Walter Benjamin: experience, critique and history

It is from the 1960’s on that Walter Benjamin’s work reaches an ever growing reception in the scope of Critical Theory, Art and Literary Criticism, as well as in the field of Media Studies, Theory of History and of Experience, Philosophy of Language, among others. Recently, this reception, albeit complex and extensive, seems to be undergoing a process of renewal in the global north through interpretations from diverse thinkers, such as Giorgio Agamben and Judith Butler, as well as a process of consolidation in the global south, where Benjamin’s critical theory resonates ever more as a model for the historical investigation of post-dictatorial societes. At the same time, the recent publication of the critical edition of his work by Suhrkamp indicates a new level of treatment on texts that had always been scattered through reviews, critics, fragments e some few books.

To celebrate the memory of Walter Benjamin, since September 2020 marks the 80th year of his death, Dissonância dedicates a special dossier to his thinking. The proposal aims to contribute to the research on Benjamin’s critical theory and its relevance for facing contemporaries and historical problems. We seek to open a space for debate through inquiries on the repercussions of his critical view on the 20th century philosophy, for instance, on the relation between literature and society, progress and history, politics, tecnology and art.

The dossier Walter Benjamin: experience, criticism, and history invites the submission of unpublished papers, reviews, and translations that explore the different aspects of Benjamin’s critical theory, shed light on unstudied issues or update the most well-known ones. In view of the diverse fields of knowledge interwoven in Benjamin’s writings, we encourage contributions based on both interdisciplinary and philological characters, arising from the most different areas of human sciences and philosophy.

Call for papers to the dossier Walter Benjamin: experience, criticism, and history (v. 4, n. 2).

Editors responsible for the dossier: Fernanda Ramos, João Rampim e Taísa Palhares (invited editor).

Deadline: July 31, 2020

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