Siegfried Kracauer, or, The Allegories of Improvisation

This book analyses multiple facets of Kracauer's work, comprehending the essayistic, narrative, philosophical, theoretical and critical writings, and putting special emphasis on some aspects: the phenomenology of metropolis, the theory of historiographic method, the reflections on the crisis of the subject and the emergence of a new subjectivity, the new forms of perception and aesthetic behaviour in late capitalism, the function of critic-intellectuals, the sociology of the middle classes, the theory of fascism, the aesthetical and sociological reflections on literary genres, the politicization of melancholy. An original feature of this book is the attention it pays to the links between Kracauer's theoretical and critical writings and the traditions of heterodox Marxism, against a habitual tendency to obliterate the political (and emancipatory) dimension in the German author.

Provides a novel reading of various aspects of Kracauer's work Includes a discussion of central and insufficiently studied aspects of his work, such as the sociology of intellectuals, theoretical reflections on fascism or urban vignettes Places the author's ideas in relation to their historical context and show their relevance as an instrument to analyze contemporary capitalism

Autorentext

Miguel Vedda is Full Professor of the chair of German Literature at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Principal Researcher of the Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET).

Klappentext

This book analyses multiple facets of Kracauer s work, comprehending the essayistic, narrative, philosophical, theoretical and critical writings, and putting special emphasis on some aspects: the phenomenology of metropolis, the theory of historiographic method, the reflections on the crisis of the subject and the emergence of a new subjectivity, the new forms of perception and aesthetic behaviour in late capitalism, the function of critic-intellectuals, the sociology of the middle classes, the theory of fascism, the aesthetical and sociological reflections on literary genres, the politicization of melancholy. An original feature of this book is the attention it pays to the links between Kracauer s theoretical and critical writings and the traditions of heterodox Marxism, against a habitual tendency to obliterate the political (and emancipatory) dimension in the German author.

Inhalt

1. Introduction: On Kracauer's Essays and the Contemporary Significance of Dialectics.- 2. A Philosophy of Rootlesness: The Youn Kracauer as a Critic of George Simmel.- 3. The Novel of a Melancholy Outcast: On Ginster.- 4. Allegories of Improvisation: Streets in Berlin and Elsewhere.- 5. Fascism as a Farce of Farce: Totalitarian Progaganda.- 6. The Tradition of the Lost Causes: History, The Last Things Before the Last.- 7. "The Great Rift of the World": Siefried Kracauer, Walter Benjamin and the Discussions about the Character and Function of Critic-Intellectuals.- 8. Siegfried Kracauer, Walter Benjamin and the Aesthetics of the Fairy Tale.- 9. Anatomies of Melancholy: Acedia and Alienation in Walter Benjamin and Siegfried Kracauer.- 10. Decline and Fall of the Short Novel? Vicissitudes of a Genre in the Modern German Narrative.- 11. The Historian in the Anteroom: Configurations of the Intellectual in the Late Discussions Between Siegfried Kracauer and Theodor W. Adorno.