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MAT103 - Walter Benjamin - Bio |
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Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) was a Jewish philosopher and intellectual who was forced to flee Nazi Germany or face detention, torture, and death. Fleeing to Catalonia (Spain) which was neutral during the war he was about to be caught and rather than being repatriated to Nazi Germany he committed suicide by overdosing on morphine at the age of 48. Walter Benjamin is notable in multimedia art and film studies for his essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. In this essay he defines the concepts of “Aura” as it applies to unique art compared to mass produced art. He also talks about the social and political aspects of photography and film and compares the theater actor to the film actor.
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Walter Benjamin - 1928 |
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Notable Works |
Subject |
Year |
The Origin of German Tragic Drama |
Postdoctoral dissertation on German Baroque drama |
1925 |
One Way Street |
A collage of of sixty short prose pieces: aphorisms, jokes, dream protocols, cityscapes, landscapes, and mindscapes |
1928 |
The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction |
Essay on the perceptual shift that occurs when technology is able to mass produce art. |
1935 |
Theses on the Philosophy of History |
Focuses on Jewish Mysticism and the Kaballah. |
1940 |
Arcades Project |
A book about Parisian city life in the 19th century. |
1927-1940 |
MAT103 - Walter Benjamin - Bio |
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