Benjamin Walter

(1892-1940) German cultural theorist associated with the FRANKFURT SCHOOL OF CRITICAL THEORY. Benjamins materialist dialectics were rooted in both Jewish mysticism and historical materialism. History as progress had to be blown apart, and cultural commodities could be rescued or transformed into ‘dialectical images’ which illuminated the revolutionary possibilities of the present (see Illuminations , 1955, and One Way Street, 1974). His work is regarded as particularly important today for its contribution to neo-Marxist theories of AESTHETICS and ‘mass culture’. Part of his work constituted a theoretical analysis of the writing of the socialist playwright Berthold Brecht. Brecht's influence changed the direction of Benjamins thoughts from critical negation to revolutionary affirmation of a collective revolutionary subject (see Understanding Brecht, 1973). At odds with ADORNO, who was pessimistic about the critical potential of ‘mass art’, Benjamin remained hopeful that a progressive potential would be found. Whereas Adorno retained, and even extended, an attachment to the classical ‘modernist’ (and bourgeois) distinction between high culture and other mass cultural forms, Benjamin questioned this distinction. In doing so he embraced many orientations which later became characteristic of POSTMODERNISM.

Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2000

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References in periodicals archive

In addition to this cursory recasting of the biblical Isaac in the form of the trope teacher, Potok also literally inverts the fate of the contemporary personality upon which the figure of Benjamin Walter is based: the German-Jewish philosopher Walter Benjamin (1892-1940), who took his own life in order not to be apprehended by the Nazis.1 Just as all of the Jews killed in the Holocaust may be seen, through the fictional Benjamin's eyes, as stand-ins for Isaac (Zapiski), so may the fictional Benjamin Walter be seen as a reenvisioned avatar of the real-life Walter Benjamin.

The logic of biblical subversion in Chaim Potok's "The Trope Teacher"

Angela and husband Richard, 31, welcomed Benjamin Walter Clark into their family on November 1 after a painstakingly long labour.

The birth of Benjamin Walter Clark

Revane, Benjamin Walter Richards, Elena Marlene Rivera, Kailee Dawn Rubin, Thomas Tyler Shepherd, Matthew Stephen Shields, Nicole A.

BROMFIELD SCHOOL GRADUATION

"Most patients typically are concerned that they have Parkinson's disease," says Benjamin Walter, MD, a physician with Cleveland Clinic's Center for Neurological Restoration.

Don't let essential tremor trouble you: this common disorder can raise fears of Parkinson's disease, but the right treatment can help you regain control

"I have no patience with plots and narratives," he informs Benjamin Walter, the academician who is deeply taken with Davita in the final of the three novellas.

Chaim Potok's final fiction

It was ironic, said solicitor Elen Parry, that as part of their work, barman Benjamin Walters and amusement arcade supervisor Lewis Walters were often expected to defuse potentially violent situations.

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