Die Illusion des Fortschritts: Zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft. Walter Benjamin und Henri Lefebvre
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Fernand Guelf
Abstract
After breaking with the communist party Henri Lefebvre adopts a non-dogmatic interpretation of historical materialism in his article “Vers un romantisme revolutionnaire” (1957). Lefebvre’s position has parallels in the 1920s and 1930s in Walter Benjamin’s works among others. The starting-point is a critical attitude in regard to an uncompromising ideology of progress and the evolutionary belief in progress. For Lefebvre and Benjamin one aspect of modern times is that hitherto certain and generally valid codes as an inherent part of knowledge and social practice are disintegrating. An increasingly abstract world leaves the individual without orientation and an easy prey to conditioning. The general loss of coherence entails that man’s links to nature and to his own past get lost. Restricted to a mythical consciousness, the individual becomes the plaything of the ruling classes and their interests. Technological progress turns into an uncontrollable weapon. In the name of pre-modern social positions and values both Lefebvre and Benjamin plead against the “Entzauberung der Welt” (Max Weber) and against the “entgotterte Natur” (Friedrich Schiller), insisting on the visionary character of the revolt. By turning to the past man can attempt to recover remnants of his paradisiacal origins, he can avoid losing contact with his own history and develop perspectives for the future from his experience and analysis. Key terms like “Eingedenken, Jetztzeit, Momente, Residuen, Phantasmagorie, Utopie” guide this comparison of common and divergent positions of Henri Lefebvre and Walter Benjamin. The aim is the revolutionary demand for the interruption of continuing development and the withdrawal from the fatal course of history.
Abstract
After breaking with the communist party Henri Lefebvre adopts a non-dogmatic interpretation of historical materialism in his article “Vers un romantisme revolutionnaire” (1957). Lefebvre’s position has parallels in the 1920s and 1930s in Walter Benjamin’s works among others. The starting-point is a critical attitude in regard to an uncompromising ideology of progress and the evolutionary belief in progress. For Lefebvre and Benjamin one aspect of modern times is that hitherto certain and generally valid codes as an inherent part of knowledge and social practice are disintegrating. An increasingly abstract world leaves the individual without orientation and an easy prey to conditioning. The general loss of coherence entails that man’s links to nature and to his own past get lost. Restricted to a mythical consciousness, the individual becomes the plaything of the ruling classes and their interests. Technological progress turns into an uncontrollable weapon. In the name of pre-modern social positions and values both Lefebvre and Benjamin plead against the “Entzauberung der Welt” (Max Weber) and against the “entgotterte Natur” (Friedrich Schiller), insisting on the visionary character of the revolt. By turning to the past man can attempt to recover remnants of his paradisiacal origins, he can avoid losing contact with his own history and develop perspectives for the future from his experience and analysis. Key terms like “Eingedenken, Jetztzeit, Momente, Residuen, Phantasmagorie, Utopie” guide this comparison of common and divergent positions of Henri Lefebvre and Walter Benjamin. The aim is the revolutionary demand for the interruption of continuing development and the withdrawal from the fatal course of history.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Preface VII
- Introducing Lefebvre 1
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I. Theorizing Lefebvre
- Poetik des Raums – Bachelard und Lefebvre 17
- Die Illusion des Fortschritts: Zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft. Walter Benjamin und Henri Lefebvre 36
- Henri Lefebvre and the Critical Theory of Society 55
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II. Applying Lefebvre: Urban Space
- Rereading Henri Lefebvre’s La production de l’espace: Appropriation, Nature, and Time-Space in São Paulo Spatial History at the turn from the 19th to the 20th century 77
- On Regressive-Progressive Rhythmanalysis 95
- (Urban) Space, Media and Protests: Digitalizing the Right to the City? 118
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III. Applying Lefebvre: Literary Space
- Walking Through Constructions, Playing in the Mud: Practices of the City in Prefabricated Housing Settlements of the GDR 147
- Spatial Theory, Post/Colonial Perspectives, and Fiction: Reading Hispano-Caribbean Diaspora Literature in the US with Henri Lefebvre 178
- Thirdings, Representations, Reflections: How to Grasp the Spatial Triad 207
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About the Authors
- Biographical Information 227
- Contributors Writing about Lefebvre 231
- Bibliographies on Lefebvre 233
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Preface VII
- Introducing Lefebvre 1
-
I. Theorizing Lefebvre
- Poetik des Raums – Bachelard und Lefebvre 17
- Die Illusion des Fortschritts: Zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft. Walter Benjamin und Henri Lefebvre 36
- Henri Lefebvre and the Critical Theory of Society 55
-
II. Applying Lefebvre: Urban Space
- Rereading Henri Lefebvre’s La production de l’espace: Appropriation, Nature, and Time-Space in São Paulo Spatial History at the turn from the 19th to the 20th century 77
- On Regressive-Progressive Rhythmanalysis 95
- (Urban) Space, Media and Protests: Digitalizing the Right to the City? 118
-
III. Applying Lefebvre: Literary Space
- Walking Through Constructions, Playing in the Mud: Practices of the City in Prefabricated Housing Settlements of the GDR 147
- Spatial Theory, Post/Colonial Perspectives, and Fiction: Reading Hispano-Caribbean Diaspora Literature in the US with Henri Lefebvre 178
- Thirdings, Representations, Reflections: How to Grasp the Spatial Triad 207
-
About the Authors
- Biographical Information 227
- Contributors Writing about Lefebvre 231
- Bibliographies on Lefebvre 233
