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Reflects on Benjamin’s specifically “philosophical” politics through the lens of his work on Kafka - the first study to do this
Criticizes aspects of Benjamin's messianism that envision redemption as the complete overcoming of distortion
Shows that, for Benjamin’s Kafkan outlook, the philosophic task includes recalling all are part of the “world theatre”
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Table of contents (12 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Inhumanly Wise Shame
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Front Matter
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Anxiety and Attentiveness
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
About this book
This book provides a critical assessment of Benjamin’s writings on Franz Kafka and of Benjamin’s related writings. Eliciting from Benjamin’s writings a conception of philosophy that is political in its dissociation from – its becoming renegade in relation to, its philosophic shame about – established laws, norms, and forms, the book compares Benjamin’s writings with relevant works by Agamben, Heidegger, Levinas, and others. In relating Benjamin’s writings on Kafka to Benjamin’s writings on politics, the study delineates a philosophic impetus in literature and argues that this impetus has potential political consequences. Finally, the book is critical of Benjamin’s messianism insofar as it is oriented by the anticipated elimination of exceptions and distractions. Exceptions and distractions are, the book argues, precisely what literature, like other arts, brings to the fore. Hence the philosophic, and the political, importance of literature.
Reviews
“Kafka is certainly Walter Benjamin’s greatest muse but the connection between these thinkers is not always clear. Brendan Moran has written this terrific book to help elucidate both the connection between these writers and to think more about each author in turn. Via their connection, Moran expresses the sharp pointed edge of Benjamin’s politics, a politics that is both renegade and actionable. The Politics of Benjamin’s Kafka is therefore a critical text for thinking about how philosophy might yet change the world.” (James Martel, Chair of the Department of Political Science, San Francisco State University, USA)
“Brendan Moran's study presents a comprehensive investigation of Walter Benjamin’s ‘Kafkan’ politics, envisioned as a political philosophy of non-closure partly influenced by, but ultimately critical and subversive of, mythic structures as authoritarian modes of thinking. Meticulously researched, this volume contextualizes Benjamin’s readings of Kafka in a broad spectrum of intellectual traditions. Moran's study will resonate with anyone interested in intersections between political philosophy, literary criticism, and cultural studies.” (Rolf J. Goebel, Distinguished Professor of German, University of Alabama in Huntsville, USA)
“Brendan Moran’s book is perhaps the most valuable study of Walter Benjamin’s politics yet to have appeared. Combining an intimate knowledge of his texts with a a critical awareness of contemporary philosophical debate, it shows how Benjamin’s reading of Kafka opens up the only politics worth the name: a politics of shame.” (Irving Wohlfarth, former Director of the Comparative Literature Program at the University of Oregon, USA)
Authors and Affiliations
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University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
Brendan Moran
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Politics of Benjamin’s Kafka: Philosophy as Renegade
Authors: Brendan Moran
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72011-1
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-72010-4Published: 14 June 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-10145-9Published: 04 January 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-72011-1Published: 05 June 2018
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIX, 350
Topics: Aesthetics, Political Philosophy, Twentieth-Century Literature