Walter Benjaminâs âOutsidersâ: Against âOptical Illusionsâ of (National) Communities

Sophia Buck

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Walter Benjaminâs âOutsidersâ: Against âOptical Illusionsâ of (National) Communities

äºCommunity in Walter Benjaminâs Philosophy

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Sophia Buck

Sophia Buck
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Page Range:: 117â138

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.30965/9783846768082_007

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Abstract

This paper seeks to explore one of Benjaminâs alternative frameworks for reflecting or countering xenophobic figurations of community. When Benjamin observes (national) intelligentsias or literary scenes in the 1920s, he mentions remarkably often âoutsidersâ of communities, scenes, circles, groups, or collectives in the USSR, France, or the Weimar Republic.

A cluster of four texts from Benjaminâs journalistic output of the 1920s may illustrate outsiderdom as an underlying, yet not conceptually coherent pattern. In âImperial Panoramaâ (âKaiserpanoramaâ), he posits an outsider perspective as countering the isolated viewpoint or âoptical illusionsâ (optische TÃ¤uschungen) of essentialised national communities. Then, he familiarises his German readers with notable âOutsider[s] [sic]â (WuN 14.1, 151) in his survey report âNew Writings in Russiaâ (âNeue Dichtung in Russlandâ) (1927) that aims to question traditional practices of a literary history. For Benrubiâs survey, Contemporary Philosophical Currents in France (Philosophische StrÃ¶mungen der Gegenwart in Frankreich) (1928), he highlights the âdistinctive outsiders, of whom we learn with great interest in which [society/ company] they once marched out years agoâ (WuN 13.1, 157). Finally, he also comments on Siegfried Kracauerâs publications and the epistemic and methodological merit of his âconsistent outsider statusâ (konsequentes AuÃenseitertum) (SW 2.1, 306) in 1931. What characterises those outsider positions differs structurally from the mode of isolation or âoptical illusionâ but points towards the function of a (self-)reflection or a heightened reflexivity.

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Community in Walter Benjaminâs Philosophy

ä¸ç¼ï¼ New Benjamin Studies, å·ï¼ 1

ISBN:: 9783846768082

åºçç¤¾:: Brill | Fink

å°å·åºçæ¥æ:: 07 Mar 2025

Subjects
- Philosophy
  - Aesthetics & Cultural Theory

Front Matter

Part I Community in Walter Benjaminâs Philosophy

Part II Selected Book Reviews

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Walter Benjaminâs âOutsidersâ: Against âOptical Illusionsâ of (National) Communities

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Community in Walter Benjaminâs Philosophy

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Walter Benjaminâs âOutsidersâ: Against âOptical Illusionsâ of (National) Communities

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Community in Walter Benjaminâs Philosophy

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