Archive of a Defeated Generation: Walter Benjamin and the Origins of Critical Theory
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Seminar-Workshop with
𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐫 | 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐳𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐚 𝐀𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐫 | 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐲𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐥 | 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐡 | 𝐒𝐚𝐦 𝐃𝐨𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫 | 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐬 | 𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐥 | 𝐌𝐢𝐦𝐢 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 | 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫
Organized by the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy (𝐂𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐏), 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐬 and 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐛
To register, please send an email to [email protected] with “Walter Benjamin Workshop” in the subject line.
Walter Benjamin understood, well in advance, that “the only image our generation will leave is that of a defeated generation [as] its legacy to those who come.” Philosophy and the humanities have still not fully reckoned with the methodological consequences of this sentence.
The postwar image of the prewar period was formed, necessarily, from what survived: surviving archives, collections, and authorities still able to edit, classify, and remember. Benjamin’s works were first assembled by friends, certainly, but also by figures external to many of the most intimate constellations of his life.
This seminar-workshop asks, ‘what changes when Benjamin’s thought is approached not from the retrospective authority of survival, but from the defeated and dispersed generative world out of which it emerged?’. The question is not whether interpretation may move beyond the archive, but how the archive itself demands a more rigorous account of its own absences.
Against archival positivism, this seminar-workshop proposes a speculative philology: a disciplined reconstruction of vanished relations; from the German Youth Movement to Berlin Expressionist culture, and from the wider philosophical, sociological, and political milieu of figures such as Alfred Seidel, Sasha Stone, Andrei Platonov, or Carl Linfert.
Detailed Program coming soon! Please see our website for updates: www.diffrakt.space
𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐫 | 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐳𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐚 𝐀𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐫 | 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐚𝐲𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐥 | 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐡 | 𝐒𝐚𝐦 𝐃𝐨𝐥𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫 | 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐬 | 𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐢𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐥 | 𝐌𝐢𝐦𝐢 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 | 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫
Organized by the Centre for Research in Modern European Philosophy (𝐂𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐏), 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐬 and 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐛
To register, please send an email to [email protected] with “Walter Benjamin Workshop” in the subject line.
Walter Benjamin understood, well in advance, that “the only image our generation will leave is that of a defeated generation [as] its legacy to those who come.” Philosophy and the humanities have still not fully reckoned with the methodological consequences of this sentence.
The postwar image of the prewar period was formed, necessarily, from what survived: surviving archives, collections, and authorities still able to edit, classify, and remember. Benjamin’s works were first assembled by friends, certainly, but also by figures external to many of the most intimate constellations of his life.
This seminar-workshop asks, ‘what changes when Benjamin’s thought is approached not from the retrospective authority of survival, but from the defeated and dispersed generative world out of which it emerged?’. The question is not whether interpretation may move beyond the archive, but how the archive itself demands a more rigorous account of its own absences.
Against archival positivism, this seminar-workshop proposes a speculative philology: a disciplined reconstruction of vanished relations; from the German Youth Movement to Berlin Expressionist culture, and from the wider philosophical, sociological, and political milieu of figures such as Alfred Seidel, Sasha Stone, Andrei Platonov, or Carl Linfert.
Detailed Program coming soon! Please see our website for updates: www.diffrakt.space
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Where is it happening?
Crellestr. 22, 10827 Berlin, Germany, Crellestraße 22, 10827 Berlin, Deutschland, Berlin, Germany
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
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Host or Publisherdiffrakt : zentrum für theoretische peripherie
