The Politics of Imagination: Benjamin, Kracauer, Kluge

Tara Forrest

Open Access Published by transcript Verlag 2007

The Politics of Imagination

Benjamin, Kracauer, Kluge

Tara Forrest

In the series Kultur- und Medientheorie

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839406816

Overview
Contents

About this book

This book explores Walter Benjamin, Siegfried Kracauer and Alexander Kluge's analyses of the role that a rejuvenation in the capacity for imagination can play in encouraging us to reconceive the possibilities of the past, the present, and the future outside of the parameters of the status quo. The concept of imagination to which the title of the book refers is not a strictly defined, stable concept, but rather a term which is employed to refer to a capacity that facilitates both an active, creative relationship to one's environment, and a process of mediation between the outside world and one's own experiences and memories.
Through a detailed analysis of their engagements with subjects that span a broad range of historical and thematic contexts (including topics as diverse as literature, children's play, film, photography, history, and television) the book charts the extent to which the concept of imagination plays a central role in Benjamin, Kracauer, and Kluge's explorations of a mode of perception and experience which could serve as a catalyst for the creation and sustenance of a desire for a different kind of future.

Author / Editor information

Tara Forrest lectures in Screen Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney. She is the author of »The Politics of Imagination: Benjamin, Kracauer, Kluge« (also published by transcript).

Reviews

Reviewed in:

cultural studies review, 14/2, 9 (2008), Lisa McDonald
fsk Hamburg, 09.08.2009, Olaf Berg

Topics

Frontmatter Open Access Download PDF	1
Contents Open Access Download PDF	5
Introduction Open Access Download PDF	9
Part 1: Walter Benjamin
Chapter 1: Benjamin, Proust and the Rejuvenating Powers of Memory Open Access Download PDF	21
Chapter 2: The Politics of Aura and Imagination in Benjamin’s Writings on Hashish Open Access Download PDF	43
Chapter 3: “Reproducibility – Distraction – Politicization” Open Access Download PDF	65
Part 2: Siegfried Kracauer
Chapter 4: “Film as the Discoverer of the Marvels of Everyday Life”: Kracauer and the Promise of Realist Cinema Open Access Download PDF	89
Chapter 5: On the Task of a Realist Historiography in Kracauer’s History: The Last Things Before the Last Open Access Download PDF	107
Part 3: Alexander Kluge
Chapter 6: From History’s Rubble: Kluge on Film, History, and Politics Open Access Download PDF	127
Chapter 7: Raw Materials for the Imagination: Kluge’s Work for Television Open Access Download PDF	149
Conclusion Open Access Download PDF	169
Bibliography Open Access Download PDF	175
Other Works Cited Open Access Download PDF	191
Acknowledgements Open Access Download PDF	193

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: transcript Verlag
Edition: 1. Aufl.
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 198
Keywords: Media; Culture; Literature; Imagination; Walter Benjamin; Siegfried Kracauer; Alexander Kluge; Aesthetics; Film; Media Theory; Media Philosophy; Cultural Theory; Media Studies

eBook

Published: September 27, 2015
ISBN: 9783839406816