21
Rebecca Comay (Benjamin, 'Conversations with Brecht') There is a well-known story [Bekanntlich soli es gegeben haben] of an automaton constructed in such a way that it could play a winning game of chess, answering each move of an opponent with a countermove [Gegenzug]. A puppet in Turkish attire and with a hookah in its mouth sat before a chessboard placed on a large table. A system of mirrors created the illusion that this table was transparent from all sides. Actually a hunchback dwarf who was a master chessplayer sat inside, and guided the puppet's hand by means of strings. One can imagine a philosophical counterpart [Gegenstiick] to this apparatus [Apparatur]. The puppet called 'historical materialism' is supposed to win all the time. It can easily be a match for anyone if it enlists the services of theology, which today, as is well-known [bekanntlich], is small and ugly and has to keep out of sight. ('Theses on the Philosophy of History', 1 First Thesis) The first thing to be noted about Benjamin's first thesis on history is its radical uninterpretability. I am referring to the frequently remarked tension if not contradiction between the actual 'apparatus' or image (the hunchback chess 'master' (Meister) covertly pulling the strings of a passive puppet) and its purported 'philosophical counter- part' , interpretation or meaning (historical materialism actively July 12, 1934. Yesterday, after a game of chess, Brecht said: 'If Korsch comes we shall have to work out a new game with him. A game in which the positions do not always remain the same; where the function of the pieces changes if they have stood for a while on the same square: then they become either more effective or weaker. Like this, the game does not develop; it stays the same too long.' 10 Benjamin's Endgame (N 7,5) The impossibility in question is not explicable in terms of the historian's failure. In other words the point being made does not concern the ability or inability of the historian to complete a specific task. Furthermore various historians and philosophers will always claim to have achieved the 'gaze' that Benjamin is describing here as impossible. The reason for the impossibility has to do in part with the ontology of the 'historical object' and in part with the way memory works both to inform and construct the present. 22 The substantive methodological point here is that presentation of works - even if they were accompanied by written text - which oriented themselves around the juxtaposition of images, drawings and photos in the belief that this illuminated Benjamin's project, would have taken the references to montage far too literally. As such they would have missed what is essential to montage, namely time. 23 For a detailed treatment of the philosophical implications of the Freud- ian concept of 'working through' see the final section of The Plural Event. 250 A. Benjamin relations. Blasting it apart therefore is more than the simple critique of a posited singularity. 18 See in particular H. D. Kittsteiner, 'Walter Benjamin's Historicism', New German Critique 39 (Fall 1986). 19 References to Leibniz are to the Oeuvres Philosophiques de Leibniz, vol. II, ed. P. Janet (Paris, 1866). For the 'Monadology' the English edition, edited and translated by Latta, has been used: E. Latta, Leib- niz's Monadology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1972). 20 Leibniz, Oeuvres, p. 608. 21 The position under attack is brought out in Benjamin's quotation of Grillparzer; To contrast the theory of history with Grillparzer's comment, translated by Edmond Jaloux in 'Journaux intimes' (Le Temps, 23 mai 1937): 'To read into the future is difficult, but to see purely into the past is even more so; I say purely which is to say without mixing that retrospective gaze with everything that has happened in the meantime.' The 'purity' of the gaze is not so much difficult as impossible to attain.

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  • RebeccaComay

    (Benjamin,'ConversationswithBrecht')

    There is a well-knownstory[Bekanntlichsoli esgegebenhaben]of an automatonconstructedin sucha waythatit couldplayawinninggameof chess,answeringeachmoveof an opponentwitha countermove[Gegenzug].A puppetin Turkishattireandwith a hookahin its mouthsatbeforea chessboardplacedon alargetable. A systemof mirrorscreatedthe illusion that thistablewastransparentfromall sides.Actuallya hunchbackdwarfwhowasa masterchessplayersatinside,andguidedthepuppet'shand by meansof strings.One can imaginea philosophicalcounterpart[Gegenstiick]to this apparatus[Apparatur].Thepuppetcalled'historicalmaterialism'is supposedto win all thetime.It caneasilybe a matchfor anyoneif it enliststheservicesof theology,whichtoday,asis well-known[bekanntlich],is smallanduglyandhasto keepoutof sight.

    ('Theseson thePhilosophyof History',1 FirstThesis)

    The firstthingto benotedaboutBenjamin'sfirstthesison historyisits radical uninterpretability.I am referring to the frequentlyremarkedtensionif notcontradictionbetweentheactual'apparatus'or image(thehunchbackchess'master'(Meister)covertlypullingthestringsof apassivepuppet)anditspurported'philosophicalcounter-part', interpretationor meaning(historicalmaterialismactively

    July 12,1934.Yesterday,aftera gameof chess,Brechtsaid:'IfKorschcomeswe shallhaveto work out a newgamewithhim.A gamein whichthepositionsdo not alwaysremainthesame;wherethefunctionof thepieceschangesif theyhavestoodfora whileon thesamesquare:thentheybecomeeithermoreeffectiveor weaker.Like this,thegamedoesnot develop;itstaysthesametoo long.'

    10 Benjamin'sEndgame

    (N 7,5)

    The impossibilityin questionis notexplicablein termsof thehistorian'sfailure.In otherwordsthepointbeingmadedoesnotconcerntheabilityor inabilityof the historianto completea specifictask. Furthermorevarioushistoriansandphilosopherswill alwaysclaimto haveachievedthe 'gaze'thatBenjaminis describinghereas impossible.The reasonfor theimpossibilityhasto do in partwiththeontologyof the'historicalobject'and in part with the way memoryworks both to inform andconstructthepresent.

    22 The substantivemethodologicalpointhereis thatpresentationof works- even if they were accompaniedby writtentext - which orientedthemselvesaroundthejuxtapositionof images,drawingsandphotosinthe belief that this illuminatedBenjamin'sproject,would havetakenthe referencesto montagefar too literally.As suchtheywould havemissedwhatis essentialto montage,namelytime.

    23 For a detailedtreatmentof thephilosophicalimplicationsof theFreud-ian conceptof 'workingthrough'seethe final sectionof The PluralEvent.

    250 A. Benjamin

    relations.Blastingit apartthereforeis morethanthesimplecritiqueofa positedsingularity.

    18 See in particularH. D. Kittsteiner,'Walter Benjamin'sHistoricism',New GermanCritique39(Fall 1986).

    19 Referencesto Leibniz are to the OeuvresPhilosophiquesde Leibniz,vol. II, ed. P. Janet (Paris, 1866).For the 'Monadology'the Englishedition,editedandtranslatedby Latta,hasbeenused:E. Latta,Leib-niz'sMonadology(Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,1972).

    20 Leibniz, Oeuvres,p. 608.21 The positionunderattackis broughtout in Benjamin'squotationof

    Grillparzer;

    To contrastthetheoryof historywithGrillparzer'scomment,translatedby EdmondJaloux in 'Journauxintimes'(Le Temps,23mai 1937):'Toreadinto the futureis difficult,but to seepurelyinto thepastis evenmoreso; I saypurelywhichis to saywithoutmixingthatretrospectivegazewith everythingthathashappenedin themeantime.'The 'purity'of thegazeis notso muchdifficultasimpossibleto attain.

  • 252 R. Comay

    enlistingtheservicesof a servileandhunchedtheology).Who is themasterandwho the servant?Not only doesthe giantpuppet,inenlistingthedwarf'sservices,becomethepuppeteerof hisownpup-peteer,jerkingthelinethatwilljerkhim.Sotoothedwarf,deformedby thedoublehandicapwhichmarks,in fact,hisrealadvantage,ishimselfburdenedby thereificationhewouldcontrol:stunted,doll-like,puppettothepuppetwhositsastridehim.

    Despitethischiasmicformulationandtheapparentreciprocityofthe bondage,this is not a dialecticalor symmetricalexchangeofpower resolvablealong Hegelian lines. For if the master-slavedialecticin Hegel (or, for thatmatter,Marx) wasto issuein theincrementin meaningwhichmarkstheself-escalationof a self-con-sciousness,neitherthepuppetnorhispuppeteerherewill profitfromthisbackstagecontest.The verylabourof recognition- recognitionasthereciprocityof desirewhichwill determinehistoryfor Hegelas,indeed,thehistoryof labour- suchalabourwill havebeenfromtheoutsetblockedor circumventedin this furtivetug-of-wargameinwhichneitherpartyachievestheproductivefreedomof an'!,. Whatfor Hegel was the essentialtheatreof recognition- 'life' as theultimatepresuppositionof everystruggle,andmostspecificallyofthat struggleto the deathwhichinauguratesthe dialecticof self-consciousness- this scenewill haveno pertinencein this secretpuppet-showin whichbothplayersarealready,in arealsense,dead.If Hegeliandesireisthatordealwhichputslifeitselfin jeopardy(buttherebynaturallycapitalizeson its own venture),the combatantsherewouldriskbotheverythingandnothingin sofarasthestakes-'life' - are from the outsetlost. The specularityof intersubjectiverecognition(thatis, therationalcommensurabilityof acommonriskor venture)will have alreadybeen subvertedby the 'systemofmirrors' that manufacturestransparency(and thus the assumedtransparencyof face-to-faceencounter)asonemoreconceit.

    Whatis theprecisenatureof thisentanglement?If theoscillationof masterandservantsuggestsperhapslessaHegeliandialecticthana carnivalesquederangement,the specificlogic of this saturnalia- both its intoxicatingand its Saturninedimensions- still needsunravelling.

    Benjamin'sEndgame 253

    IChess,tshes,n,s. A niceandabstrusegame,in whichtwo setsofpuppetsaremovedin oppositionto eachother.

    (SamuelJohnson)

    The mirrorsnot onlymisrepresenta crowdedbox asa transparenttable.They alsosuggesta mise-en-abymeor seriesof self-reflecting(but also,as in an eyeor camera,self-inverting)imagesin whichthe scenerecapitulatesits own effect.Are not the chess-piecesthemselveslike littledollson stage?Miniature'men'animatedwiththelife theirmasterbothconcealsandlacks?Puppetsof a puppetto thethirddegree?Doesnotthegiantpuppetthereforeturnintoakindof Bunrakupuppet-master,inconspicuousin hisveryvisibility,exposedin thenon-illusionistic(perhapsevenBrechtian)theatreinwhichall the movesare on the surface- 'withouta thread',asBarthessuccinctlyputsit2 - and thereforegestic,bodily,outside?If the largepuppet'sovertmanipulationof thechess-pieceswouldseemto repeator reflect(in inverting)thedwarf'scovertmanipu-lation of the puppet,it is perhapsless a questionof exposing,theatricalizingor expressingthe latter'ssecretthanof subvertingourhabitualassumptionsregardingexposureor theatricalityassuch.For despitetheapparentsymmetryof theantithesis- giant/dwarf,manifest/hidden,outside/inside,highllow,inanimate/animateandsoon - it is ultimatelyunclearjusthowthisoppositionis to function.The giant'sostentatiouslyvisiblemanoeuvreswouldin factunder-minetheveryideaof exposureastheexternalizationof aninterior-ity on whicheverytheatreot'expression(thatis, Westerntheatreassuch)relies.Doesnottherelationbetweenhiddenandmanifest,innerandouter,hereneedto be rethought?

    For if theallegorywouldseemto invokea familarenoughseriesof antitheses- puppetanddwarfasouterandinner,bodyandsoul,expressionandmeaning,theCartesianmachineandits operator-it will resistanymechanicalor automatic(sotospeak)interpretationalongsuchlines.Temptingas it maybe to explicatethe imageintermsof aco-ordinationor synthesis,closerreadingcomplicatesthematter.In insistingon theco-implicationof 'historicalmaterialism'and 'theology',Benjaminis neitherproposingnor exposingtheirfinalunity.

    This is not,on theonehand,a conventionalpleafor co-operation(the engineersof the humansoul need to find a soul, intuitionwithoutconceptis blind,conceptwithoutintuitionis empty,andsoon).Nor is it really,on theotherhand,aquestionof demystification

  • 254 R. Comay

    or unmasking,whetherbanal(Marxismis just another'creed',theEnlightenmentharboursfalsegods)or sophisticated(asin Hegel'sanalysisin thePhenomenologyof thereciprocityof faithandinsight;or, morepointedly,as in Nietzsche'sexcoriationof socialismas aslavemorality,andhenceaprolongationof theasceticidealit wouldsurmount;or, yetagain,to citean exampletakenup by Benjaminhimself,asin Karl Lowith'sdepictionof Marxismasasecularizationof providentialeschatology).

    If the puppet,dressedin 'Turkish', recallsthe 'Turkish fatalism'denouncedbyNietzsche,3andif hishookahsuggeststhatthemateri-alistdrugsquadsharestheaddictionsof organizedreligion,thattheopiateof the peopleis imbibedeven,or especially,by its mostvigilantdetractors(see,for example,Nietzscheon thebadalcoholicodourof thepositivist4),it wouldbe too quickto assumethatit ishere an issueof anotherfalse consciousnessto be undupedorundoped.For sinceanysuchhermeneuticsof suspicionwouldbecapturedin advanceby the logicit wouldexpose,theverysuccessof theunmaskingwouldapriori constituteitsfailure.(SeeZarathus-traon theasceticsof thespirit.5) In his 'Surrealism'essay,Benjaminhadinsistedon theneed'to win theenergiesof intoxicationfor therevolution'(ILl, 308;R 189f.).Benjamin,himselfan earnest(ifsomewhatstudious)hashishsmoker,will insiston a 'dialecticalcon-ceptionof intoxication'whichwoulddisplacetheverytermsof theoppositionbetweensobrietyandinebriation- Holderlin'sheilignil-chtern6- therebyforcingus to considerwhetherour wearisomehabitof tryingto kick the habitmightnot itselfstandin needofdefamiliarization.

    In otherwords,theexposureof thedwarfin themachinewouldnot be a demystificationor secularizationin the Enlightenmentsense.'Truth is not anunveilingwhichdestroysthemystery,but arevelationwhichdoesit justice'(1.1,211;OGT 31). It is not aquestion,therefore,of achievingthe rationalizationannouncedbyHegel as the supersessionof religionby philosophy,that is, therevelationthatevenrevealedreligionessentiallyobfuscateswhatitwouldunveil.If to someextentBenjamin(withNietzsche)sharesHegel'scritiqueof organizedreligion- specifically,of thecompensa-tory,never-neverlandtemporalityof its redemptiveclaims7(a tem-poralitywhichstructurestheonce-upon-a-timenarrativesof all his-toricism)- there can be no questionof a similar passagetoconceptualityor thought.

    'Truth', accordingto Hegel, is that'Bacchanalianrevelin which

    Benjamin'sEndgame 255

    no limb or memberis not drunk [keinGlied nichttrunkenist]'.8From the standpointof Absolute Knowing, sucha deliriumwillhavebeenaprovisionaldisorderwithinthesystem,enjoyedin orderto be overcome(indeednowheremoremarkedly,as Derridahasargued,thanin thebingesof religionitselfasit proceedsfromfruitto wine,fromwineto blood,fromtheoblationsof naturalreligionto thesacramentalwinetransformingitselfintothebloodof a Godresurrectedin worshipand comprehendedin thought).9The tombodyof Dionysus,of a DionysusturnedChrist turnedSpirit, thebodyof athoughtbesideitselfin theecstasyof absoluteZerissenheit,this shatteredbody will be reassembled.In the sober 'court' ofmemory,every'member',asamember- thatis, in itsverypartialityor dismemberment- will havebeenjudgedinadequateand thussublated.

    Becauseeachmembercollapsesassoonasit dropsout [detachesitself:sichabsondert],the revelis just asmuchtransparentandsimplerepose.Judgedin thecourtof thismovement,... in thewholeof thismovement... whatdistinguishesitselftherein,andgivesitselfparticularexistenceis somethingthatrecollectsitself[sich erinnert],whose existenceis self-knowledgeand whoseknowledgeis just asimmediatelyexistence.

    (ibid.)

    HegelianErinnerungis just thisre-membering.Recollectionwouldbe preciselythe resurrectionof the idealized,transfiguredbody, abodyrestoredto itsorganicunityandspiritualintegrityasawhole.lO

    Benjamin,in contrast,re-members.That is, for Benjaminas forProust- for Benjaminaboveall asa readerof Proust- memoryisin the first placea memoiredesmembres(doublegenitive)(1.2,613n;CB 115n):theincoherent,multiplysituatedreawakeningsofshatteredbodypartsre-encounteringthemselvesin timeandspace.For Proust,suchan encounterhadthepowerto arrestthehomo-geneousflux of time: faire reculerle solei/.ll In the 'BerlinerChronik'Benjamindescribestheworkof memoryastheceaseless,'rhapsodic'excavationof vestiges:'ruinsor torsosin a collector'sgallery',fragmentsbrokenoff from thechainof prior connectionssoastostandunassimilatedin the'soberchambers'of retrospection.Like thedisjectamembrastrewnacrossthebaroquetheatrestage,allegorical'rebuses'resistingthe symbolicharmoniesof a 'trans-figurednature'(1.1,352-5;OGT 176-9),the shardsof memoryfrustratethe conciliationsof organicclosure,announcingtheend-lessnessof a mourningwhich keepson exhumingor unearthing

  • 256 R. Comay

    what has been buried. Memory, Erinnern, retrievesthe hiddeninteriorityof the earth,Erdinnern,as the brokenoutwardnessorexterioritywhichbreaksawayfrom (ausbrechen)everyinwardness.

    He who seeksto approachhis own buriedpastmustconducthimselflike a mandigging.Thisdeterminesthetone,thepostureof genuinereminiscences[Erinnern].Theymustnot be afraidofreturningagainandagainto thesamematter,to scatterit asonescattersearth,to turnit overasoneturnsoversoil. The matteritselfis only a deposit,a stratumwhichyieldsonly to themostmeticulousexaminationwhatconstitutestherealtreasurehiddenwithintheearth[Erdinnern]:theimages,severedfromall earlierassociations[ausallerfruherenZusammenhiingenausgebrochen],thatstand- like preciousruinsor torsosin a collector'sgallery- in thesoberchambersof our laterinsight.

    (VI, 486;R 26,slightlymodified)

    Far fromresolvingthefragmentationof experienceintothespiritualinteriorityof consciousness,sobriety,for Benjamin,dissolvesordisintegrates(but therebyreconfigures)what is alreadyin a stateof disintegration:the dismembered,inorganicbody, reminderofincurablemutilation.

    In his 'Surrealism'essay,BenjaminrewritesHegel's formula.Accordingto histhinlyveiledquotationof thePhenomenology,'nolimb remainsunrent' (kein Glied unzerissenbleibt)in the trans-formed,Dionysianbodyof a collectivestimulatedto revolutionarypitch(11.1,309;R 192).This is Benjamin'sownmaterialistversionof 'dialecticaljustice'(Gerechtigkeit)as a 'dialecticalannihilation'(Vernichtung)(pp. 310;192)or catharsisin whicha radicallyfrag-mentedbodydischargesits innervationsin an 'ecstasy'doublingasthe 'humiliatingsobriety'(pp. 299;181)of a revolutioncalculatingits war-movesto the mostbanaldegree.Such 'dialectical'intoxi-cation('profaneillumination')wouldbea 'true,creativeovercomingof religiousillumination'(pp.297;179)- whetherthe'humidback-room'of Surrealist'spiritualism'(pp.298;180)or Hugo'sdabblingswiththeoccult(1.2,565f.;CB 63)- an'overcoming'whichalthough(or perhapsbecause)'dialectical'wouldrefrainfrom mediatingorconceptualizingwhatit takesup.

    Whereasfor Hegel revealedreligionbetrayedits own mandatebyitsfinaladherenceto thegravenimagesof Vorstellung(thereforerequiringthecleansingproseof thought),Benjamininsiststhatinanyactof elucidation'thereremaina residue':Es bleibtein Rest(11.1,310;R 192).Despite('indeed,preciselyafter')the'dialectical

    Benjamin'sEndgame 257

    annihilation'whichannounces'the overcomingof religiousillumi-nation',therepersistsa 'sphereof imagesand,moreconcretely,ofbodies'(ibid.). The 'dialecticalimage'wouldbe theconcatenationor constellation(for Hegel, oxymoronic)of imageand concept,figureand thought,markingEnlightenmentitself as, in effect,achronically'unfinishedproject'(Habermas).

    Nor is it a questionof pryingloosetheshellof theapparatussoasto recovertheologyasarepressedor hiddencontent.Thatgestureof recovery- interpretationas the repriseor elucidationof a lostor buriedoriginal- wouldbe no morepertinentthanthehermen-euticsof suspicionor unmaskingwhich in fact, as Ricoeur hasargued,it socloselyresembles.12For since'theology'standsin herenot for anydeterminatecontentto be rememberedbut indeedfortheverypowerof remembrance- in hisnotesBenjamindescribesremembranceasthe'quintessence'of a Jewishtheologicalrepresen-tationof history(1.3,1252)- it is unclearjusthowsucha quintess-encecouldeveressentializeitselfso asto emergeintact.For if it ismemoryitselfandnot a determinatememorywhichremainshiddenor occluded,it remainsby thisverytokeninaccessibleto anyher-meneuticretrieve.The hunchback,'aswe know, is smallanduglyandhasto stayout of sight'.Whathasbeenoccludedor forgottenis in facttheonlypoweragainstforgetfulness:memoryassuchhasbecomedistortedor displaced.

    IrvingWohlfarthpointsout thatfor Benjamin(asno doubtforFreud,or for thatmatter,Hegelor Heidegger),deformityor 'distor-tion' (Entstellung)- literally,'misplacement'or 'displacement'- isthe essentialhallmarkof oblivion:13one'sown bodybecomes'themostforgottenalienland' (II.2, 431;III 132).ThusBenjaminenu-meratesthe stigmataof Kafka's blightedcreatures,the 'hybrids'(pp. 414;116),'abortions'(pp. 430;131)and 'bastards'(pp. 431;132)of a swampy'intermediateworld' (pp. 430;131).Dogs,bugs,monkeys,mice,moles,butterflies,monstrouskitten-lambsyearningfor thebutcher'sknifeof redemption:thehumanbodyhasbecomeundecipherableto itself, a siteof exile, 'a villagewhoselanguage[one]doesnot know' (pp. 424;126).The spool-shapedOdradek,'standingupright'only by meansof elaborateprostheses,is rel-egatedto the attic, staircase,corridor and hall (pp. 431; 133).Displaced,withoutaplacein (butequallywithoutescapefrom)thehouseholdeconomyof the 'familycircle' (pp. 414; 116),suchacreatureembodiesoblivionas theguiltydeferralwhichmarksourtime(asa time,thatis, of merelymarkingtime).Benjaminremarksthat with their low ceilings,attics,like lawcourts,are 'placesof

  • 258 R. Comay

    discarded,forgottenobjects'(pp. 431; 133),sitesof the neglectdistortingboth spaceand time. One puts off openingthe dustytrunksin theatticasassiduouslyasJosephK. wouldpostpone(until'retirement')concludinghis dayin court(pp.431;133).

    'The prototypeof distortion'is 'the hunchback'(11.2,431; III133).Wohlfarthhasarticulatedtheissuewithgreatrigour.'Amongthe imagesin Kafka's stories,noneis morefrequentthanthatofthemanwhobowshisheadfar downon his chest'(pp. 431;133).Fatiguedofficers,doorkeepers,'descendantsof Atlas' (pp.410;112)bearingtheburdenof theuniversein everyobject:'it is thebackon whichthis is incumbent'(pp. 432;133).Thus too the 'archaicapparatus'multiplyingtheinscriptionson thecondemnedprisoner'sbackin the 'PenalColony' (pp. 432;133):'an immenseapparatusof officialdom(Beamtenapparatur]'directedby authoritieswhosecripplingpoweris indeterminate(ungenau)evento their'executiveorgans'(Br 760).In anearlydiaryentryquotedbyBenjamin,Kafkadescribesfallingasleepwith armscrossedlike soldierscarryingaheavybackpack:forgetfulnessis theguiltysomnolenceof our daysandnights(11.2,432;III 134).

    The hunchback,while the Messianicagentor augurof remem-brance,is at the sametimethusthe supremelyguiltyinstanceofforgetfulness- a secretagent,then, in everysense.Deformedbecauseforgotten,hisdeformityrequiresthathe, in turn,beforgot-ten:hishumpis simultaneouslyboththesymptomandtheoccasionof his withdrawal.His doubledistortion- 'smallandugly', dwarfandhunchback- marksthedoublenessor duplicityof all distortion:'displacement'assuchis neverquitein its place.His exclusionorseclusionthus has the reflexivecircularityof all forgetting:arepressionthatneedsin turnto be repressed.'The mainfeatureofforgetting',writesBenjamin, 'is that it forgetsitself.'14(We areclosehereto Freud'ssenseof 'primalrepression'asthe(repressed)presuppositionof all repression.But perhapsequally to theredoubledconcealment- die Verborgenheitder Verborgenheit-whichinauguratesHeidegger'shistoryof Being.)

    In his essayon Karl Kraus, Benjamindescribesthe 'fallingsick-ness'evokedin theproductsof VienneseExpressionism,the 'step-ped, steeped'terracesof humanshoulders,necksandbacks(11.1,351;R 256f.).Like the 'mysterious'figuresdepictedin medievalminiatures,'leaning'or 'inclining'togetherwith 'wide-openeyes',theExpressionistfiguresdisplaya radical'curvature'or 'concavity',typicallymost visible when viewed from behind. Clenchedorhuddledin 'steepsteps'whichdespiteappearances'leadlesstoward

    Benjamin'sEndgame 259

    heaventhandownward',thehumanbodybecomesa steppingstonefor higherpowers,'climbedlike heapedup rocksor hewnstones'(pp. 351;257). 'The namelesspower towardwhich the backsofpeoplearebent',writesBenjamin,is 'guilt' (ibid.). By 1912Kraushadalreadydenouncedthe 'pitiable'subservienceof the 'obedientmasses',led astray'not by an unknownwill but by an unknownguilt'. 'Whateverpowersmayhavefoughtout theirspiritualbattleson theseshoulders',commentsBenjamin,'... we are ableto calloneof themby its name'(ibid.).

    Thenameof thegame,of course,iscapital.In nineteenth-centuryParis, the sandwichmanor 'poster-man'(l'homme-affiche)wasobservedcarryingon hisshoulderstheburdenof consumercapital-ism, an edible offeringto the systemhe was to advertise.IS Intwentieth-centuryMarseilles,the hunchbacks,remarksBenjamin,like beggarwomen,wearlurid pink - 'colourof shame,of poverty'- gleaminglike stinkingcarcassesthrownto a systemrecyclingitsrefuseto thelastdegree(IV.1, 359;R 131).

    Under suchconditions,it wouldbe idealismof theworstsorttocelebrate,a la Bloch, theorthopaediaof theuprightposture.In hisKrausessay,Benjamincommentsthat'developingman'- thechild,the'monster'(Unmensch),thedemonicmessengerof a 'morereal'humanism(11.1,366;R 272)- is 'recognizedby theposturewhichthefightwithexploitationandpovertystampuponhim' (ILl, 365;R 270).Whereasthetraditionof bourgeoisidealism(fromSchillerto Stifter)wouldcelebratethe'classicalidealof humanity'(pp.355;261)- whetheras the individualbearerof abstract'rights'(ibid.),as 'Romanticcreatureof nature'(pp. 364;270)or even,suggestsBenjamin,as the Nietzschean'overman'(pp. 361;266)- a 'real'(that is, anti-essentialist,anti-idealistand ultimatelyeven anti-humanist)humanismwouldcontestthis 'idol' (pp. 364;270)of a'harmoniouslyandperfectlyformed'humanity(pp. 348;253):thatis, the'phantomof theunpoliticalor "natural"man'(pp.364;270).

    Benjamincommentsthat 'distortionwill overcome(or sublate)itself (sichaufheben]in the passageto redemption'(11.3,1201).Forgetfulness,alreadyonceforgotten,is in beingrememberedtobe, precisely,re-forgotten:to removethehumpis to engagein akindof 'activeforgetfulness',in Nietzsche'ssense.In Grimm'sstory,thedwarfishRumpelstiltskindisappearsforeveruponbeingnamedor recognizedby the princess(cf. 11.1,345;R 250). The littlehunchbackin theGermanfolksong'will disappearwiththecomingof theMessiah'(11.2,432;III 134).The dwarf,alreadymarkedbythestigmataof his twofoldocclusion,is, inconspicuously,to write

    f

  • 260 R. Comay

    himselfout. In the meantime,his deformitystandsas a secretindictmentof socialexistence:pureLumpengesindel(IV.l, 303),a'stumbling-block'(II.2, 565;VB 67)in society'sway.Like thechildin Brecht who 'didn't want to wash',he disruptsevery 'orderlyhousehold'(ibid.), ruinstheKaiser'svisit,smashesdishes,leavesapile of debris(IV.l, 303).

    IIBut how does this pair of sideshowfreaks becomea winningnumber?The puppetteam,accordingto Benjamin,is 'supposedtowin eachtime'.The claimis strikingnot only becauseit is oneofBenjamin'smoreflagrantmisreadingsor interpolationsintothePoesubtexthe is reworkinghere- Poe, in fact,specificallyemphasizesthe fallibility of the automatonas the telltalesign of its hiddenoperator16- and not only becauseit is unclearhow this uneasypartnership,dividedagainstitselfandwithoutinternalcoherence,couldpossiblyforma unitedfront.Wouldnot themachine'sabilityto perform a successful'countermove'(Gegenzug)be thwartedunder the impactof the 'philosophicalcounterpart'(Gegenstuck)whichin effectjamsthegearsmid-circuit?The claimis alsostrikingbecausein factit makesno sense.For the figure(asso frequentlyin Benjamin)is beingmadeto functionin an argumentwhichwillin effectundermineits explicitmeaning.What could it meantoinvokethenotionof automaticvictoryto introducea texttheessen-tialpointof whichwill be, afterall, to problematizetheverynotionof victory,automaticor otherwise,as beingthe ideologyof thoseon top?

    Historical materialism(henceforthwithout scare quotes)willaboveall exposetheultimateillegitimacyof everyvictory,remind-ingusthatvictoryassuchimpliesvictimization,a 'triumphalmarch'tramplingover its casualtieslike so manypawnsswept'prostrate'(amBodenliegen)underfoot(7). It will havebeen,of course,thefatal error of the SocialDemocratsto believethat the automaticvictory of the proletariat- an automatismdressedup preciselyas an organicism,that is, an evolutionismand specificallya neo-Darwinism17- it will havebeenSocialDemocracy'scredulitytothink thatsucha victorywouldirresistiblypropelEurope throughits darkesthour (13).Benjaminarguesthatsucha faithwill haveonlyaccommodatedbarbarismin thenameof progress,maimingor'cutting'the workers' 'sinews'in the misguidedcelebrationof a

    Benjamin'sEndgame 261

    futurewhichcouldonly- in itsveryzealfor compensation- cheat(12).A similar'faithin progress'will haveled Stalinto hisdevil'spactwithHitler, reducingfascism'sopponentsto 'prostrate'under-lings(amBodenliegen),puppetsentangledin the 'snares'(Netzen)of an'apparatus'(Apparat)'uncontrollable'in itsownsuccess(1O).

    In 'One-WayStreet'- the 'one-way'sign simultaneouslybothmarkinga certainhistoricalirreversibilityandwarningagainstanynaivelyprogressivistor linear renderingof this irreversibility-Benjaminhadalreadyspelledit out. In a fragmententitled,appro-priately,'Fire Alarm', he dismissesanydeterminationof theclassstrugglewhichwould'romanticize'by obscuringwhatis essentiallya tactical(or 'technical')interventionasa 'chivalric'ordealor 'trialof strength'(Kraftprobe).If accordingto the laws of historicalmaterialismthebourgeoisieis condemnedin advance,thatis, auto-matically,to extinction,the crucialquestionremainsjust how, ormoreprecisely,when,thisinevitabilityis to transpire- a question,for theproletariat,of timing.

    The notionof theclasswarcanbe misleading.It doesnot referto a trialof strengthto decidethequestion'Who shallwin, whoshallbedefeated?',or to astruggletheoutcomeof whichis goodfor thevictorandbadfor thevanquished.To think thisway isto romanticizeandobscurethefacts.For whetherthebourgeoisiewinsor losesthefight,it remainsdoomedby theinnercontradic-tionsthatin thecourseof developmentwill becomedeadly.Theonlyquestionis whetheritsdownfallwill comeaboutthroughitselfor throughtheproletariat.The continuanceor the endof threethousandyearsof culturaldevelopmentwill be decidedby theanswer....

    (IV.l, 122;OWS 80,myemphasis)

    In other words, thereare victoriesand then thereare victories.Toughingit out ('chivalrously')in the certaintyof a preordainedtriumphwould be inevitablyto embroiloneselfin the seriesofreformistadjustmentsthatsimplykeepsthegearswell-oiled.In thePassagen-Werk,Benjamindescribestheinsight(actually,a decision)that'capitalismwill dieno naturaldeath'as'theexperienceof [his]generation'(V, 819).The kind of 'natural'demisewhichconcludesanevolutionarysequence- for theproletariat,a victorychronicallydeferredby reasonof its inevitability- becomesmythical,Pyrrhic,too latein theday.

    The truepoliticianreckonsonlyin dates.And if theabolitionof

  • 262 R. Comay

    thebourgeoisieis notcompletedby analmostcalculablemomentin economicand technicaldevelopment(a momentsignalledby inflation and poison-gaswarfare), all is lost. Before thesparkreachesthe dynamite,the lightedfusemustbe cut. Theinterventions,dangers,and tempiof politiciansare technical-not chivalrous.

    (ibid.)

    The 'stupidityandcowardice'whichrosilyassumesthat'thingscan'tgoon likethis'(IV.l, 94;OWS54)- togetherwithits 'unphilosophi-cal' counterpart,the complacent'amazement'that 'the thingsweareexperiencingare"still" possible'(8) - is blindpreciselyto thetruth that the fact 'that "thingskeep goingon like this" is thecatastrophe'(V, 592;N 9a, 1). The continuum- continuationassuch- is the catastrophe.'For the sufferingof individualsas ofcommunitiesthereis onlyonelimitbeyondwhichthingscannotgo:annihilation'(IV.l, 95;OWS 55).Whatis alreadyfalling,asNietz-scheobserved,needsto be kicked. 'Beforethe sparkreachesthedynamite,thelightedfusemustbe cut' (IV.l, 122;OWS 80).

    Hegelhaddescribedthetriumphalmarchof historyasa 'slaugh-terbench'.18Benjamin,observinga 'humanity'that had cometo'proveitselfby destruction'(11.1,367;R 273)- a humanitythatinthe ageof 'totalwar' had indeedcometo construeproductionasdestruction(1.2, 632n;CB 133n),therebyaestheticizingits owndestructionasitsmostessentialactof self-production(cf.1.2,506-8;III 241f.) - Benjaminspeaksof theneedto counter(self-)destructionwith destruction.What presentsitself accordingto conventionalpietyasaprogressive'chain'of events(9)- a 'smooththread'(1.3,1233)or a consoling'rosary'(A) - is to be graspedas a burningwick.Beneaththepre-establishedharmonyof a clockworkuniverse- a 'cosmicclock' (II.2, 489;OWS 370)humminginanelyto the'ticktockof a smallhappiness'(Nietzsche)19- beneaththischeerfulmachinelurksa timebomb.'Beforethesparkreachesthedynamite,thelightedfusemustbe cut.'

    In otherwords,theclockmustbe stopped.For whatstrikesthebeatof thevictoryparadeis, of course,the 'homogeneous,emptytime'(B) assumedby everyideologyof progressfromtheEnlight-enmentto this day. Nietzschehad alreadyspelledout the vestedintereststhat sucha metaphysicsboth presupposesand sustains.Accordingto sucha metaphysics,time would be determinedasthe emptysuccessionof identicalnow-points- inertly observed,indifferentlyexchanged- thesiteof thewill's own impotenceand

    Benjamin'sEndgame 263

    'gnashingof teeth'beforethepast.Petrifiedas 'ground'or 'cause'or 'thingin itself' (a 'heavystone',saysZarathustra,a 'prison'),thepastbecomesthesiteof unredeemedpossibilitiesfor agenerationof'angryspectators'.The futurebecomesthecompensatory'fable'ofa timeof finaljudgement,'progress'thevengefulpayofffor a priorimpotencebeforethepast.He whopaysthepiperis of coursetheonewho callsthetune:thechantof progressultimatelyvindicatesthepresentasthefinalmeasureof all times.What is celebratedineveryvictorymarchis 'the tyrannyof the actual';20beneaththeparaderegalialiesa 'nakedadmirationfor success'.21Its participantsbecome'Chinesemechanicaldoll[s]', saysNietzsche,noddingtowhateverpowerpullsthestrings.22

    It is, for Benjamin,a questionof jammingthegearsin thishappyclockworkuniverse.Or, moreprecisely:a questionof riggingtheclockin sucha waythatas it stallsit soundsthealarm.In an agewheretalk of progresscan only maskthe real 'retrogressionofsociety' (11), continuity is itself the catastrophethreateninghumanityas a whole.An ideologuesuchasCarl Schmittmystifiesthecontinuumasan 'exception',normalizescatastrophe,therefore,asanaccidentor aberration(a 'stateof emergency')therebylegitim-atingauthoritarianintervention.'It is our task',writesBenjamin,'to bringabouta realstateof emergency'(8).

    Zarathustrahadthreatenedto 'windandwound'(aufziehen)the'cheapclocks'of thevirtuous,to overwindthesemechanicaldollswith his mockeryuntil theywhirredno more.23Writing in 'One-Way Street',not longafterthedebacleof the Trauerspielbuchandhis own expulsionfrom the academy,Benjaminrecountsa dreamaboutstrollingas a fledglingPrivatdozentthroughthemausoleumof culture.Peeringinto a glassmuseumdisplay-case,he 'blushes'to seehangingin themouthof a goldenstatue'sheadthejewelsofa dismemberedwatch(IV.l, 118;OWS 77).The Surrealists,staringin thefaceof thehumanismthatpeddlesbarbarismin thenameofculture- or, moreprecisely,staringthis gift horsein the mouthandfindingthere,like Benjamin,thevaginadentataof a precisionclockwork - overwind this clock and set it ringing. 'Theyexchange... theplayof humanfeaturesfor thefaceof an alarmclockthatin eachminuteringsfor sixtyseconds'(ILl, 310;R 192).

    Among the scatterednotesto the 'Surrealism'essaygatheredunderthe laconicrubric 'clockmotif', Benjamincitesthecaseof'the Americanwho hangshis clock on the wall and shootsit'.Breton,alsoquoted,writesof the 'cracklingof thewoodof a clockwhichI throwinto the ... fire in sucha waythat it diesringing

    ~

  • 264 R. Comay

    the hour' (II.3, 1031).In the fifteenththesis,Benjamincitesanunnamed'eye-witness'of theJuly revolutionwho on thefirsteve-ningof fightingclaimsto haveobservedtheclocktowersbeingfiredat 'independentlyandsimultaneously'fromseveralplacesin Paris.The 'eyewitness'isactuallyapairof self-proclaimed'poetes-citoyens'fromMarseilleswhowrite(andBenjaminquotes)asfollows:

    Qui Ie croirait!on dit qu'irritescontrel'heureDe nouveauxJosues,au piedde chaquetour,TiraientsurlescadranspourarreterIe jour.24

    I cannotexplorenowtheslightlycircularif not paradoxicallogicinformingthisspontaneousrevolutionarycalculus,soverypunctualin its anarchy,thiscalculusto endall calculi,announcingtheveryadventof the incalculable:how did themilitantsknowwhattime,exactly,to startshootingat all theclocks?Nor do I wantto dwellon the peculiarirony at work in Benjamin'sratherchillinginvo-cation,in 1940,of the Israelites'triumphantvendettaagainsttheirenemies,theAmorites,at Gibeon,theday thesunstoodstill (cf.Joshua10:13).And I shallnotlingerontheoddityof thisapparentlyhistoricistappealto the'eyewitness'.At theveryleast,theauthorityof sucha gesturewouldhaveundermineditselfwiththeerasureofthe authors'names,andwith thevaguelysardonicsuggestionthatthe witness'mayhaveowedhis insight'(actually'divination',or,moreambiguously,in the Frenchversion,25'clairvoyance')to 'therhyme',thatis, to the- somewhatautomatic- exigencies(orcontin-gencies26)of rhetoricratherthanto the objectivityof fact. But Iwouldlike to setasidethesepeculiaritiesfor themomentso astofocuson thepeculiarnatureof thetemporalcaesuraatwork.

    Why shoottheclocks?Baudelaire's'deepestwish'- 'thewishofJoshua'- is 'to interruptthecourseof theworld'.27

    Not somuchtheprophetic;for hedidnot thinkmuchof change.Fromthiswishspranghisviolence,hisimpatienceandhisanger.From it too sprangthe everrenewedattemptsto strikeat theheartof theworldor to singit to sleep.Out of thiswishcamethe encouragementwith which he accompaniedDeath in hisworks.

    (1.2,667;CP 15)

    Whatfor Baudelaireexemplifiesitselfin thearrestedpresentof thehashishtrance28- compareZarathustra's'strangedrunkenness'atnoontime29- 'canalso',remarksBenjamin,'beappliedto thedefi-nitionof revolutionaryhistoricalconsciousness'(V, 602;N 15,1).

    Benjamin'sEndgame 265

    If intoxication(atleastin its 'dialectical'form)resemblesrevolutionin its congealedtemporality,sucha momentis 'not so muchpro-phetic'as turnedbackward,'accompanyingDeath'by markingtheirretrievablepastnessstructuringeverytime.'Revolutionaryhistori-calconsciousness'(V, 602;N 15,1) freezesor 'crystallizes'timebyadministeringtheposthumous'shock'(17)bywhichthe'historical'as suchis founded(A), thus exposinghistoryto the traumaticstructureof Nachtriiglichkeit,in the Freudiansense.30The pastbecomes'historical'retroactivelythroughits citation(14) 'at amomentof danger'(6), suspendingor 'blastingopen' (14) thecontinuumof eventsunfoldingalong historicism's'causalchain'(A).

    As whenmournersstoptheclockso asto markthemomentofdying,therevolutionarycaesura'accompaniesdeath'by registeringits untimelyrigor as the 'Golgotha'(1.1,405;OGT 232)ruiningeverytime.Suchuntimelinessdisruptstheself-identityof thelivingpresent,exposesthispresentasthe'transfixedrestlessness'(erstiirrteUnruhe)(V, 410)or explosivestasiswhichresistsintegrationinto alinearexchange.If thesingularityof deathmarkstheverylimitsofexchangeability(includingthetemporalexchangeabilityof indiffer-entnow-points),its recognitioninvolvestheawarenessof a futureradicallyunthinkablebecauseunassimilableto what is on hand.Mourning thus involvesthe inherently'revolutionary'senseof afuture'absolute'(Levinas) in its heterogeneity:to perceivehistoryascorpselikeis already,strictlyspeaking,to negotiatean openingto a futureradicallynew.Thus 'thestandstillis utopia'(V, 55;CB171).If, for the angel,historyappearsas a rubbleheap(9) - a'death'shead'or 'petrifiedlandscape'(1.1,343;OGT 166)- suchrigiditysignifiesneithertheembalmingnorthesanctificationof whathaspast,but on thecontrarypointsto thelimitsof organicassimi-lationandhenceto the 'utopian'non-identityof whatmayarrive.Reificationis turnedagainstitself.To perceivehistory(allegorically)asthe 'naturalhistory'of a frozen'landscape'(1.1,343;OGT 166)- a 'puppet-play'(pp.303f.;124f.)or 'tableauvivant'(pp.369;193)- is to refutethe idealismwhichwouldsee'eternallife' (pp. 353;178)in whatcomesto pass.'How canonespeak- of progress,toaworldsunkinto rigormortis[Totenstarre]?'(V, 420).To anideal-ism whichwould maskor spiritualizedeathas the organicityof'becoming',allegoryopposesthespectacleof a 'life' renderedinor-ganicor immobilizedin thecadaverousfixityof theruin. In at leastthisrespect,Baudelaire,Gryphiusandthe'July revolutionaries'arein accord.'Je haisIemouvement.. .' (d. V, 388).To registersuch

  • 266 R. Comay

    ruinousness- blastingthecontinuum,shootingtheclocktowers- isto beatthe'irregularrhythmof theconstantpause',a rhythmwhichannounces'thesuddenchangeof direction'(1.1,373;OGT 197)ofa futureradicallynew.

    Memory,Eingedenken- the 'Ein- ' prefixsignifyingherein factpreciselythe oppositeof the unifying inwardnessof a thoughtaffirmingits self-actualizationasa culturereturningto itselfin therecollectionof its own formationor Bildung (the opposite,in aword,of theHegelianErinnerungwhichit lexicallyrecalls)- Benja-min'sEingedenkenis no longerstrictlyoneor inward(Ein-) andnolongerstrictlythought(-Denken).It announces,rather,a mindful-nessor vigilancewhich refusesto take in (or be takenin by) atraditionauthorizingitselfas thecontinuityof an essentiallegacy,taskor missionto be transmitted,developedor enacted.The siteof an intensityturningagainstitself- 'turnedintensivelytowardstheexterior'(V, 570;N 1, 3) - Eingedenkenmarkstheimpasseor'standstill'of thoughtassuch:the 'flow'of inferenceis interrupted(17). In 'blastingopen' the continuum,Eingedenkeninauguratesrepetitionas the returnof thatwhichstrictlyspeakingneverhap-pened:it announcestheredemptionof a failedrevolutionaryoppor-tunityat themomentof mostpressingdanger.'Hope in thepast'(6). Such repetitionarreststhe apparentcontinuityof inheritedpowerrelationsby rememberingpreciselywhatofficialhistoriogra-phyhadto repress.

    Eingedenkenthusannouncesthereturnof lostpossibilitiesasthereturnof the repressed.It signalsthe entryinto historyof thoseforgottenor trampledin thevictorymarchof theconquerors.It isnot herea questionof recuperatingthosepreviouslyexcludedbymeansof a more capaciousor inclusivememory- bringingthemarginsinto the centre,essentializingthe inessential,thusturninglosersinto winnersaccordingto theendlesslyfamiliardialectic(forNietzsche,ultimately,a slavelogic)of the quiperdgagne.For inchallenging'everyvictory,pastandpresent,of the rulers' (4) -thisin thefaceof anenemywhich'hasnot ceasedto bevictorious'(6) - historicalmaterialismin fact overturnsthe very logic ofvictoryanditsobverseby thinkingtheunthinkable(becausecontra-dictory)doubleimperativeor doublebindof apastwhichis atonceboth irretrievableand yet - for this very reason- incomplete.Such an imperativeexpressesthe twofold impossibilityeitherofreanimatingor of neutralizingthe past, whetheras the site ofempathicfusionor as the inert objectof contemplation(that is,whetherto be relivedor safelyburied).A presentemergeswhich

    Benjamin'sEndgame 267

    neitherrecuperatesnor cutsits losses,whetherby spiritualizingorby lettingbygonesbe bygones,but ratherexposesthedoublepres-sureof a memorywhichstrictlyspeakingexceedsthe alternativesof memoryandforgetting,thusopeninghistoryto theendlessnessof a mourningwhichneitherresuscitatesnor laysto restthepast.

    Suchmourningdisplacesthe antithesisbetweenidealizationandforeclosure- thedoubleaestheticizationof losswhetherasindirectgainor assimpleabsence- therebyupsettingtheeconomyof everyvictorynarrativeassuch.Whatis ultimatelysubvertedor exceededis theveryopposition(butthereforealsotheessentialreconciliation)of life and deathas the final horizonof everynarrative.Deathneitherterminatesnor is redeemedby the life which it not onlyends or 'finishes'but in fact marksas radically'finite' and, assuch,unfinished.Neitherresurrectionnor properburial,neitheraspiritualizationof deathnor its securingaslife'santithesis,cannowbethought.

    If, for thevictims,remembrancealwayscomestoo lateto makegoodthe losses,theyare not for this reasonimmuneor exemptfromfurtherrisk. If thestormof progresspreventstheangelfrom'lingering,awakeningthe dead, making whole what has beensmashed'(9) - Benjamin similarly disqualifiesthe historicistattemptto resuscitatethevanquishedCarthage- it is equallytruethat 'not eventhe deadwill be safefrom the enemyif he wins'(6).Benjaminaddsthattheenemy'hasnotceasedto bevictorious'(6). Neithersecurelydead,then,nor spirituallyrecuperable,thedeadexerttheiruncannypressureon theirsurvivorswhoarein turnreducedto livingdead.

    III... theblankis folded

    (Derrida,Dissemination)

    At the momentof Stillstand,clock timegivesway to the timeofcalendars.Like a 'historicaltime-lapsecamera'whichcondensestemporallyremoteimagesinto thesynchronicityof a moment,thecalendarinauguratesrepetitionin the form of holidays- in mem-orializingthe past it anticipatesthe futureas a futurememory_thusmarkingtimeasa 'perpetualrecurrence'(Wiederkehr),perhapsin Nietzsche'ssense(15).'Thusthecalendarsdo notmeasuretimeas clocksdo' (ibid.). ElsewhereBenjaminremarksthat 'to writehistorymeansgivingdatestheirphysiognomy'(V, 595;N 11,2);

  • 268 R. Comay

    'thetruepoliticianreckonsonly in dates'(IV.l, 122;OWS 80).Atonceboth singular(or unrepeatable)and, in thisverysingularity,repeatable,thedateis theverypossibility(butby thisverytoken,the impossibility)of commemorationas such.Like everyidiom,propernameor signature,thedateis bothutterlyuniqueandpro-foundlyiterable;Derridawill remarkon the 'madness'(Wahnsinn)of the'when'(Wann).31The dateservesaswitnessto aneventaftereverypossiblewitness(andeverywitnessof everywitness)will havevanished,constituting(butfor thisveryreasonalsoobliterating)theeventit is to commemorate,thus renderingthe 'once'as a 'yetagain'.The datebothconfirmsandeffacesthecrypticsingularityofwhatis dated,renderingitsidiomaticexclusivitybothaccessibleandunreadableto thosecominglater. Like everysignature,it bindswith theforcesimultaneouslyof obligationandof promise.

    As a formof promiseor alliance,thedaterevealsitselfasessen-tiallyMessianicin itslogic,exemplifiedin theholidayor Feiertag.InhisBaudelaireessay,Benjaminwritesof holidaysas'heterogeneous,conspicuousfragments'punctuatingthechronologicalregularityofthe continuum(I, 642;III 184):'sliversof Messianictime' (A).While markingtimein theworstsense,thecalendaralsore-marksthepasttherebyeffectingaradicalunmarkingor erasure:to instituteremembranceis to initiatea futureirreducibleto theofficialinscrip-tionsof anyregime.In itsveryrepeatability,theholidayannouncesthe recurrenceof whatcannotin fact return,thusopeningup thespaceof theunforeseen.The calendarcommemoratesin negotiatinga certainblankor emptiness:repetitionmarksjustthepossibilityoftheradicallynew.Eingedenkenis thustheoppositeof animprintingor preservationof self-identical,enduringtraces.Closerto Nietz-sche'sactiveforgetfulnessthantoPlatonicanamnesis,it leavesblankpreciselywhatwill havebeencommemorated.This is in fact theforceof memory'spromise.If not exactlya blankchequeor tabularasa,it remindsthe readerthatfor now at leasta pageof historyremainsunwritten.

    To havecombinedrecognitionof a qualitywiththemeasurementof aquantitywastheworkof thecalendarsin whichtheplacesofrecollectionareleftblank[dieStellendesEingedenkensgleichsamaussparen],asit were,in theformof holidays.

    (I, 642;III 184)

    Hegel,observingthe 'slaughterbench'of Spirit'sprogress,32com-mentsthat,in thechronicleof history,periodsof happinessarelike'blankpages'(leereBlatter),33blankin thesenseof anutterabsence

    Benjamin'sEndgame 269

    of determination:the vacuousharmonyor slacknessarisingwhen'theantithesis'(betweenindividualanduniversal)is 'in abeyance'(PeriodendesfehlendenGegensatz).34Benjamin,takingthemeasureof thesacrificeandrefusingtheconsolationsof philosophy- Hegel's'retreatinto theselfishness'whichknows'thatwhathashappenedcouldnot be otherwise'35- triesto readtheseblanks.

    Or, more precisely:he tries to think what is strictlyspeakingillegiblewithin the termsof literacyset forth by the victors,thusmarkinga new'comingto legibility'(zur Lesbarkeit)(V, 577;N 3,1) - historicity- of thepast.He callstheseblanksholidays.Thatis: hethinkstheveryintervalor spacingof theblank,theconditionof thepossibilityof theblank,thegapor fissure- Sprung- whichrupturesthe catastrophiccontinuityof tradition(V, 591;N 9, 4),exposingthis as themerelyfactualcontinuityof hereditarypowerlines,thusrevealinga jaggedfootholdfor a newbeginning(cf. V,592;N 9a, 5). Like a blankpageinsertedinto theweightyannalsof theconquerors,theholidaymarkssimultaneouslytheconditionand the limits of legibility, commemoratingwhat by definitioncannotbe recalled.Like blottingpapersaturatedwith the infiniteinkstainof theology(to citeanotherBenjaminianimage(V, 588;N7a, 7)), indeterminatethroughindeedan excessof markingordeterminacy,the blankpageis both unreadableandfor thisveryreasondemandsto be reread.

    The blankpageis thustheconditionof thepossibility(but thatmeansalso the necessity)of rereading,markingthe structuralimpossibility,therefore,of anyfirstreading:a memorialwhichtes-tifiespreciselyto the irrecuperabilityor unreadabilityof what isrecalled.In 'One-WayStreet'Benjaminwrites:'like a clockof lifeon whichthesecondsrace,thepage-numberhangsoverthecharac-ters in a novel.Which readerhasnot oncelifted to it a fleeting,fearfulglance?'(IV.l, 118;OWS 76). The novel- unitaryin itsthematicfocus (11.2,454; III 98), inexorablein its destination_resembleshistoricismin its temporalcommitments:the bourgeoisgenrepar excellence(cf. III, 310). Benjaminremarksthat thenovel'sendingexcludesall supplementationor revision,a 'Finis'immobilizingandtherebysanctioningwhathastranspired(11.2,455;III 100).Historicalmaterialism,like storytelling,wouldexplodethe'cosmicclock'(11.2,489;OWS 370)of progressivehistory,dispers-ingby endlesslyrewritingwhatcanbe told (11.2,454;III 98).Theblank pageinterruptsthe continuouspaginationof the book ofhistory- whetherthe 'tickingof the seconds'of spleen(1.2,642;CB 143)or the rosarybeadsenumeratingthe roll-callof tradition

  • 270 R. Comay

    (A) - unnumbered,a testamentto the innumerabledead. Ofcoursethismakesus only moreawarethanever(if 'fleetingly')ofthe 'fearful'powerof thesuspendedsequence:it bothexposesandunderminesthissequenceastheviolentarbitrarinessit is. Theblankconteststheinevitabilityof everyendingasfulfilmentor completion,tanglingthe story-linejust whereclassicalnarrativewouldprovidethesatisfactionof a closureor denouement.

    Writingof Kafka, Benjamincomparesremembranceto the('oldpeople's') practiceof 'reading backward'.At Svendborg,thesummerof 1934,BrechthadreadKafka'slittle parable'The NextVillage'asa variationon Zeno'sparadoxof motion:to decomposeajourneyintoitssmallestelementsmeansto renounceeverreachinganygoal, eventhemostmodest,reformisttargetof 'thenextvil-lage'.Upon whichthepragmatistBrechthadsnappedthatlife'sjust'too short'for suchruminations(R 209).Accordingto Benjamin'sreadingof Kafka's story, however,the rider in the story neverreachesthe nextvillagebecausehe keepson endlesslyrevertingbackto andrewritingthebeginning,a revisionwhichshattersboththeself-identityof thesubject('adifferentpersonfromtheonewhostartedthe ride arrivesat the village')and the 'unityof life' (R209).

    Retrospectively,[remembrance]traverseslife with the speedoflightning.As quicklyasoneturnsbacka fewpages,it hasgonebackfrom thenextvillageto thepointwheretheriderdecidedto setoff. He whoselifehasturnedintowriting,likeoldpeople's,likes to readthiswritingonlybackward.Only so doeshe meethimself,andonlyso- in flightfromthepresent- canhis life beunderstood.

    (R 210)

    ElsewhereBenjamin will describethe past as a palimpsest(1.1.125),as a photographicplatewaitingto be irradiatedby aposthumousflashof recognition(R 56)or tobedevelopedbychemi-calsof thefuture(V, 603;N 15a,1), a textthusconstitutedby theveryprocessof rewriting.In short:thepastposesthedemand,inHofmannsthal'swords,'to readwhatneverwaswritten'(1.3,1238).Like a seedof grain embalmedwithin the pyramidof collectivememory,astoryreleasesitsgerminatingpoweronlybelatedly,'pre-servingand concentratingits strength... and unfoldingit evenaftera longtime'(11.2,446;III 90).In 'One-WayStreet'Benjamindescribesthe retroactiveforce of memoryas a fluorescentlight(re)activatinga buriedphosphorescence- whatwill be labelledin

    Benjamin'sEndgame 271

    theThesesasa 'secretheliotropism'(4)- exposingthepastasbutthe mournfulprophesyof the present,the presentas the guiltybelatednessof thesurvivor.

    Whenyouaretakenunawaresbyanoutbreakof fireor thenewsof a death,thereis in thefirstmuteshocka feelingof guilt,theindistinctreproach:didyoureallynot knowof this?Did not thedeadperson'sname,thelasttimeyouutteredit, sounddifferentlyin yourmouth?Do younot seein theflamesa signfromyester-dayevening,in a languageyouonlynowunderstand?And if anobjectdear to you has been lost, was therenot, hours, daysbefore,an auraof mockeryor mourningaboutit thatgavethesecretaway?Like ultravioletraysmemoryshowsto eachmaninthebook of life a scriptthatinvisiblyandpropheticallyglossesthetext.

    (IV.l, 142;OWS 99)

    Legible/illegible,theblankspacemarkstheopeningof historicity.It marksboth our guilt and the possibilityof redemption,thereminderboth of lost possibilitiesand of our 'secretagreement'(2),rendez-vous,contractor alliancewiththedead.'Thehistoricalmaterialistis awarethatthisclaimcannotbe settledcheaply'(2).The blank is thusnot the pristineinnocenceof a new beginning,not a newimmediacyor neutralitysusceptibleto whatevercomes.Benjaminwill haveelsewhereidentifiedsuchinnocencewith theamnesiac'startingall over again'which is in fact 'the regulativeidea' of both gamblingand wage-labour(1.2,636;CB 137):the'narcotic'addictionto a gamein whicha Satanic'second-hand',inBaudelaire'swords,'winsalways,withoutcheating- it's thelaw!'36Sucha gamereducesthe playersto druggedout puppetsjerkedforwardby thenumbingpromiseof the 'next'move(1.2,635;CB136),strungout and strungalongby the 'empty'(B) marchoftime.'Theylivetheirlivesasautomata',remarksBenjaminof these'modemmen'whoin theirCartesianzealfor freshbeginningshave'completelyliquidatedtheirmemories'(1.2,634,636;CB 135,137).

    It is thus not a questionof a carteblancheor blank chequeindifferentlyredeemableto anybuyer.The blankmarksratherthesiteof a highlydeterminateindetermination- theguiltywhitenessor inkydissolutionor absolution- of a responsibilityanda redemp-tion both infiniteandinfinitelyfinite. 'Like everygenerationthatwentbeforeus,'writesBenjamin,'wehavebeenendowed[mitgege-hen]witha weak'- emphasisBenjamin's- 'Messianicpower'(2).

    The blankis thereforenot thesignof voluntarism- not a 'new

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    tablet'awaitingthewill's diamantineinscriptions(cf. Zarathustra's'becomehard!')37- but ratherthecipherof thatwhichexceedsthelimitsof figuralityas such.In markingtheradicalunreadabilityofthe pastit alsosignalsa futureunforeseeable- unwritable- fromthe perspectiveof whatis eithergivenor evenconceivablewithinthecategoriesavailableto thepresentday.

    Brecht'sepicinterruptionsbreakthestreamof life, makingit 'foran instant,hoveriridescentin emptyspace[imLeeren]'(11.2,531;VB 13). The destructivecharacterwho 'clearsaway'without aconstructive'vision'of the futureleaves'for a moment,at least,emptyspace[leereRaum]' (IV.l, 397;R 301)in which 'ways'or'crossroads'mightopenup (IV.l, 398;R 303).38'No image',simi-larly, inspiresthe revolutionary:neither 'the ideal of liberatedgrandchildren'(12) nor the utopia 'paintedin the heads'of theSocialDemocrats(13). The angelof historycatchesnot evenaglimpseof thefutureto whichhisbackis turned(9).The momentof 'writinghistory'(16)rathersignalsthe radicalunwritabilityorunrepresentabilityof historyas a 'sequenceof events'(A) to berecounted(or,bythistoken,predicted),thusannouncingtheadventof whatarrives.

    The Stillstand- anarrestbothof theflowof events(11)andofthe 'flow of thoughts'(17) - exposes'a presentwhich is not atransition'(16): a 'Messianiccessationof happening'(17). Thispresentis 'nota transition'becauselogicallytherecanbeno bridgeor transitionto what is unforeseen.The angel'hasthe idea it isaboutto move'(9); therevolutionaryclassesare 'awarethattheyareaboutto makethecontinuumof historyexplode'(15);at the'momentof danger'theoppressedclasssensesthat'a conformismisaboutto overpowerit' (6,myemphasis).The Jetztzeitannouncesthe imminenceof that which, impending,resiststhe immanenceof what is givenor presentable:an 'absolutefuture'in, perhaps,Levinas'ssense.

    The Jetztzeitis thusnothinglike a present,butratherthatwhichunderminestheverypresentabilityof thatwhichcomes.The 'Mes-sianiccessationof happening[Geschehens]'is not an 'occurrence'or eventin time, but ratherthe openingof history(Geschichte)itselfastheinfiniteresponsibilityof thepureevent.The Jetztzeitisthusanythingbut 'themysticalnuncstans',asZohnwouldhaveit(Ill 261,translator'snote). In comingto a 'standstill',time itself'einsteht'(16):not exactly'standsstill' (Zohn) but standsin for,answersfor, pledgesresponsibilityfor a past which permitsnosubstitutes,nor thereforeany retroactivewarrantsor guarantees.

    Benjamin'sEndgame 273

    Kafka,evenwhilepractisinghislivelihoodsellinginsurancepolicies,preacheswith 'unrestrictedpessimism'theultimateuntenabilityofallguarantees(R 209).Baudelairesimilarlyrenounceseveryattemptto find in organicnature(henceequallyin theorganicizedhistoryof historicism)anysecurityor 'warrantee'(Vnterpfande)(1.2,680;CP 32).The 'Messianiccessationof happening'is thustheresponseto andresponsibilityfor thatwhichstrictlyexceedsall contractsorsecurities:'put differently,a revolutionarychancein the fightfortheoppressedpast'(17).

    A chance:thatis, 'wehavebeenendowedwitha weakMessianicpower'(2).For agenerationsweptalongin the'streamof tradition'(1.3,1160;CB 103)or lulled into 'movingwith thecurrent'(11),Eingedenkenoffersonly 'thesmallestguarantee,thestrawatwhichthedrowningmangrasps'(1.3,1243).In thefaceof an'enemy[who]has not ceasedto be victorious'(6), the hunchback'sinfallible'countermove'becomesin fact thebelatedresponseto whatis, assuch,unanswerable:a purepromisewithoutauthorityor will.

    Stalledor shortcircuitedin thesuspendedmomentof its standstill,historycomesto a headas a Medusahead:39a 'death'shead'(cf.1.1,343;OGT 166)arrestedand arrestingthe spectatorwith thedoubleprospectof a pastunviewableexceptwith horror (9) anda futureundeterminablefrom the perspectiveof the presentday.Such a twofoldopacitymarksthe disastrousconstellationof thepresentasMessianicin thesenseof containingbotha promiseandan imperativeall themorepressingfor beingundefined.

    In thiscaesuraopensup the 'spaceof history'(Geschichtsraum)(V, 571;N 1, 9). The forgottenprophesiesof thepast,legibleonlyposthumously,speakonlyof theradicalprematurityof all predictionandhenceof the ultimateundeterminabilityof everyend. In hisnotesto theTheses,Benjamincomparesthehistoricalmaterialisttothephysicist,discerning'Messianicpower'justasthelatteridentifiesin thespectrumthepresenceof ultravioletrays.Such'power'- notonly 'weak'(2) but in fact as intangibleas the 'pure,colourlesslight'of writtenhistory40- refusesto determineitselfempiricallyasa self-legitimatingforce(asin, for example,the 'infinitepower'ofHegelianReason41).'Whoeverwantsto know how a "redeemedhumanity"wouldbe constituted,underwhichconditionsit wouldbe constituted,andwhenone cancounton it, posesquestionstowhichthereis no answer.He mightaswell askaboutthecolourofultravioletrays'(I, 1232).Jean Paul: 'Unlike Orpheus,wewin ourEurydice by looking back and lose her by looking forward.' If

  • 274 R. Comay

    memoryfunctionsphotographicallyasa 'flash'(R 56)or 'developer'(V, 603;N 15a,1) or 'darkroom'(II.3, 1064),advanceexposurewouldsimplyruin thefilm.

    What is exposed,in the 'Messianiccessationof happening',isthatwhichsimultaneouslyconditionsandresistsall disclosure:timeitself as the 'preciousbut tastelessseed' (17). Such a 'seed'-elsewhere:'temporalkernel' (Zeitkern)(PW 578;N 3, 2) (oneshould return to the 'seminal logic' underpinningthis wholediscussion)- manifestsitselfin withdrawingfromtheontic,phenom-enalorder of perception,thusofferinga 'nourishment'exceedingtheculinaryorderassuch.(We arenotfar here,despiteBenjamin'saversions,froma Heideggereanproblematic.42)

    This is not an idealisticor asceticrenunciationof thebody.Theturn awayfrom the consumeristsamplingor 'tasting'of visibleordeterminateoptionsis preciselya commitmentto the 'struggleforcrudeandmaterialthings'(4). (We areexplicitlyalliedherewitha Marxistproblematic.)Hegel'ssomewhatironicinjunctionto 'seeknourishmentandclothingfirst'43- Brecht'struculent'Erst kommtdasFressen... ' - announces,in Benjamin,a materialityexceeding(whileconditioning)the fungibleorderof representationas such.(Here we can beginto tracea mergingof the Marxist and theHeideggereanproblematics.)Such a turn constitutesthe 'mostinconspicuousof all transformations'(4)- inconspicuousaccordingto a 'secretheliotropism'(4), 'secretcontract'or 'secretindex'(2)- pointingusto a futureall themorebindingfor beingundisclosed.(And here,finally,we canbeginto seetheHeideggerean-Marxistbanon representingthefuturejoin forceswith theBiblicalBUder-verbot.)

    The emptyspaceturnseverypageinto a potentialblank page,butblankwitha peculiardeterminacy- '(ful)filled'or 'laden'(14)or 'saturated'(17) with the pressureof the Jetztzeit- which is'anythingbut homogeneous,emptytime'(B). In an agewhen,asCaillois argued,the holidayhasdegeneratedinto thevacation44-rationalizedas entertainment,'daysoff' functioningonly to keepthe workers in their place45- no day, but by this very token,potentiallyeveryday, can be a holiday.The possibilityof soberintoxicationpresentsitself at everyturn. VisitingMoscow(a citywhosechurches'all preservetheir incognito'(IV.1, 344;R 126)Benjaminenthusesthatthe Russians,'if we believethem',intendto eliminateSundaysin favourof 'moveableholidays'- a 'signofthe transparency'of both spaceand time (IV.1, 197).(Benjaminhadearlierobserveda similar'porosity'in modemNaples;'a grain

    Benjamin'sEndgame 275

    of Sundayis hiddenin eachweekday,andhow muchweekdayinthis Sunday!'(IV.1, 311;R 168).)Such~ransparencywouldover-cometheorganizing'rosary'(A) of officialclocktime(institutional-izedin theboundrhythmsof liturgicalperformance):thusBenjaminwritesof a 'feast'freedof the 'shackles'of all 'festivesongs'.46Theholiday,secularized,becomesthesiteof a generalizedawakening,engagingthepossibilityof redemptionateverystep.For 'theJews',prohibitedfrom'investigatingthefuture','everysecondof timewasthestraitgatethroughwhichtheMessiahmightenter'(B).

    But alternatively:if 'everysecond'becomespotentiallytheMes-sianicJetztzeit,theMessiah'svery'presence',asBlanchotwill argue,'is no guarantee'.47Messianicarrivalcannotcompleteor closeoffthehistoryit interrupts,in thesenseof a finaljudgementto securesalvationor eternalpeace.In this endgameto endall endgames,the Messiah'scomingsignalsonly the belatednessof whatcannotarriveon time- 'noton thelastdaybuton thedayafter',asKafkaput it - introducingthe endlessnessof a vigil withouthope ofresolutionandthehopelessnessof a belatedhope.Kafka:

    The Messiahwill comeonlywhenhe is no longernecessary;hewill comeonlyon thedayafterhisarrival;hewill come,notonthelastday,but on thedayafter.48

    Blanchotglosses:

    His beingthere,then,is not thecoming.With theMessiah,whois there,thecallmustalwaysresound:'Come,Come.'His pres-enceis no guarantee.Both futureand past (it is saidat leastoncethat the Messiahhasalreadycome),his comingdoesnotcorrespondto anypresenceat all.... And if it happensthattothe question 'When will you come?' the Messiah answers,'Today,'the answeris certainlyimpressive:so, it is today!It isnowandalwaysnow.Thereis no needto wait,althoughto waitis anobligation.And whenis it now? ... 49

    IVPascal'sit netautpasdormirmustbe secularized...

    (Adorno, 'Commitment')

    A clockringing'sixtysecondsout of everyminute',thoughin onesenseof coursenot a verygoodalarmclock, is in anothersensethe perfectone. Like Tinguely'sself-destructingmachine(or likeHeidegger'sbrokenhammer),it hasin itshyper-functionaldysfunc-

  • 276 R. Comay

    tionalitythe inertconspicuousnessof everyout-of-worktool. Bothsleepandwakefulnessbecome,strictlyspeaking,quiteimpossible,leavingonly anuneasyvigilanceor alertnessno lessimperativeforbeinguncontrolled.

    Thus theparadeof thegreatinsomniacs:Breton,Proust,Kafka,Kraus. The Surrealist'dreamwave' of imageswearsaway 'thethresholdbetweensleepand waking'(11.1,296;R 178).Proust,'obeyingthe lawsof nightandhoney',staysup writingin hiscork-linedstudydayandnight(ILl, 312;I1l202f.).Kafka's'indefatigableassistants'- like children,fools or students- nevergo to bed(indeed,remarksBenjamin,that'sno doubt the bestpart aboutstudying,howeveruseless,at leastit keepsyouup all night)(11.2,435; III 136).Kraus, , "in theseloud times", (11.1,338;R 243),works the 'nightwatch'(pp. 354;260):in his own words,simply,, "I workdayandnight", (pp.354;259).Thus,too, thetravelogueof the greatnocturnalcities:the gas-litstreetsof Paris becomingthe sceneof a generalizednoctambulisme(1.2,553;CB 50), thelittle childrenof Naplesstayingout all hoursof the night (IV.1,314; R 172).

    'Waking',writesBenjamin,'is theparadigmof remembrance'(V,491).If theessentialtaskhereis thatof 'wakingfromthenineteenthcentury'(V, 580;N 4, 3) - fromthe'dreamsleep'(V, 494)(Marx's'nightmare'50)by whichcapitalismkeepsus in its thrall - suchanawakeningpresupposesno ultimateoppositionbetweensleepingandwakingconsciousnessandthereforeimpliesno finallucidityorself-control.If Benjamin'sown 'Copernicanrevolution'(V, 490),like Kant's, involvesa certainawakeningfromour dogmaticslum-bers- in thiscase,from the historicistaddictionto the 'narcotic'objectivismof the'onceupona time'(V, 578;N 3,4)- the'heliotro-pic' turnto thepresent'sunrisingin theskyof history'(4)subvertseveryheliocentrism(andhencetheheliopoliticsof anycommunityfoundedin theenlightenedcontemplationof a self-certaintruthS!).For thesun is herein eclipse,permittingonly fleeting'images'orsnapshotsof thepast.

    It isn't thatthepastcastsits lighton thepresentor thepresentcastsits light on thepast:rather,an imageis thatin whichthepastandthenow-timeflashinto a constellation.

    (V, 576;N 2a,3)

    The 'leapin (or under)theopenskyof history'(14)thusimpliesneithera Platonicemergencefrom the nocturnalcaveor puppet-theatreof oblivionnor Marx'semancipationfromideologyasfrom

    Benjamin'sEndgame 277

    the cameraobscuraof our benighteddreams.52In an agewhereartificiallightingand glassarchitecturewill have obliteratedthedistinctionbetweeninside and outsideas betweendaytimeandnight-time- thusBenjamincitesa descriptionof Baudelairegoingout in his bedroomslippers,usingthe quay and sidewalkas hiswritingtable(V.316),at homeequally(whichis to saynot at all)on thestreetsaswithinhis own four walls (1.2,573;CB 70)- inanagein whichtheverydifferencebetweeninsideandoutsidewillhavebeenerasedor renderedfutile,thenotionof emancipationastheemergenceto solarclaritybecomesquiteinoperative.Nor is theCartesiandiscriminationtenableherebetweensleepandwaking_ultimatelya banishingof thespectreof theautomatismthreateningtheclarityanddistinctnessof our consciouslife.

    If thepresentannouncesitselfas'themiddayof history'(V, 603;N 15,2), sucha solarmomentis darkenedby a putrefactionthreat-eningthe pellucidclarityof any retrieve.By 1940,this diurnalblindnesswill havea specialdeterminacyof its own; the summersolsticealsomarksthedateof Petain'sarmistice,thefinalblowtoHitler'sFrenchopposition(andhence,for Benjaminasfor somanyothers,thebeginningof theend).

    'One of the implicitpresuppositionsof psychoanalysis',remarksBenjamin,'is thatthe oppositionbetweenbeingasleepandbeingawakehas no validityfor empiricalformsof consciousness'(V,492).As a formof vigilancetowardsthepastwhichgraspsdangeraspreciselythe imminenceof whathasalreadyhappened,waking(Erwachtsein)is the 'dialecticalbreakingpoint' (V, 579;N 3a, 3)whichprecedesthedistinctionbetweensleepingandawakenedcon-sciousness,announcinga responsibilityexceedingthe 'interest'ofevery subjective(or intersubjective)being. (We are clearlyapproachingLevinasianinsomnia,53the 'nocturnalintensity'ofwhichBlanchotwrites.54) Thus a 'presenceof mind' (Geistesgegen-wart)is initiatedin whichboth 'presence'and 'mind'are divestedof theiridentityandauthority,therebymoving- to quoteBenjaminquotingEngels- ' "beyondthefieldof thought", (V, 595;N lOa,2).

    'That things"justgo on" " writesBenjamin,'isthecatastrophe.It is notthatwhichalwaysliesaheadbutthatwhichis alwaysgiven.Thus,Strindberg... : Hell is notsomethingthatawaitsus,butourownlife, hereandnow' (V, 592;N 9a, 1). If thecatastropheis notimpendingin someabstractfuturebut inscribedas alwaysalreadypast,thebrokenalarmclockcallsus to a vigilanceanda responsi-bilityall themoreurgentfor beinginvokedtoo late.

  • 278 R. Comay

    VSometimestheawakeningcall, thatchanceeventwhichgives'permission'to act,comesbuttoolate- whenthebestpartof youthandthestrengthto acthasalreadybeenusedup in sittingstill;andhowmanya manhasdiscoveredto hishorrorwhenhe 'rose'up thathis limbshadgoneto sleepandhis spiritwasalreadytooheavy.'It is too late'- he hassaidto himself,havinglostfaithin himselfandhenceforthfor everuseless.

    (Nietzsche,BeyondGoodandEvil)

    In 'One-WayStreet',Benjamindescribesthechild'sexperienceofbeing'enclosedin theworld of matter'.Hiding behindthecurtainheturnsgauzy,becomesastatuecrouchedbeneaththediningtable,'is himselfdoor' behindthedoor. At thestrikingof theclock,heturnspuppet-like,his grimacecongealsinto a deathmask,fleshturnsto stone.

    In sucha mannerdoesa manwhois beinghangedbecomeawareof the realityof rope andwood. Standingbehindthe doorwaycurtain,thechildbecomeshimselfsomethingfloatingandwhite,a ghost.The diningtableunderwhichhe is crouchingturnshimintothewoodenidol in a templewhosefourpillarsarethecarvedlegs.And behindthe door he is himselfdoor, wearsit as hisheavymaskandas a shamanwill bewitchall thosewho unsus-pectinglyenter.At no costmusthe be found. When he pullsfaces,he is told, the clockneedonly strikeandhe will remainso. The elementof truthin thishe findsout in hishidingplace.Anyonewho discovershimcanpetrifyhim asan idol underthetable,weavehimforeverasa ghostinto thecurtain,banishhimfor life into theheavydoor.

    (IV.1, 116;OWS 74)

    But if 'life' is itselfthelatenessof anunfinisheddying,everyhoursoundsthedeathknell: everyfaceturnsinto a deathmask,everychild a woodendoll. The baroque'theatreof cruelty'(1.1,392;OGT218) presentsthisclearly,thehumanbodyalreadyfragmentedor decomposing(pp. 391ff.; 216ff.), interludespantomimedas'expressivestatuary'(pp. 368; 192f.), actorsplayingstiff-limbedpuppetsor playing-cardkings (pp. 304;125).55An 'Italian trick'displaysthe living body as acephalic,the actor'sheademergingdisembodiedthrough a coveredtabletop, the concealedbodyhuncheddwarf-likeunderneath(pp. 393;219):manplaysat beinga machine.The body'sown excrescencesstagethe chiasmusofa living dying. What for Plotinusexemplifiedthe most extreme

    Benjamin'sEndgame 279

    corruptibilityof matter- hairandfingernails'growing'in thegrave56- signalsfor Benjamintheultimateundecidabilityof life anddeathas such:what is 'cut awayas deadmatterfrom the living body'proliferateson the corpseas if still alive (pp. 392;218).Thus 'amementomori is arousedin the physis':deathno longerappearssimplyasor at 'theendof life' (ibid.) but astheveryconditionof(im)possibilityof life assuch.

    ThusBeckett'sClov: 'there'sno morenature'.57Adorno, readingEndgameas the storyof 'completereification',writesof Spirit'sreductionto 'deadinventory'.58If for BenjamintheMarxistrubricof reification59cannotentirelycapturewhat he describesas thethoroughgoing'destructionof theorganic'(11.1,670;CP 19),theageof capitalismnonethelessgivesampleevidenceof itsdemise.Itwouldbe moreor lessmechanicalto multiplythe examples.Thedismemberedbodyof thebaroqueTrauerspielbecomestheautoma-ton of modemtimes.Thus Poe'spedestriansadaptthemselvestomachinesand, like gamblers,drunksor factory-workers,'expressthemselvesonlyautomatically':' "if jostled,theybowedprofuselytothejostlers", (1.2,632;III 176).Flaubert'sStAnthonyfetishisticallyvisualizesthe 'reductionof the livingto deadmatter'(V, 448):' _Desormaistu n'es plus, 0 matierevivante!/Qu'ungranitentoured'unevagueepouvante... '60For Baudelaire- whoseown 'jerkygait', 'eccentricgrimaces'(1.2,616;III 163)and 'sadistic'passionfor animatedtoysandclockwork(V, 447f.)betraya certain'empa-thywiththeinorganic'(1.2,558;CB 55)- manbecomes'a kaleido-scopeequippedwith consciousness'(1.2,650;III 175).61Womanbecomesa 'jet-eyedstatue'(V, 416).62By 'loweringthe barriersbetweentheorganicandtheinorganic'(V, 118),fashion'prostitutesthelivingbodyto theorganic'(V, 51;CB 166).'The rightsof thecorpse' are represented(ibid.). The bourgeoisinterieurof theSecondEmpirebecomesa doll'shousefor its occupants,who are'encased'or 'embedded'in plush like 'deadfauna' fossilizedingranite(1.2,549;CB 46). Photographyintroducesthe 'inhuman,onemightevensaydeadly'(1.2,646;III 188)experienceof beingposthumizedin one'sownlifetime.In theageof technicalreproduc-ibility, the humanbody becomesfragmented,unrecognizabletoitself- 'experimentshaveprovedthata mandoesnot recognizehisownwalkon thescreenor hisownvoiceon thephonograph'(11.2,436;III 137)- decorporealizedand 'deprivedof reality,life [and]voice'(1.2,489;III 229).

    Thus'theunfreedom,imperfection,andcollapseof ... beautifulnature'(1.1,352;OGT 176).Nature'smortificationas'ruin', 'decay'

  • 280 R. Comay

    or 'eternaltransience'(pp. 355;179)punctureseveryfantasyof'eternallife' (pp. 353; 178). The baroquevision of 'the totaldisappearanceof eschatology'(pp. 259;81) shattersequallyeveryHeilsgeschichteor 'universalhistory'(17)consummatedin eternalrest.

    The dwarf is alreadypuppet:nothingremainsto animatetheautomatonor machine.Everyattemptto findthe'littleman'withinthemachine'sinterior63yieldsonlytheinfiniteexteriorityof aDeleu-zian'assemblage'strungtogetherbya rhizomaticnetworkof puppetstrings,'nervefibres'withouta puppeteer.64The demystificationofthe 'woodedinterior'(1.1,342;OGT 165)of theRomanticsymbolspellssimultaneouslyboth the 'rending'(11.1,309;R 192)of Car-tesianinwardnessandtheimpossibilityof anyfinal'transfiguration'(Verklarung)(1.1,343;OGT 166)of a deadenedlife. 'Thereis notthefaintestglimmerof anyspiritualizationof thephysical'(pp.363;187).No deusexmachinaintervenesto repairthewreckageleft inthetempest'swake(9).Whatidealismputsforthas'mind'or 'soul'or 'consciousness'is exposedas alreadyspectraland 'figural'(1.1,363;OGT 187):a ghostin the machine.Gryphiusprovidesthis'marvelloustranslation':' "If anyoneshouldfind it oddthatwe donot bring forwarda god from the machine[einengottaus demgerilste],like theancients,but rathera spiritfromthegrave[einengeistausdemgrabe],let him considerwhathasoccasionallybeenwrittenaboutghosts", (pp. 313;134).

    Whathasbeenmorethanoccasionallyobservedaboutghosts,ofcourse,is that theyrepresentthe impossibilityof eitherdyingorliving:whathasbeenimproperlyor unsafelyburied(cf. 6) comesback to hauntthe living in the eternityof a recurrencewithoutresurrectionor theconsolationof aneternallife (cf. 9).The ghostthusexpressesthe recurrenceof whatcannot,as such,returnormakegoodthelosses.Everyafterlifebecomesthe'overlife'(Ober-leben)(IV.1, 10f.;III 71)of an'over-ripeness[Uberreife]anddecay'(1.1,355;OGT 179).

    In theageof Fascism,'thefaceof nature'hascongealedinto the'Hippocraticfeatures'of a deathmask,frozenas the 'Sphinxlikecountenance'of a nationproppingitselfon themysteriesof bloodand soil (111.1,247f.;TGF 126f.).In this context,any appealto'life' can only serveto blur 'the fact thatthereis life no longer'.Das Lebenlebtnicht.Adorno writes:

    To speakimmediatelyof the immediateis to behavemuchas

    Benjamin'sEndgame 281

    thosenovelistswho drapetheir marionettesin imitatedbygonepassionslike cheapjewelry,andmakepeoplewho areno morethancomponentpartsof machineryactasif somethingdependedon theiractions.Our perspectiveof life haspassedintoanideol-ogywhichconcealsthefactthatthereis life no longer.65

    'Life' hasbecomethe ideologyof a classsocietywhichneedstomaskitsownexclusionsunderthehomogeneityof raw'experience'.Erlebnis is the 'euphemism'(1.2, 681; CP 32a)concealingthemortifiedmediacyof a life 'none of us has time to live' (11.1,320f.;III 211).GermanFascismcelebratesas Urerlebnisthebloodyexperienceof thebattlefield,naturalizingwhatit castigatesas the, "senselesslymechanicalmachinewar" , it seeksto vitalizeand,assuch,prolongs(III, 247;TGF 127).Technologyis eitherdemonizedas 'boring' (ibid.) or mystifiedvitalisticallyas 'storm of steel'(Jtinger).66The dreamof fusiononlyoccludestheimminentrealityof 'millionsof humanbodies... choppedto piecesandchewedupby iron andgas'(III, 249;TGF 128).'Life' and 'machinality'heresimultaneouslyreinforce and occludeeach other as presocial,abstractforces.What Heideggerannouncesas the complicityorZugehOrigkeitof MachenschaftandErlebnis,67Benjaminexposesasthejoint mystificationof technologyandnaturein themodemage(III, 247;TGF 126f.).

    Understoodin its 'entirelynon-metaphoricalobjectivity[Sachlich-keit],'writesBenjamin,'life' in factexceedsthedomainsof 'organiccorporeality','animality'and'soul'.68'In thefinalanalysis,therangeof life mustbedeterminedby historyratherthanbynature'(ibid.).Historyis, then,life'sownexcessto itselfasa sur-vival(Uber-leben)of an outlivedor obsolescent'nature':the 'over-ripeness'whichmarks the limits of everyteleologyof developmentor growth.'Naturewasnot seenby [thebaroquewriters]in bud andbloom,but in theover-ripenessanddecayof her creations.In naturetheysaweternaltransience,andherealonedid the saturninevisionofthis generationrecognizehistory'(1.1,355;OGT 179).If 'life' ismarkedby purposivenessor Zweckmassigkeit,its 'end'disturbstherationalentelechyof everyorganism;'therelationshipbetweenlifeandpurposiveness[is] ... almostbeyondthegraspof theintellect[Erkenntnis]'(IV.1, 11;III 72).The 'completelydifferentteleology'of thebaroqueconteststheanthropocentricoptimismof theEnlight-enment,holdingoutnot for 'humanhappiness'but for 'instruction'(1.1,347;OGT 170).

    This 'completelydifferentteleology'69disturbstheaestheticpleni-

  • 282 R. Comay

    tudeof all idealism.The organicharmoniesof Kant and Schilleraresuspended.The baroquedeterminationof 'life' as a 'game'or'puppet-play'(1.1,261;OGr 82)conteststhe autotelicsufficiencyof Kantian purposiveness,togetherwith its correlate,the self-sufficientself. Sucha gamethereforeimpliesneithertheconsolingaestheticismof aTieck(II.2, 538;VB 21)northebourgeoisphantas-magoriaof the interior ('his drawing-roombecamea box in theworld theatre'(V, 52; CB 168)). 'Historicalmaterialismis notdiverted'by thepretty'spectacle'of the 'streamof tradition'(1.3,1160;CB 103).The aestheticideologyof schOneScheinis interrup-ted (cf. 1.2,491;III 230).'The falseappearanceffalscheSchein]oftotalityis extinguished'(1.1,352;OGr 176).Scheinis no longertheillusionistic'sheen'or 'radiance'(cf.pp. 356;180)whichforgivesor consecratesthegivenbyharmonizingit, buta 'shade'or 'shadow'hauntingthe plenitudeof life.70The lebendeGestaltof Weimarclassicismis disrupted.The conciliationsof everySpieltriebareturnedback.History,construedas 'scene'or 'setting',becomesinfacteinandereSchauplatzof dismemberedbody-partsandanimatedstageprops(1.1,311;OGr 132),'merginginto thesetting'asruin(pp. 353;178)or 'scatteredlike seedsover the ground'(pp. 271;92).

    Brecht'sactors'play at acting'- paradoxicallypretendto act,dramatizetheirowntheatricality- in a performativitywhichshort-circuitsthe reflexiveplenitudeof Romanticirony and thus self-consciousness(11.2,538;VB 23).For Kafka, 'manis on thestagefrom the beginning':the Nature Theatre of Oklahomaaccepts'everyone'on the conditionthatthey'playthemselves'(II.2, 422;III 124)- comparetheopportunityprovidedto theRussianworkersto 'playthemselves'on themoviescreen71- accordingto a paradoxi-callogicof (self)-mimesis.Suchamimetologysubvertstheadaequa-tio assumedby everyclassicism- in fact exposesthis as strictlycontradictory- by positingthe originaryself-dissimulationof theimitated'self'. 'Play' becomesan endlesseffectof 'framingandminiaturization'(1.1,262;OGr 83), 'spaced'or 'quoted'accordingto a 'dialectic'whichpreservesan essentialdistancebetweenwhat'shows'andwhatis 'shown'(II.2, 592;VB 12).Catharticreconcili-ationis thuspre-empted.The play'sownnon-identityto itself'para-lyses'(lahmet)the audience's'druglike'tendencyto empathyoridentification(II.2, 537f;VB 21) andthusprohibitseveryidentifi-cationwith the aggressor(cf. 7). History thus refusesthe rosyoptimismof Hegel'spanoramatic'picturegallery',72withits theatri-cal conciliationof viewingsubject(jar uns)andobjectviewed(jar

    Benjamin'sEndgame 283

    es). Its puppet-playbecomesa 'lugubriousgame'73or 'mourning. play'- a chess-gamestagedagainstanunseenenemyandbeforeanunnamedaudience74- an endlessFort-Da commemoratingan infi-niteloss.

    VICLOV: 'Fit to wakethedead!Did you hearit?'HAMM: 'Vaguely.'

    (Beckett,Endgame)

    'Sometimesinadequate,evenchildishmeasuresmayserveto rescueone.'75Anotherfragmentof 'One-WayStreet'portraysa fairgroundshootingrange.The customerproveshis marksmanshipby hittingthebull'seye,whichactivatesa seriesof miniaturepuppettheatresrepresentingautomatedscenesof tortureor degradation:Joan ofArc in prison,deathby guillotine,'a penuriousinterior',a dancingbear, the damnedin hell, penal servitudeand so on. Benjaminsuddenlyremarksthat one 'could also imagine'an alternativesequenceof eventsbeingtriggered.

    One mustthink of the fairy-story[dasMarchen]of the bravelittle tailor, andcouldalso imagineSleepingBeautyawakenedwithashot,SnowWhitefreedof theapplebyashotorLittleRedRiding Hood releasedby a shot.The shotbreaksin magically[marchenhaft]upontheexistencesof thepuppetswiththatheal-ingpowerthathewstheheadsoff monstersandrevealsthemtobe princesses.

    (IV.l, 127;OWS 85)

    By such'magical'interventionthemythicalautomatismof historyis interrupted.The shotwouldthusdisrupttheveryviolencewhichit automaticallyandotherwiseperpetuates- a pharmakon,simul-taneouslywithinandoutsidethe system- a 'healing'partakingofthedestructivelogicit wouldsubvert.Benjamin'srewritinghereofGrimm is decisive.Elsewhereit is saidto be thenoisytumultoftheclassstrugglewhichis to wakeup theSleepingBeauty(Br 418).If the 'shock'thatcrystallizesor arreststhecontinuum(17)alsoreiteratesand thusprolongsthe 'shockexperience'of a debasedErlebnis(cf. 1.2,629-32;III 174-6),nothingunambiguouslydistin-guishesMessianic'saving'from mythical'danger'.Wo aber dasRettendeist, wachstGefahrauch ... (to rewriteHolderlin). 'Themerestsummonscan distractme from anything',writesAragon,

  • 284 R. Comay

    'savefrommyowndistraction'.76Adorno,whoatonepointchastisesBenjaminfor his 'undialectical'adherenceto the (capitalist)logicof distractibility,77elsewhereaccuseshimof invokingtherevolutionas a 'deusex machina'.78A morepreciseformulationwouldread:machinaexmachina.If 'ambiguity'is theessentialfeatureof Benja-min's'dialecticsat a standstill'(V.1, 5; CB 171),the dreamsleepis inevitablyprolongedby whatdisturbsit. As anyoneknowswhohassimultaneouslyfailedbothto sleepthroughandto wakeup toanalarmclock,themomentof awakeningis perhapsalsothemostintensemomentof thedream.'The dialecticalimageis thereforeadreamimage'(ibid.).

    Benjaminremarksthat'withcunning,notwithoutit, weextricateourselvesfrom therealmof dream'(V, 234).Elsewherehe writesthat 'reasonand cunning[Vernunftund List] haveinsertedtricksintomyth',suchthat'theirforcesceaseto be invincible'(II.2, 415;III 117).Wakingis saidto standwithin the dream'sinterioras a'Trojan horse' (V, 495)or immanentexterior:a woodenpuppetconcealinglivingmen.(AccordingtoBaroquemythography,Palam-edes,who conceivedthe horse,also inventedchesswhile killingtime- in more thanone sense- at Troy.79)Waking is thus theautomatismthatinterruptstheautomatismof thedreamwork,apo-tropaicallyrepeatingwhatit wouldresist.

    Thereis thusa 'teleologicalmoment'wherebythedream'secretlyawaitsitsownawakening':thedreamer'awaitsthesecondatwhichhe wrestshimselfwith cunningfrom [death's]grip' (V, 492).Thisis clearlynottheprovidentialteleologyof theEnlightenment- fromKant to Schellingto Hegel- accordingto whicha universalReasonactualizesitselfthroughtheexploitationof unconsciousindividualpassions.If Hegel's'cunningof Reason'(List derVernunft)achievesitsendbythe'sacrifice'and'abandonment'of particularexistence,80the 'cunning'describedby Benjaminin factoutwitsHegeliancun-ning by exposingthe latter'scollaborationin the mythicalrepro-ductionof theSame.'As longasthereis a singlebeggar,thereisstill myth'(V, 505).'Wakingis thedialectical,Copernicanrevolu-tion' (V, 491)whichdisorientsthesolartrajectoryof Hegel's'greatday'swork of Spirit'8!by recallingwhatevery'theodicy'82of rec-onciliationforgets.'Courage,humour,cunning,andfortitude'mani-festthemselvesin theclassstruggle,writesBenjamin,by 'constantlycallinginto questioneveryvictory,pastandpresent,of the rulers'(4). HegelianReasonprovesits cunningby its abilityto remainimmunefromor uncontaminatedbywhatit inflictson itsunwittingpuppets,thusovercomingthe deathit dishesout. The cunningof

    Benjamin'sEndgame 285

    historicalmaterialismis to exposethatteleologyto be, in fact,thespuriousinstrumentalitywherebypresentpowerslegitimatetheirrule.The 'teleologicalmoment'of awakeningis therefore,in Benja-min, a 'completelydifferentteleology'(1.1,347;OGT 170)fromHegel's.Deathis neitherabsorbednor absolvedby theconscious-nesswhichwouldcommemorateit: one'extricatesoneself'(V, 492)fromdeathwithoutsurmountingit.

    Accordingto 'Russianfolk belief,'writesBenjamin,resurrectionis less a 'transfiguration'(Verkliirung)than a 'disenchantment'(Entzauberung)(II.2, 459;III 103):a kindof 'magicalescape'(miir-chenhaftEntrinnen)(ibid.) from the 'nightmare'placedby mythupon man'schest(pp. 458; 102).A demythologizedmagicthusturns againstthe mythicalrationalityof the Enlightenment.Thefairytale's(Miirchens)'happilyeverafter' (pp. 457;102)conteststhe narcotic(V, 578;N 3, 4) 'onceupon a time'of historicism's'bordello'(16). Such 'magic'defieseveryidealism.The gunshotthat'magicallybreaksin upontheexistenceof thepuppets'(IV.1,127;OWS 85) neitherspiritualizestheir woodenmaterialitynorredeemstheirfate.

    The little childpetrifiedamongthe furniture'doesnot tire of thestrugglewith thedemon'.Dwarfish,puppet-likebeneaththetable,he piercesthesilenceof the idolswithhis suddenshout.A disen-chantedmagicfindsin the Golgothaof the interieurthecipherofresurrectedflesh.

    At theseeker'stouchhe drivesout with a loud cry thedemonwho hasso transformedhim - indeed,withoutwaitingfor themomentof discovery,he grabsthehunterwith a shoutof self-deliverance.That is whyhedoesnot tireof thestrugglewiththedemon.In thisstruggletheapartmentis thearsenalof hismasks.Yet onceayear,in mysteriousplaces,in theiremptyeye-sockets,theirfixedmouths,presentslie. Magicdiscoverybecomesscience.As its engineerthe child disenchants[entzaubert]the gloomyparentalapartmentandlooksfor Eastereggs.

    (IV.1, 116;OWS 74)

    VII

    Towardstheendof theMeno, afterputtingtheslaveboy throughhis motions,Socratesexplainsto Meno the needto convertdoxainto knowledge(97e-98b).If left untetheredby the logos,opinion

  • 286 R. Comay

    hasthewantonnessattributedto writingin thePhaedrus.Like themovingstatuesof Daedaluswhichrun awayif no one tiesthem_or, addsSocrates,like a slavewho keepson givingyou theslip -unboundopinions'run awayfrom a man'smind'. Opinion is theautomatismwhichdisruptswhile simulatingthe paternallogos:'afine thingso long as [it] stay[s]in [its]place'.Socratesadds:'but[it]won't staylong'.Memory,theself-recollectionof the logos,isherethemasterpullingthestringsof theautomaton:a 'magnificentcreation',remarksSocrates,of thelatter,if tethered;if setloose,arenegadeslave.

    Benjamin'shunchbackpulls thestringsbut, althougha Meister,is no master.And the stringis both tangledand frayed.If the'Penelopework of Eingedenken'(ILl, 311;III 202)resembles,inits involuntariness,the forgetfulnessof an automatism,somethinginvariablyescapes.Plato'stetherbecomes,in Benjamin,a weave,thatis, a textile,a textum:or, ashewritesat theendof hisProustessay,a net 'castinto the seaof the tempsperdu'(pp. 323;214).He observesof the messof Proust'sgalleysthat 'no one'stextismoretightlywoven'(pp. 311;202).But if memoryis thatinfiniterewritingof thepastwe call 'experience',theweb'stightnessis noguaranteeof a final catch.For whattightensthemeshis preciselywhatloosensit: the possibilityof endlessrevisionputsthe object(if in factthereisone)foreverin abeyance.To 'seizehold[bemiichti-gen]of amemory'(6), to 'capture[festhalten]thepastasanimage'(5) is preciselyto relinquishall masteryandcontrol.Whatescapesis, of course,the imagethat 'flashesup' neverto be seenagain(5): 'a fragilereality',Benjaminremarks(ILl, 314;III 205).

    Historicism(like Plato's Socrates)thinks the 'truth won't runawayfrom us' (5), inertlyavailable,self-identical,like a 'whore'(16).Benjaminalertsus to thesecretinterestsatwork in suchanassumption,exposesthehiddenpowerplaysfor whattheyare.Amemorythat unravelsas it weavesbreaksthe smooththreadofprogress(1.3,1233)- the causal'rosary'of historicism(A), the'chain'of tradition(9), ultimatelythe 'snare'of the 'apparatus'(10)- and,perhaps,thereby(buttoolate,of course)setstheslavefree.

    NOTES

    1 'OberdenBegriffderGeschichte',in GesammelteSchriften,7 vols,vol.1.2 (Frankfurtam Main: Suhrkamp,1980-9),p. 693; 'Theseson thePhilosophyof History',in Illuminations,translatedbyHarryZohn (New

    Benjamin'sEndgame 287

    York: SchockenBooks, 1969),p. 253.All quotationsfromthe'Theses'will henceforthbe indicatedin thetextby thesisnumberor letter.AllGermanreferencesto theGesammelteSchriftenwill be indicatedsimplybyvolume(Romannumeral),part(Arabic)andpagenumber.All otherquotationsfromBenjaminwill be indicatedaccordingto the followingabbreviations:Br, Briefe, ed. GershomScholemand Theodor W.Adorno (Frankfurtam Main: Suhrkamp,1978),2 vols; CB, CharlesBaudelaire:A Lyric Poet in theEra of High Capitalism,translatedbyHarry Zohn (London:Verso, 1976);CP, 'CentralPark', translatedbyLloyd Spencer,in New GermanCritique34 (1985),pp. 32-58;N, 'N[RetheTheoryof Knowledge,Theoryof Progress]',translatedbyLeighHafrey and Richard Sieburth,in Gary Smith(ed.) WalterBenjamin:Philosophy,Aesthetics,History (Chicago,IL: Universityof ChicagoPress,1989),pp. 43-83;OGT, The Origin of GermanTragicDrama,translatedby John Osborne(London: Verso, 1977);OWS, One-WayStreetandOtherWritings,translatedby EdmundJephcottandKingsleyShorter(London:Verso, 1979);R, Reflections,translatedby EdmundJephcott(NewYork: Harcourt,Brace,Jovanovich,1978);TGF, 'Theor-iesof GermanFascism:On theCollectionof EssaysWarandWarrior,editedby Ernst Junger', translatedby Jerolf Wikoff, in New GermanCritique17(1979),pp. 120-8;UB, UnderstandingBrecht,translatedbyAnna Bostock (London: Verso, 1983).Unlessotherwiseindicated,Iwill citetheexistingtranslations,withmodificationswhereappropriate.

    2 RolandBarthes,'A Lessonin Writing',in Image-Music-Text,translatedby StephenHeath(NewYork: Hill & Wang,1972),p. 174.

    3 Nietzsche,'The Wandererand His Shadow',61, Human, All TooHuman,translatedbyR. J. Hollingdale(Cambridge:CambridgeUniver-sityPress,1982),p. 325.

    4 Nietzsche,On theGenealogyof Morals, III. 26,translatedby WalterKaufmann(NewYork: Vintage,1969),p. 159.

    5 Nietzsche,'The Magician',in Thus SpokeZarathustra,Fourth Part,translatedby WalterKaufmannin ThePortableNietzsche(New York:Viking, 1968),pp. 363-70.

    6 See,for example,1.1,104;11.1,125;IV.1, 171.7 For Hegel'scritiqueof thetraditionalChristiandepictionof Jesusasa

    historicallyremoteeventof incarnationpresagingareconciliationdistantin an otherworldlyfuture, seePhiinomenologiedes Geistes,ed. EvaMoldenhauerandKarl MarkusMichel(FrankfurtamMain: Suhrkamp,1970),p. 574;translatedby A. V. Miller as Phenomenologyof Spirit(Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress,1970),p. 478.Henceforthabbrevi-atedasPhG; PS.

    8 PhG 46;PS 27f.9 JacquesDerrida,Glas (Paris:Galilee,1974).

    10Comparea similartrope in Novalis, citedby Benjaminin 1.1, 101,togetherwithIrvingWohlfarth'scommentsin 'MessianicProseandtheArt of Awakening',Glyph7 (1980),pp. 131-48at p. 137.

    11Proust,A la recherchedu tempsperdu, I, Du c6tede chezSwann,1(Paris:Gallimard,1954),p. 15.

    12Paul Ricoeur,FreudandPhilosophy:An Essayon Interpretation,trans-latedby DenisSavage(NewHaven,CT: Yale UniversityPress,1970).

  • 288 R. Comay

    13 In the followingremarksI am greatlyindebtedto Irving Wohlfarth,'Marchenfur Dialektiker:WalterBenjaminund seinbiicklichtMann-lein', in K. Doderer (ed.) WalterBenjaminund die Kinderliteratur(Weinheim:JuventaVerlag, 1988),pp. 121-76.See also his 'On theMessianicStructureof WalterBenjamin'sLast Reflections',in Glyph3(1978),esp.pp. 159-62.

    14 QuotingWilly Haason Kafka


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