Download or read book Reading Walter Benjamin written by Richard J. Lane and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2005-07-22 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the persistence of absolute in Benjamin's work by sketching out the relationship between philosphy and theology apparent in his diverse writings, from the early youth movement essays to the later books, essays and fragments. Lane examines Benjamin from two main perspectives: a history-of-ideas approach situating Benjamin in relation to the new German-Jewish thinking at the turn of the twentieth-century, as well as the German youth movements, Surrealism and the "Georgekreis"; and a conceptual approach examining more critical issues in relation to Benjamin and Kant, modern aesthetics and narrative order.