The interruption of myth

Walter Benjamin's concept of critique

Thijs Lijster

pp. 156-174

in: Karinde Boer, Karin de Boer, Ruth Sonderegger (eds), Conceptions of critique in modern and contemporary philosophy, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2012

Abstract

In a letter to his friend Gershom Scholem, Walter Benjamin once expr essed his wish to be considered the "foremost critic of German literature".¹ According to some, he has indeed satisfied this ambition, albeit posthumously. However, there has been much discussion about whether Benjamin should be classified as a philosopher, and not rather as a literary critic or an historian.² Until this day his work is read rather in the circles of literary, media and cultural studies than in philosophy departments.

Cited authors

Benjamin Walter