"Angelus Novus"Painting by Paul Klee

TheoryofDistraction(1935)UnpublishedfragmentsrelatingtoBenjamin’sbestknownessay,TheWorkofArtintheAgeofMechanicalReproducibilityAttempttodeterminetheeffectoftheworkofartonceitspowerofconsecrationhasbeeneliminated.

Parasiticexistenceofartasbasedonthesacred.

Initsconcernwitheducationalvalue[Lehwert],“TheAuthorasProducer”disregardsconsumervalue[Konsumwert]

ItisinfilmthattheworkofartismostsusceptibletobecomingwornoutFashionisanindispensablefactorintheaccelerationoftheprocessofbecomingwornout.

Thevaluesofdistractionshouldbedefinedwithregardtofilm,justasthevaluesofcatharsisaredefinedwithregardtotragedy.

Distraction,likecatharsis,shouldbeconceivedasaphysiologicalphenomenon.

Distractionanddestructionasthesubjectiveandobjectivesides,respectively,ofoneandthesameprocess.

Therelationofdistractiontoabsorptionmustbeexamined.

Thesurvivalofartworksshouldberepresentedfromthestandpointoftheirstruggleforexistence.

Theirtruehumanityconsistsintheirunlimitedadaptability.

Thecriterionforjudgingthefruitfulnessoftheiristhecommunicabilityofthis.

Theeducationalvalueandtheconsumervalueofartmayconvergeincertaincases(asinBrecht),buttheydon’tgenerallycoincideTheGreekshadonlyoneformof(mechanical)reproduction:mintingcoins.

Theycouldnotreproducetheirartworks,sothesehadtobelasting.Hence:eternalart.

JustastheartoftheGreekswasgearedtowardtasting,sotheartofthepresentisgearedtowardbecomingwornout.

Thismayhappenintwodifferentways:throughconsignmentoftheart-worktofashionorthroughthework’srefunctioninginpolitics.

Reproducibility-distraction-politicization.

Educationalvalueandconsumervalueconverge,thusmakingpossibleanewkindlearning.

Artcomesintocontactwiththecommodity;thecommoditycomesintocontactwithart.

WalterBenjamin[10]

OntheConceptofHistory(1942)ThesesonthePhilosophyofHistory

IThestoryistoldofanautomatonconstructedinsuchawaythatitcouldplayawinninggameofchess,answeringeachmoveofanopponentwithacountermove.ApuppetinTurkishattireandwithahookahinitsmouthsatbeforeachessboardplacedonalargetable.Asystemofmirrorscreatedtheillusionthatthistablewastransparentfromallsides.Actually,alittlehunchbackwhowasanexpertchessplayersatinsideandguidedthepuppet’shandbymeansofstrings.Onecanimagineaphilosophicalcounterparttothisdevice.Thepuppetcalled’historicalmaterialism’istowinallthetime.Itcaneasilybeamatchforanyoneifitenliststheservicesoftheology,whichtoday,asweknow,iswizenedandhastokeepoutofsight.

I’Oneofthemostremarkablecharacteristicsofhumannature,’writesLotze,’is,alongsidesomuchselfishnessinspecificinstances,thefreedomfromenvywhichthepresentdisplaystowardthefuture.’Reflectionshowsusthatourimageofhappinessisthoroughlycoloredbythetimetowhichthecourseofourownexistencehasassignedus.Thekindofhappinessthatcouldarouseenvyinusexistsonlyintheairwehavebreathed,amongpeoplewecouldhavetalkedto,womenwhocouldhavegiventhemselvestous.Inotherwords,ourimageofhappinessisindissolublyboundupwiththeimageofredemption.Thesameappliestoourviewofthepast,whichistheconcernofhistory.Thepastcarrieswithitatemporalindexbywhichitisreferredtoredemption.Thereisasecretagreementbetweenpastgenerationsandthepresentone.Ourcomingwasexpectedonearth.Likeeverygenerationthatprecededus,wehavebeenendowedwithaweakMessianicpower,apowertowhichthepasthasaclaim.Thatclaimcannotbesettledcheaply.Historicalmaterialistsareawareofthat.

IIIAchroniclerwhoreciteseventswithoutdistinguishingbetweenmajorandminoronesactsinaccordancewiththefollowingtruth:nothingthathaseverhappenedshouldberegardedaslostforhistory.Tobesure,onlyaredeemedmankindreceivesthefullnessofitspast-whichistosay,onlyforaredeemedmankindhasitspastbecomecitableinallitsmoments.Eachmomentithaslivedbecomesacitational’ordredujour—andthatdayisJudgmentDay.

V“Seekforfoodandclothingfirst,thentheKingdomofGodshallbeaddeduntoyou.”(Hegel,1807)

Theclassstruggle,whichisalwayspresenttoahistorianinfluencedbyMarx,isafightforthecrudeandmaterialthingswithoutwhichnorefinedandspiritualthingscouldexist.Nevertheless,itisnotintheformofthespoilswhichfalltothevictorthatthelattermaketheirpresencefeltintheclassstruggle.Theymanifestthemselvesinthisstruggleascourage,humor,cunning,andfortitude.Theyhaveretroactiveforceandwillconstantlycallinquestioneveryvictory,pastandpresent,oftherulers.Asflowersturntowardthesun,bydintofasecretheliotropismthepaststrivestoturntowardthatsunwhichisrisingintheskyofhistory.Ahistoricalmaterialistmustbeawareofthismostinconspicuousofalltransformations.

VThetruepictureofthepastflitsby.Thepastcanbeseizedonlyasanimagewhichflashesupattheinstantwhenitcanberecognizedandisneverseenagain.’Thetruthwillnotrunawayfromus’:

WalterBenjamin[1]

was one that they could produce with great virtuosity – was above all the reaction of a person who feltthat someone had obliterated “the traces of his days on earth.” This has now been achieved byScheerbart, with his glass, and by the Bauhaus, with its steel. They have created rooms in which it ishard to leave traces. “It follows from the foregoing,” Scheerbart declared a good twenty years ago,“that we can surely talk about a ’culture of glass.’ The new glass-milieu will transform humanityutterly. And now it remains only to be wished that the new glass-culture will not encounter too manyenemies.”

Poverty of experience. This should not be understood to mean people are yearning for newexperience. No, they long to free themselves from experience; they long for a world in which theycan make such pure and decided use of their poverty – their outer poverty, and ultimately also theirinner poverty – that it will lead to something respectable. Nor are they ignorant or inexperienced.Often we could say the very opposite. They have “devoured” everything, both “culture and people,”and they have had such a surfeit that it has exhausted them. No one feels more caught out than theyby Scheerbart’s words: “You are all so tired, just because you have failed to concentrate yourthoughts on simple but ambitious plan.” Tiredness is followed by sleep, and then it is not uncommonfor a dream to make up for the sadness and discouragement of the day – a dream that shows us in itsrealised form the simple but magnificent existence for which the energy is lacking in reality. Theexistence of Mickey Mouse is such a dream for contemporary man. His life is full of miracles –miracles that not only surpass the wonders of technology, but make fun of them. For the mostextraordinary thing about them is that they all appear, quite without any machinery, to have beenimprovised out of the body of Mickey Mouse, out of his supporters and persecutors, and out of themost ordinary pieces of furniture, as well as from trees, clouds, and the sea. Nature and technology,primitiveness and comfort, have completely merged. And to people who have grown weary of theendless complications of everyday living and to whom the purpose of existence seems to have beenreduced to the most distant vanishing point of an endless horizon, it must come as a tremendous reliefto find a way of life in which everything is solved in the simplest and most comfortable way, in whicha car is no heavier than a straw hat and the fruit on the tree becomes round as quickly as a hot-airballoon. And now we need to step back and keep our distance.

We have become impoverished. We have given up one portion of the human heritage after another,and have often left it at the pawnbroker’s for a hundredth of its true value, in exchange for the smallchange of “the contemporary.” The economic crisis is at the door, and behind it is the shadow of theapproaching war. Holding on to things has become the monopoly of a few powerful people, who,God knows, are no more human than the many; for the most part, they are more barbaric, but not inthe good way. Everyone else has to adapt – beginning anew and with few resources. They rely on themen who have adopted the cause of the absolutely new and have founded it on insight andrenunciation. In its buildings, pictures, and stories, mankind is preparing to outlive culture, if need be.And the main thing is that is does so with a laugh. This laughter may occasionally sound barbaric.Well and good. Let us hope that from time to time the individual will give a little humanity to themasses, who one day will repay him with compound interest.

Walter Benjamin [9]

in the historical outlook of historicism these words of Gottfried Keller mark the exact point wherehistorical materialism cuts through historicism. For every image of the past that is not recognized bythe present as one of its own concerns threatens to disappear irretrievably. (The good tidings whichthe historian of the past brings with throbbing heart may be lost in a void the very moment he openshis mouth.)

I To articulate the past historically does not mean to recognize it ’the way it really was’ (Ranke). Itmeans to seize hold of a memory as it flashes up at a moment of danger. Historical materialismwishes to retain that image of the past which unexpectedly appears to man singled out by history at amoment of danger. The danger affects both the content of the tradition and its receivers. The samethreat hangs over both: that of becoming a tool of the ruling classes. In every era the attempt must bemade anew to wrest tradition away from a conformism that is about to overpower it. The Messiahcomes not only as the redeemer, he comes as the subduer of Antichrist. Only that historian will havethe gift of fanning the spark of hope in the past who is firmly convinced that even the dead will not besafe from the enemy if he wins. And this enemy has not ceased to be victorious.

VII “Consider the darkness and the great cold // In this vale which resounds with mystery.” (Brecht,The Threepenny Opera)

To historians who wish to relive an era, Fustel de Coulanges recommends that they blot outeverything they know about the later course of history. There is no better way of characterising themethod with which historical materialism has broken. It is a process of empathy whose origin is theindolence of the heart, acedia, which despairs of grasping and holding the genuine historical image asit flares up briefly. Among medieval theologians it was regarded as the root cause of sadness.Flaubert, who was familiar with it, wrote: ’Few will be able to guess how sad one had to be in orderto resuscitate Carthage.’ The nature of this sadness stands out more clearly if one asks with whom theadherents of historicism actually empathize. The answer is inevitable: with the victor. And all rulersare the heirs of those who conquered before them. Hence, empathy with the victor invariably benefitsthe rulers. Historical materialists know what that means. Whoever has emerged victoriousparticipates to this day in the triumphal procession in which the present rulers step over those who arelying prostrate. According to traditional practice, the spoils are carried along in the procession. Theyare called cultural treasures, and a historical materialist views them with cautious detachment. Forwithout exception the cultural treasures he surveys have an origin which he cannot contemplatewithout horror. They owe their existence not only to the efforts of the great minds and talents whohave created them, but also to the anonymous toil of their contemporaries. There is no document ofcivilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism. And just as such a document isnot free of barbarism, barbarism taints also the manner in which it was transmitted from one owner toanother. A historical materialist therefore dissociates himself from it as far as possible. He regards itas his task to brush history against the grain.

VIII The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the ’state of emergency’ in which we live is notthe exception but the rule. We must attain to a conception of history that is in keeping with thisinsight. Then we shall clearly realize that it is our task to bring about a real state of emergency, andthis will improve our position in the struggle against Fascism. One reason why Fascism has a chanceis that in the name of progress its opponents treat it as a historical norm. The current amazement that

Walter Benjamin [2]

illusionabouttheageandatthesametimeanunlimitedcommitmenttoit–thisisitshallmark.ItmakesnodifferencewhetherthepoetBertBrecht5declaresthatCommunismisthejustdistributionofpoverty,notofwealth,orwhetherAdolfLoos,theforerunnerofmodernarchitecture,states,“Iwriteonlyforpeoplewhopossessamodernsensibility...IdonotwriteforthepeopleconsumedbynostalgiafortheRenaissanceortheRococo.”AcomplexartistlikethepainterPaulKleeandaprogrammaticonelikeLoos–bothrejectthetraditional,solemn,nobleimageofman,festoonedwithallthesacrificialofferingsofthepast.Theyturninsteadtothenakedmanofthecontemporaryworldwholiesscreaminglikeanewbornbabeinthedirtydiapersofthepresent.NoonehashasgreetedthispresentwithgreaterjoyandhilaritythanPaulScheerbart.TherearenovelsbyhimthatfromadistancelooklikeworksbyJulesVerne.ButquiteunlikeVerne,whoalwayshasordinaryFrenchorEnglishgentlemenofleisuretravellingaroundthecosmosinthemostamazingvehicles,Scheerbartisinterestedininquiringhowourtelescopes,ourairplanes,ourrocketscantransformhumanbeingsastheyhavenbeenuptonowintocompletelynew,lovable,andinterestingcreatures.Moreover,thesecreaturestalkinacompletelynewlanguage.Andwhatiscrucialaboutthislanguageisitsarbitrary,constructednature,incontrasttoorganiclanguage.ThisisthedistinctivefeatureofthelanguageofScheerbart’shumanbeings,orrather“people”;forhumanlikeness–aprincipleofhumanism–issomethingtheyreject.Evenintheirpropernames:Peka,Labu,Sofanti,andthelikearethenamesofthecharactersinthebookLesabendio,titledafteritshero.TheRussians,too,liketogivetheirchildren“dehumanised”names:theycallthem“October”,afterthemonthoftheRevolution;“Pyatiletka,”aftertheFive-YearPlan;or“Aviakhim,”afteranairline.Notechnicalrenovationoflanguage,butitsmobilisationintheserviceofthestruggleorwork–atanyrate,ofchangingrealityinsteadofdescribingit.

ToreturntoScheerbart:heplacedthegreatestvalueonhousinghis“people”–and,followingthismodel,hisfellowcitizens–inbuildingsbefittingtheirstation,inadjustable,movableglass-covereddwellingsofthekindsincebuiltbyLoosandLeCorbusier.Itisnocoincidencethatglassissuchahard,smoothmaterialtowhichnothingcanbefixed.Acoldandsobermaterialintothebargain.Objectsmadeofglasshaveno“aura.”Glassis,ingeneral,theenemyofsecrets.Itisalsotheenemyofpossession.ThegreatwriterAndreGideoncesaid,“EverythingIwishtoownbecomesopaquetome.”DopeoplelikeScheerbartdreamofglassbuildingsbecausetheyarethespokesmenofanewpoverty?Butacomparisonwillperhapsrevealmorethantheory.Ifyouenterabourgeoisroomofthe1880s,forallthecozinessitradiates,thestrongestimpressionyoureceivemaywellbe,“You’vegotnobusinesshere.”Andinfactyouhavenobusinessinthatroom,forthereisnospotonwhichtheownerhasnolefthismark–theornamentsonthemantlepiece,theantimacassarsonthearmchairs,thetransparenciesinthewindows,thescreeninfrontofthefire.AneatphrasebyBrechthelpsusouthere:“Erasethetraces!”istherefraininthefirstpoemofhisLesebuchfurStadtbewohner[ReaderforCity-Dwellers].Hereinthebourgeoisroom,theoppositebehaviourbecamethenorm.Andconversely,theinteriorforcestheinhabitanttoadoptthegreatestpossiblenumberofhabits–habitsthatdomorejusticetotheinteriorheislivinginthantohimself.Thisisunderstoodbyeveryonewhoisfamiliarwiththeabsurdattitudeoftheinhabitantsofsuchplushapartmentswhensomethingbroke.Eventheirwayofshowingtheirannoyance–andthisaffect,whichisgraduallystartingtodieout,

5BertoltBrecht(1898-1956)wasaGermanplaywright,poet,influentialMarxist,theatretheorist,andpersonalfriendofBenjamin

WalterBenjamin[8]

thethingsweareexperiencingare’still’possibleinthetwentiethcenturyisnotphilosophical.Thisamazementisnotthebeginningofknowledge—unlessitistheknowledgethattheviewofhistorywhichgivesrisetoitisuntenable.

X“Mywingisreadyforflight,//Iwouldliketoturnback.IfIstayedtimelesstime,//Iwouldhavelittleluck.”(GerherdScholem,GrussvomAngelus)

AKleepaintingnamed’AngelusNovus’(shownoncover)showsanangellookingasthoughheisabouttomoveawayfromsomethingheisfixedlycontemplating.Hiseyesarestaring,hismouthisopen,hiswingsarespread.Thisishowonepicturestheangelofhistory.Hisfaceisturnedtowardthepast.Whereweperceiveachainofevents,heseesonesinglecatastrophewhichkeepspilingwreckageandhurlsitinfrontofhisfeet.Theangelwouldliketostay,awakenthedead,andmakewholewhathasbeensmashed.ButastormisblowinginfromParadise;ithasgotcaughtinhiswingswithsuchaviolencethattheangelcannolongerclosethem.Thestormirresistiblypropelshimintothefuturetowhichhisbackisturned,whilethepileofdebrisbeforehimgrowsskyward.Thisstormiswhatwecallprogress.

XThethemeswhichmonasticdisciplineassignedtofriarsformeditationweredesignedtoturnthemawayfromtheworldanditsaffairs.Thethoughtswhichwearedevelopinghereoriginatefromsimilarconsiderations.AtamomentwhenthepoliticiansinwhomtheopponentsofFascismhadplacedtheirhopesareprostrateandconfirmtheirdefeatbybetrayingtheirowncause,theseobservationsareintendedtodisintanglethepoliticalworldlingsfromthesnaresinwhichthetraitorshaveentrappedthem.Ourconsiderationproceedsfromtheinsightthatthepoliticians’stubbornfaithinprogress,theirconfidenceintheir’massbasis’,and,finally,theirservileintegrationinanuncontrollableapparatushavebeenthreeaspectsofthesamething.Itseekstoconveyanideaofthehighpriceouraccustomedthinkingwillhavetopayforaconceptionofhistorythatavoidsanycomplicitywiththethinkingtowhichthesepoliticianscontinuetoadhere.

XITheconformismwhichhasbeenpartandparcelofSocialDemocracyfromthebeginningattachesnotonlytoitspoliticaltacticsbuttoitseconomicviewsaswell.Itisonereasonforitslaterbreakdown.NothinghascorruptedtheGermanworking,classsomuchasthenotionthatitwasmoving,withthecurrent.Itregardedtechnologicaldevelopmentsasthefallofthestreamwithwhichitthoughtitwasmoving.Fromthereitwasbutasteptotheillusionthatthefactoryworkwhichwassupposedtotendtowardtechnologicalprogressconstitutedapoliticalachievement.TheoldProtestantethicsofworkwasresurrectedamongGermanworkersinsecularizedform.TheGothaProgram1alreadybearstracesofthisconfusion,defininglaboras’thesourceofallwealthandallculture.’Smellingarat,Marxcounteredthat’...themanwhopossessesnootherpropertythanhislaborpower’mustofnecessitybecome’theslaveofothermenwhohavemadethemselvestheowners...’However,theconfusionspread,andsoonthereafterJosefDietzgenproclaimed:’Thesaviorofmoderntimesiscalledwork.The...improvement...oflaborconstitutesthewealthwhichisnowabletoaccomplishwhatnoredeemerhaseverbeenabletodo.’Thisvulgar-Marxistconceptionofthe

1TheGothaCongressof1875’UnitedthetwoGermanSocialistparties,oneledbyFerdinandLassalle,theotherbyKarlMarxandWilhelmLiebknecht.Theprogram,draftedbyLiebknechtandLassalle,wasseverelyattackedbyMarxinLondon.Seehis’CritiqueoftheGothaProgram’

WalterBenjamin[3]

remarkable than it appears. Wasn’t it noticed at the time how many people returned from the front insilence? Not richer but poorer in communicable experience? And what poured out from the flood ofwar books ten years later was anything [...] remarkable about that. For never has experience beencontradicted more thoroughly: strategic experience has been contravened by positional warfare;economic experience, by the inflation; physical experience, by hunger; moral experiences, by theruling powers. A generation that had gone to school in horse-drawn streetcars now stood in the openair, amid a landscape in which nothing was the same except the clouds and, at its center, in a forcefield of destructive torrents and explosions, the tiny, fragile human body.

With this tremendous development of technology, a completely new poverty has descended onmankind. And the reverse side of this poverty is the oppressive wealth of ideas that has been spreadamong people, or rather has swamped them entirely – ideas that have come with the revival ofastrology and the wisdom of yoga, Christian Science and chiromancy, vegetarianism and gnosis,scholasticism and spiritualism. For this is not a genuine revival but a galvanisation. We need toremind ourselves of Ensor’s magnificent paintings, in which the streets of great cities are filled withghosts; philistines in carnival disguises roll endlessly down the streets, wearing distorted maskscovered in flour and cardboard crowns on their heads. These paintings are perhaps nothing so muchas the reflection of the ghastly and chaotic renaissance in which so many people have placed theirhopes. But here we can see quite clearly that our poverty of experience is just a part of that largerpoverty that has once again acquired a face – a face of the same sharpness and precision as that of abeggar in the Middle Ages. For what is the value of all our culture if it is divorced from experience?Where it all leads when that experience is simulated or obtained by underhanded means is somethingthat has become clear to us from the horrific mishmash of styles and ideologies produced during thelast century – too clear for us not to think it a matter of honesty to declare our bankruptcy. Indeed(let’s admit it), our poverty of experience is not merely poverty on the personal level, but poverty ofhuman experience in general. Hence, a new kind of barbarism.

Barbarism? Yes, indeed. We say this in order to introduce a new, positive concept of barbarism. Forwhat does poverty of experience do for the barbarian? It forces him to start from scratch; to make anew start; to make a little go a long way; to begin with a little and build up further, looking neitherleft nor right. Among the great creative spirits, there have always been the inexorable ones who beginby clearing a tabula rasa. They need a drawing table; they were constructors. Such a constructor wasDescartes, who required nothing more to launch his entire philosophy than the single certitude, “Ithink, therefore I am.” And he went on from there. Einstein, too, was such a constructor; he was notinterested in anything in the whole wide world of physics except a minute discrepancy betweenNewton’s equations and the observations of astronomy. And this same insistence on starting from thevery beginning also marks artists when they followed the example of mathematicians and built theworld from stereometric forms, like the Cubists, or modeled themselves on engineers, like Klee. Forjust like any good car, whose every part, even the bodywork, obeys the needs above all of the engine,Klee’s figure too seem to have been designed on the drawing board, and even in their generalexpression they obey the laws of their interior. Their interior, rather than their inwardness; and this iswhat makes them barbaric.

Here and there, the best minds have long since started to think in these terms. A total absence of

Walter Benjamin [7]

nature of labor bypasses the question of how its products might benefit the workers while still notbeing at, their disposal. It recognizes only the progress in the mastery of nature, not the retrogressionof society; it already displays the technocratic features later encountered in Fascism. Among these isa conception of nature which differs ominously from the one in the Socialist utopias before the 1848revolution. The new conception of labor amounts to the exploitation of nature, which with naivecomplacency is contrasted with the exploitation of the proletariat. Compared with this positivisticconception, Fourier’s fantasies, which have so often been ridiculed, prove to be surprisingly sound.According to Fourier, as a result of efficient cooperative labor, four moons would illuminate theearthly night, the ice would recede from the poles, sea water would no longer taste salty, and beasts ofprey would do man’s bidding. All this illustrates a kind of labor which, far from exploiting nature, iscapable of delivering her of the creations which lie dormant in her womb as potentials. Nature,which, as Dietzgen puts it, ’exists gratis,’ is a complement to the corrupted conception of labor.

XII “We need history, but not the way a spoiled loafer in the garden of knowledge needs it.”(Nietzsche, Of the Use and Abuse of History)

Not man or men but the struggling, oppressed class itself is the depository of historical knowledge. InMarx it appears as the last enslaved class, as the avenger that completes the task of liberation in thename of generations of the downtrodden. This conviction, which had a brief resurgence in theSpartacist group,2 has always been objectionable to Social Democrats. Within three decades theymanaged virtually to erase the name of Blanqui, though it had been the rallying sound that hadreverberated through the preceding century. Social Democracy thought fit to assign to the workingclass the role of the redeemer of future generations, in this way cutting the sinews of its greateststrength. This training made the working class forget both its hatred and its spirit of sacrifice, for bothare nourished by the image of enslaved ancestors rather than that of liberated grandchildren.

XIII “Every day our cause becomes clearer and people get smarter.” (Wilhelm Dietzgen, DieReligion der Sozialdemokratie)

Social Democratic theory, and even more its practice, have been formed by a conception of progresswhich did not adhere to reality but made dogmatic claims. Progress as pictured in the minds of SocialDemocrats was, first of all, the progress of mankind itself (and not just advances in men’s ability andknowledge). Secondly, it was something boundless, in keeping with the infinite perfectibility ofmankind. Thirdly, progress was regarded as irresistible, something that automatically pursued astraight or spiral course. Each of these predicates is controversial and open to criticism. However,when the chips are down, criticism must penetrate beyond these predicates and focus on somethingthat they have in common. The concept of the historical progress of mankind cannot be sunderedfrom the concept of its progression through a homogenous, empty time. A critique of the concept ofsuch a progression must be the basis of any criticism of the concept of progress itself.

XIV “Origin is the goal.” (Karl Kraus, Worte in Versen, Vol. 1)2Leftist group, founded by Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg at the beginning of World War I

in opposition to the pro-war policies of the German Socialist party, later absorbed by the Communistparty.

Walter Benjamin [4]

thehistoricallyunderstoodcontainstimeasapreciousbuttastelessseed.

XVIII’Inrelationtothehistoryoforganiclifeonearth,’writesamodembiologist,’thepaltryfiftymillenniaofhomosapiensconstitutesomethingliketwosecondsatthecloseofatwenty-four-hourday.Onthisscale,thehistoryofcivilizedmankindwouldfillone-fifthofthelastsecondofthelasthour.’Thepresent,which,asamodelofMessianictime,comprisestheentirehistoryofmankindinanenormousabridgment,coincidesexactlywiththestaturewhichthehistoryofmankindhasintheuniverse.

AHistoricismcontentsitselfwithestablishingacausalconnectionbetweenvariousmomentsinhistory.Butnofactthatisacauseisforthatveryreasonhistorical.Itbecamehistoricalposthumously,asitwere,thougheventsthatmaybeseparatedfromitbythousandsofyears.Ahistorianwhotakesthisashispointofdeparturestopstellingthesequenceofeventslikethebeadsofarosary.Instead,hegraspstheconstellationwhichhisownerahasformedwithadefiniteearlierone.Thusheestablishesaconceptionofthepresentasthe’timeofthenow’whichisshotthroughwithchipsofMessianictime.

BThesoothsayerswhofoundoutfromtimewhatithadinstorecertainlydidnotexperiencetimeaseitherhomogeneousorempty.Anyonewhokeepsthisinmindwillperhapsgetanideaofhowpasttimeswereexperiencedinremembrance–namely,injustthesameway.WeknowthattheJewswereprohibitedfrominvestigatingthefuture.TheTorahandtheprayersinstructtheminremembrance,however.Thisstrippedthefutureofitsmagic,towhichallthosesuccumbwhoturntothesoothsayersforenlightenment.Thisdoesnotimply,however,thatfortheJewsthefutureturnedintohomogeneous,emptytime.ForeverysecondoftimewasthestraitgatethroughwhichMessiahmightenter.

ExperienceandPoverty(1933)Ourchildhoodanthologiesusedtocontainthefableoftheoldmanwhoonhisdeathbed,fooledhissonsintobelievingthattherewastreasureburiedinthevineyard.Theywouldonlyhavetodig.Theydug,butfoundnotreasure.Whenautumncame,however,thevineyardborefruitlikenootherinthewholeland.Theythenperceivedthattheirfatherhadpassedonvaluablepieceofexperience:theblessingliesinhardworkandnotingold.Suchlessonsinexperiencewerepassedontous,eitherasthreatsoraskindlypiecesofadvice,allthewhileweweregrowingup:“Stillwetbehindtheears,andhewantstotelluswhat’swhat!”“You’llfindoutsoonenough!”Moreover,everyoneknewpreciselywhatexperiencewas:olderpeoplehadalwayspasseditonetoyoungerones.Itwashandeddowninshortformtosonsandgrandsons,withtheauthorityofage,inproverbswithanoftenlong-windedeloquence,astales;sometimesasstoriesfromforeignlands,atthefireside.–Wherehasitallgone?Whostillmeetspeoplewhoreallyknowhowtotellastory?Wheredoyoustillhearwordsfromthedyingthatlast,andthatpassfromonegenerationtothenextlikeapreciousring?Whocanstillcallonaproverbwhenheneedsone?Andwhowillevenattempttodealwithyoungpeoplebygivingthemthebenefitoftheirexperience?

No,thismuchisclear:experiencehasfalleninvalue,amidagenerationwhichfrom1914to1918hadtoexperiencesomeofthemostmonstrouseventsinthehistoryoftheworld.Perhapsthisisless

WalterBenjamin[6]

Historyisthesubjectofastructurewhosesiteisnothomogenous,emptytime,buttimefilledbythepresenceofthenow.[Jetztzeit].Thus,toRobespierreancientRomewasapastchargedwiththetimeofthenowwhichheblastedoutofthecontinuumofhistory.TheFrenchRevolutionvieweditselfasRomeincarnate.ItevokedancientRomethewayfashionevokescostumesofthepast.Fashionhasaflairforthetopical,nomatterwhereitstirsinthethicketsoflongago;itisatiger’sleapintothepast.Thisjump,however,takesplaceinanarenawheretherulingclassgivethecommands.Thesameleapintheopenairofhistoryisthedialecticalone,whichishowMarxunderstoodtherevolution.

XVTheawarenessthattheyareabouttomakethecontinuumofhistoryexplodeischaracteristicoftherevolutionaryclassesatthemomentoftheiraction.Thegreatrevolutionintroducedanewcalendar.Theinitialdayofacalendarservesasahistoricaltime-lapsecamera.And,basically,itisthesamedaythatkeepsrecurringintheguiseofholidays,whicharedaysofremembrance.Thusthecalendarsdonomeasuretimeasclocksdo;theyaremonumentsofahistoricalconsciousnessofwhichnottheslightesttracehasbeenapparentinEuropeinthepasthundredyears.IntheJulyrevolutionanincidentoccurredwhichshowedthisconsciousnessstillalive.OnthefirsteveningoffightingitturnedoutthattheclocksintowerswerebeingfiredonsimultaneouslyandindependentlyfromseveralplacesinParis.Aneye-witness,whomayhaveowedhisinsighttotherhyme,wroteasfollows:

Whowouldhavebelievedit!WearetoldthatnewJoshuasatthefootofeverytower,asthoughirritatedwithtimeitself,firedatthedialsinordertostoptheday.3

XVIAhistoricalmaterialistcannotdowithoutthenotionofapresentwhichisnotatransition,butinwhichtimestandsstillandhascometoastop.Forthisnotiondefinesthepresentinwhichhehimselfiswritinghistory.Historicismgivesthe’eternal’imageofthepast;historicalmaterialismsuppliesauniqueexperiencewiththepast.Thehistoricalmaterialistleavesittootherstobedrainedbythewhorecalled’Onceuponatime’inhistoricism’sbordello.Heremainsincontrolofhispowers,manenoughtoblastopenthecontinuumofhistory.

XVIIHistoricismrightlyculminatesinuniversalhistory.Materialistichistoriographydiffersfromitastomethodmoreclearlythanfromanyotherkind.Universalhistoryhasnotheoreticalarmature.Itsmethodisadditive;itmustersamassofdatatofillthehomogoneous,emptytime.Materialistichistoriography,ontheotherhand,isbasedonaconstructiveprinciple.Thinkinginvolvesnotonlytheflowofthoughts,buttheirarrestaswell.Wherethinkingsuddenlystopsinaconfigurationpregnantwithtensions,itgivesthatconfigurationashock,bywhichitcristallizesintoamonad.Ahistoricalmaterialistapproachesahistoricalsubjectonlywhereheencountesitasamonad.InthisstructureherecognizesthesignofaMessianiccessationofhappening,or,putdifferently,arevolutionarychanceinthefightfortheoppressedpast.Hetakescognizanceofitinordertoblastaspecificeraoutofthehomogenouscourseofhistory—blastingaspecificlifeoutoftheeraoraspecificworkoutofthelifework.Asaresultofthismethodthelifeworkispreservedinthisworkandatthesametimecanceled4;inthelifework,theera;andintheera,theentirecourseofhistory.Thenourishingfruitof

3Quilecroirait!ondit,//qu’irritescontrel’heure//DenouveauxJosues//aupieddechaquetour,//Tiraientsurlescadrans//pourarreterlejour.

4TheHegeliantermaufhebeninitsthreefoldmeaning:topreserve,toelevate,tocancel.

WalterBenjamin[5]