Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) was the quintessential European intellectual between the two world wars. Historian, philosopher, literary critic, student of language and culture, and journalist, the independent scholar was forever trying to define himself and his time as products of a tradition in crisis.
In a very real sense, Benjamin's life and work were one-a chronicle of the modern European intellectual and mirror of an era. Bernd Witte's interpretive biography introduces Benjamin through critical thought and through topics and authors that ignited Benjamin's work. For the first...
Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) was the quintessential European intellectual between the two world wars. Historian, philosopher, literary critic, stude...
No other 20th-century writer of German-language literature has been as fully accepted into the canon of world literature as Franz Kafka. The unsettlingly, enigmatically surreal world of Kafka's novels and stories continues to fascinate readers and critics of each new generation, who in turn continue to find new readings. One thing has become clear: although all theories attempt to appropriate Kafka, there is no one key to his work. The challenge to critics has been to present a strong point of view while taking account of previous Kafka research, a challenge that has been met by the...
No other 20th-century writer of German-language literature has been as fully accepted into the canon of world literature as Franz Kafka. The unsettlin...
Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969) was one of the twentieth century's most important thinkers. In light of two pivotal developments--the rise of fascism, which culminated in the Holocaust, and the standardization of popular culture as a commodity indispensable to contemporary capitalism--Adorno sought to evaluate and synthesize the essential insights of Western philosophy by revisiting the ethical and sociological arguments of his predecessors: Kant, Nietzsche, Hegel, and Marx. This book, first published in Germany in 1996, provides a succinct introduction to Adorno's challenging and far-reaching...
Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969) was one of the twentieth century's most important thinkers. In light of two pivotal developments--the rise of fascism, w...