THE FUTURE BETWEEN CATASTROPHE AND PROGRESS IN WALTER BENJAMIN
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7443/problemata.v12i1.55777Keywords:
Future, Progress, Past, MarxismAbstract
In this article, we will make incursions into Walter Benjamin's more political texts, seeking to analyze the relationship between the past and the future and how the appreciation of the latter, from an Enlightenment inspiration, ended up resulting for Benjamin in an unstoppable myth of progress and infinite perfectibility human. We will show, as according to our author, this “progressive” idea ended up seducing everyone, from right to left, with “catastrophic” implications for the oppressed class. From an analysis of the "Angel of history" of the Theses, we will outline Benjamin's "unofficial Marxism" not only emphasizing his strong Jewish matrix, but also through his relationship with Asja Lacis and Bertold Brecht, his attack on social German democracy and its recourse to the utopian socialism of Auguste Blanqui.
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Copyright (c) 2021 Deborah Spiga
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