Re: Walter Benjamin - any takers?

[malgosia askanas <ma@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Should there be a separate Walter Benjamin list?

There used to be one.  It had a very small number (two or three) of very
passionate and frequently brilliant people writing on it (as far as I
remember, almost never in dialogue) and other than that, basically no
traffic.  This was in the early days of philosophy/theory lists.
If I remember correctly, this here list arose partly out of the
perception that the topic "Benjamin" did not have enough intellectual
breadth to sustain a list, and that "frankfurt-school" was a more
promising topic that would encompass Benjamin and more.  But I am
not sure that the "frankfurt-school" topic really encompasses Benjamin in the
way in which the contributors of the Benjamin list would have liked him
encompassed.  There seems to be a great difference in approach and interests
between the people who are active on this here list and the people who spoke
on the old Benjamin list.  I am not sure what the proper "broader"
Benjamin-embracing topic should have been, but "frankfurt-school" didn't
prove to be it.  Maybe we should organize an on-line seminar in Benjamin.


-m