Working with Walter Benjamin: Everyday life, Media and the City

Introduction

There has been a good deal written about Walter Benjamin and his work in the 70 years since his death, he remains one of the most cited writers of the last half century. Indeed, Udi E. Greenberg has even written of the presence of what he describes as a ‘Walter Benjamin Industry’. Walter Benjamin’s work has endured well beyond what would appear to have been its original shelf-life, his concepts and ideas have found new uses and new forms of synthesis with other theories and perspectives. Benjamin’s ideas have apparently remained plausible and credible where others have fallen away; there is clearly something in his work that affords this level of applicability despite the type of social change we have experienced since his death. As a consequence there is now a significant accumulation of writings on Benjamin that is virtually unfathomable in its scope, covering a wide variety of topics that reflect Benjamin’s own eclectic tastes and writing styles. In this context this symposium has a very clear set of objectives. It aims to locate ways in which Benjamin’s writings might be used to think creatively about the contemporary world. The event will not be about Walter Benjamin as such, the focus will instead be upon how we might use his work, his concepts and ideas, to do things, to explore and illuminate particular phenomena. In other words, we hope that this event will be used to revisit and mine Benjamin’s work for concepts and ideas that might help us to regenerate and energise our engagement with contemporary culture. The symposium will focus on the central topics of everyday life, media and the city, but these are broadly conceived and the presentations will engage with Benjamin’s work from a variety of perspectives to explore a range of topics.

Programme

Time	Schedule Event
10.30-11.00	Arrival and coffee
11.00-12.30	Session 1 - Sound, Space and the Urban Metaphor Chair: David Beer, University of York Klangfiguren: Benjamin's Phonographic Thinking Barbara Engh, University of Leeds [read abstract] Orpheus in Paris: Walter Benjamin and Marc Augé Going Underground Graeme Gilloch, University of Lancaster [read abstract]
12.30-13.15	Lunch
13.14-14.45	Session 2 - Capitalism, Rationality and Concepts of Change Chair:  Jane Elliott, University of York On Naming: Towards a Transdisciplinary Concept of History Matthew Charles, Middlesex University [read abstract] Capitalism as Cultic Religion? From Max Weber to Walter Benjamin Nick Gane, University of York [read abstract]
14.45-15.00	Refreshments
15.00-16.30	Session 3 - Uncertainty and Violence in the Everyday Chair:  TBC What Future for the Angel of History? On Walter Benjamin’s Notions of Violence, Redemption, and Uncertainty Werner Bonefeld, University of York [read abstract] A Critique of Roma Violence in Europe: A Benjamin Reading Anca M. Pusca, Goldsmiths, University of London [read abstract]
16.30-17.00	Closing Remarks

Registration

The event is free of charge, but we would like to know if you are planning to attend so we can estimate the numbers for the catering. 

To register please contact josine.opmeer@york.ac.uk, if you have any dietary requirements please let us know.