics
Walter Benjamin and the Play of Mourning
A new interpretation of the work of one of the major critical thinkers of the twentieth century
"Pensky's study provides a compelling argument for locating melancholia
at the center of Benjamin's thought. Because of its provocative nature,
it promises to spark the interest of Benjamin critics, scholars, and students
in this otherwise neglected aspect of his work."
German Quarterly
"Pensky shows Benjamin's ideas of a new criticism of nature and culture
to be based on his schema of mourning and melancholy; as well Pensky explains
the concepts of subjectivity, allegory, and the dialectical image in Benjamin's
work. . . . A difficult subject, well handled."
Library Journal
"A comprehensive view of Benjamin's achievement, focusing on the central
ideas of mourning and melancholia, developed in Benjamin's early work, Origin
of German Tragic Drama (1928). Pensky sees the contradictions in Benjamin's
thought as part of the 'melancholy way of seeing. Between melancholy subject
and melancholy objects, this way of seeing subsists in the dialectical interval
between these two constituted moments.' All of Benjamin's modes, especially
allegory, and all of his literary/philosophical works are here viewed as
part of the melancholic dialectic. Pensky has clearly mastered all the available
material on Benjamin, as well as the relevant cultural criticism."
Choice
"A work of original insight, conceptual subtlety, and intellectual
excitement. This will become an important work within the burgeoning field
of Benjamin studies."
David Bathrick, Cornell University
Max Pensky is associate professor of philosophy at Binghamton University.
Philosophy / Intellectual
History
296 pp.
LC 92-42229
$40.00s cloth, ISBN 0-87023-853-1
$24.95s paper, ISBN 1-55849-296-8
2001
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A volume in the series Critical Perspectives on Modern Culture
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