class sign-up
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46: Walter Benjamin: The Arcades Project
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The description of the class is here. Date: Sundays: April 20, May 4, May 18, and June 1 from 5-7pm (4 meetings) Location: TELIC Arts Exchange Limit: 15 people Fee: $60. |
24 Comments
This seems like a winner, Lisa.
Depending on the courseload and the time commitment, I would be interested in teaching this course.
I live in the bay area but know Sean. Who knows, we might be able to work something out.
JMT
that sounds great, i am so glad. -L
I would also be really into working with anyone interested in the Messianic time course that is also being offered/suggested, and would suggest two books to copy/read in parallel:
Susan Buck-Morss, The Dialectics of Seeing, and Peter Wolin, WB- An Aesthetic of Redemption.
Something more Messianic would inevitably imply some more Gershom Scholem.
In short, I’m definitely on board…
Is this really the kind of book you read? Jim, how would you handle this kind of course because I can’t imagine sort of plowing through it from beginning to end. Also, seeing some of the other classes in planning, the cost to meet weekly might make the course prohibitively expensive (see the Ranciere reading group for an example)… one option would be an initial meeting or two, after which point the course is sort of self-organized in public space; another option would be to condense it (which would probably push things more to lecture than reading group). Perhaps the 2 can be combined.
Hi sean, I just saw your post from february, i was alerted by the email newsletter, so it’s good that there’s something in place to remind me about this.
I had a remarkable professor years ago who dealt with the entirety of Benjamin’s corpus over the course of two semesters, and we worked almost exclusively with the Buck-Morss text and the actual Arcades Project text, with selected texts to augment these core readings (adorno, the verso anthology of aesthetics/politics, scholem, etc). It was an inspired, and inspiring two terms and I don’t think that could be replicated here. Having said that, what about approaching a few key elements in the arcades project, considering their context as prismatic elements, with what influenced WB’s thinking about them and what makes them relevant to our thinking today? The structure of the Konvoluts can be really useful to a non-hierarchical approach, I think.
I agree with you that one doesn’t really sit down and make sense of the book from front to end. it wasn’t written that way, and it would be an exercise in frustration to try to interrogate the book that way. It’s much more productive to focus on selected themes, ideally decided upon by the class participants (e.g. Baudelaire, fashion, Iron, etc etc). Basically, I would propose picking a number of Benjamin’s Konvoluts, making sure that a few key points are touched upon, and then perhaps one or two chapters from the Buck-Morss. If you’re interested, I can put together a preliminary plan that could be further discussed.
I think that it might be also relevant to talk about why the book holds such sway now, i.e. the cult around benjamin and what baggage comes with this. This aspect of the course would very much imply non-hierarchical learning, i.e., I could teach the above content in some way, but would really love to have a discussion group that considered these last points a bit.
re: cost and meeting, etc, yes, perhaps a few up front meetings that combined lecture and reading group sensibilities.
how does this proceed from here?
JMT, I agree with you, it wasn’t meant to be read that way, am excited the hear your plan. What happens now? -L
I am interested in teaching the section on barricade fighting and Haussmannization from an urban planning perspective. The boulevardization of Paris is an excellent precedent for discussing how urban planning calibrates social activities.
This class is now in the planning stage, after deliberation at The Public School committee meeting 02. The person who offered to teach the class has been emailed to finalize details.
cmichlig: viecher is preparing some kind of lesson plan involving 3 meetings; perhaps one of the meetings can be extended so you could make this presentation? We will put the two of you in touch
Hi all, I’m having a few discussions with D.A.N. and can come back with something concrete in the next days. I’m tentatively planning on a 3 or at most 4 meeting schedule, to take place approximately every other week, beginning in mid-april and running through late may. Given my schedule, I’d like to hold the classes on either Sunday afternoons or Monday evenings (my preference is Sundays, but I’m open…)
I will speak again with DAN in the next days and will push this forward asap.
cmichlig, your interest in barricade fighting and haussmann would be a great addition to the material, and I’d welcome that. I believe DAN will place us in direct contact in the upcoming days.
all best,
JMT
This course is just about scheduled, but we are working out the final details. There are 2 options; We’ll take any responses into consideration for making this decision:
a) 4 bi-weekly sunday meetings (4/20, 5/4, 5/18, 6/1) from 5-7pm. fee $60
b) 2 sunday meetings (5/4 and 6/1) from 5-9pm. fee $35
Fees cover teacher fee, overhead, and administration. There is a redistribution of wealth program for those who can’t afford any classes at The Public School - see the FAQ for more information: http://thepublicschool.org/faq/
The following is a writeup of the course description and background for the teacher:
Readings into Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project
James M. Thomas
An oft-cited and frequently misunderstood text from one of the most enigmatic authors of the twentieth century, Walter Benjamin’s Passagenarbeit (Arcades Project) first emerged in provisional form in the mid-1920s. By the time of the author’s death in 1940, the Arcades Project was an unfinished opus, already the stuff of legend: a sprawling, fragmentary work of little-understood literary, historical, and philosophical importance. A cult around Benjamin has since been erected, and the Arcades Project has accordingly achieved a kind of mythic status as a canonical text of Modernity. This hagiography has furthered, but admittedly complicated, the writer’s subsequent influence in the fields of literary theory, cultural studies, art history, and philosophy (to name only a few).
What was the significance of the content of Arcades Project, and what is its relevance now? Through a series of four sessions structured loosely around the model of a seminar or group discussion, participants Readings into Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project will work through a selection of Benjamin’s chapters (Kovoluts) in an effort to better understand first, the content of the Arcades Project, and second, what was conceptually at stake for the author during the book’s development. Further, the reading group will serve as a platform for considering how Benjamin’s texts might still be relevant to us now. To this last point, and in light of Benjamin’s preoccupation with 19th century Paris, we will briefly examine our more immediate mythic past, that of mid-20th century Los Angeles and its lasting impact on the present.
The reading group will focus on concepts in Benjamin’s writings that have maintained an almost enigmatic or mythical potential for both controversy and openness. This is intended to give us a flexible way of approaching the texts, rather than attempting to arrive at a conclusive survey of Benjamin and the Arcades Project. The goals for the group will be to arrive at a better understanding of both the author and the text, but to also simultaneously create a space for further reading and discussion, one that avoids adding another label to the many that have already been applied to the author and the text. It should be noted that The Arcades Project is a huge work and we will focus on selected readings that convey the spirit of the work, and will not systematically read the book from front to end. As we shall see, it can be argued that the book was never intended to be read in this fashion.
Participants should be prepared to read a number of passages before the first meeting, so that we may begin our work immediately in the first session. Each meeting will last 2 hours, with the possibility of extending the sessions over coffee, soup, etc. in a more informal setting nearby. No prior knowledge of Benjamin, The Arcades Project, or related topics is necessary. A brief background will be provided at the first meeting, and depending on the interests of the group, readers will be asked to prepare and present short findings on readings or sections of particular interest. Interested students are strongly encouraged to purchase a copy of the closest thing we have to a completed text -but the possibility exists to make photocopies of the readings available:
Walter Benjamin, The Arcades Project (translated by Howard Eiland and Kevin McLaughlin), Cambridge and London: Belknap/Harvard Press, 1999.
About the instructor:
I’m a graduate student in the Art History Department at Stanford University focusing on the intersection of aesthetics and politics in contemporary visual culture. Prior to joining the department at Stanford, I earned an MA in German Literature and an MA Certificate at the University of Pittsburgh, where I focused on the relationship between Walter Benjamin, the history of the photographic essay, and mid-20th century American Labor photography, in particular the work of W. Eugene Smith. While some of this material is familiar to me, Benjamin is the kind of author that you read and re-read, and continually find new horizons. The spirit of the reading group, in my highest of hopes, would be conducted in such a way that even those who are familiar with Benjamin and the text would come away with new perspectives on highly challenging materials.
I vote for four classes. Ann
Will there be a reading list for the _Arcades Project_ prior to the start of the course?
I vote for 2.
-J
I vote for 4 classes, Lisa
I vote for 4 classes, if you want to know. -robt
Dear robtsum (and others), yes, a reading list is to be distributed in advance. I have two versions of the syllabus ready, and once the course is confirmed, I will circulate this among those in the reading group, depending on what the group decides (2 vs. 4 meetings). The only required text is the one mentioned, the 1999 translation of the AP. Beyond this, I would suggest Susan Buck-Morss, The Dialectics of Seeing, as this book is rather invaluable for approaching the materials.
i vote for 4 classes, taryn
The “Walter Benjamin: The Arcades Project” class has been scheduled:
Date: Sundays: April 20, May 4, May 18, and June 1 from 5-7pm (4 meetings)
Location: TELIC Arts Exchange
Teacher: James M. Thomas.
Limit: 15 people
Fee: $60.
You can register on the class webpage - the deadline is Monday, April 14 (revised). If you have any questions for the teacher, his email address is: jmt.readinggroup -at- gmail -dot- com
I am interested in the course, but the email to James did not go through. I am wondering what the structure of the course will be, what approach to the book will be taken and if coming to the first meeting if possible or do we have to confirm our participation beforehand? If the latter, I would like to have more information.
Thanks!
Sara
Unfortunately, at the moment, there aren’t enough people registered to cover the cost of the course (that would be 9 people). This means that we’ll probably have to cancel the course as it’s currently scheduled. We’ll leave the registration open until tomorrow evening and see if we get to 9 people, but in the meantime, we wanted to let you know the situation. Obviously, if you’ve paid and the course is canceled, your money will be refunded!
Sara, I’m not sure if you got in touch with James, but the most recent breakdown of the week-by-week schedule that we saw is this (although I think the details were still in development at the time):
Meeting 1: 4/20 Introduction, overview to materials, 1st set of readings:
Exposés of 1935 + 1939 (pp. 3-26), Konvoluts A, B, C (p. 31-100)
Meeting 2: 5/4 2nd readings: Konvoluts E, F, G (pp. 120 -202)
Presentation 1: tbd (Possibly: Haussmannization + Barricade fighting?)
Meeting 3: 5/18 3rd readings: Konvoluts J (partial, pp. 228-238), M , N (pp. 416-488)
Presentation 2: tbd (Possibly: Baudelaire?)
Meeting 4: 6/1 Fourth readings: tbd
Presentation 3: tbd
Postmortem Mythic LA
Ho much money is needed to have this course run — without the 9 needed? I’ll find a backer. contact me at robtsum@gmail.com
-robert
Hi all, I’ll add that the above syllabus is a very ambitious plan, perhaps more along the lines of a shortened semester.
(a) IF the course stays confirmed and we are able to reach the required # of participants, and
(b) IF you have the book already in hand, we’ll be looking at the Exposés pretty much exclusively, rather than digging into the Konvoluts for the first week.
This will slightly lessen the burden for all involved, but moreover, give us a chance to perhaps cater the content of the reading group a bit more to the desires of those taking the class.
Also, I’d add that this is a running offer, too, and that if we don’t reach a satisfactory enrollment this time around, I’m more than happy to work to find a later schedule or something that might be more convenient for the most people possible, provided that there’s still interest.
OK the course is on as scheduled! Since we’re probably in no real danger of exceeding the people limit, we’ll just leave the registration open until the class on Sunday.
There is a PDF of The Arcades Project that should be available by tomorrow morning - we’ll send it to everyone who’s registered, but if we miss you then let us know!