Cheers, I was quoting from memory, unsure of my facts, possibly
inadvertently bolstering myths, maybe it is I who want B's death
shrouded in mystery ... I shall have to read Illuminations, and their
letters.
Thanks
Roger
On 28/05/06, Edmund Hardy <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Roger,
>
> This is mixed up - not the "early 40s" because Benjamin committed suicide on
> sept 26, 1940 - the Institute for Social Research New York effectively
> supported his life in Paris, but the "blow" which Adorno did deal him was a
> letter in which A rejected Benjamin's Baudelaire study.
>
> I don't think "the whole deal is surrounded in mystery" - this is the
> mystification of Benjamin which keeps ocurring, the pale, ghostly figure of
> Benjamin, which itself serves several purposes. Arendt's excellent
> introduction to Illuminations lays out several reasons for Benjamin taking
> his own life very clearly.
>
> The Task of the translator essay is also to be found in Illuminations, as
> are the other benjamin essays most often mentioned - unpacking my library,
> the work of art in the age mechanical reproduction, theses on the philosophy
> of history, etc. An essential book.
>
> Edmund
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