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the complete review - biographical

Walter Benjamin

by
Jean-Michel Palmier

general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author

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Our Assessment:

A- : impressive overview (even in incomplete state), very accessible

See our review for fuller assessment.

  From the Reviews:

• "Si sa vie fut aussi tragique, suggère Palmier c'est, entre autres raisons, que cet homme fut tiraillé entre un leitmotiv politique matérialiste et une attraction pour le judaïsme dont témoigneront ses relations avec Gershom Scholem, qui tentera de le convaincre de venir vivre en Palestine. Impossible à résumer ni même à synthétiser, la pensée complexe de Benjamin ne peut que s'appréhender à travers le chaos de son temps." - Paul-François Paoli, Le Figaro
  
  
• "Der größte Vorzug bei all dem ist wohl, dass Palmier die Kämpfe um den "wahren" Benjamin hinter sich gelassen hat; seiner ruhigen Darstellung ist es möglich, Scholem, Adorno, Horkheimer, Brecht, Bloch, Hannah Arendt und so manchem anderen gerecht zu werden, was in der Benjamin-Literatur bisher als ausgeschlossen zu gelten hatte. Für diesen Monographen ist Benjamin kein Künder dialektischer Wahrheiten, sondern ein einzuschätzender Intellektueller. In diesem Sinne fasst Palmier zusammen, unaufgeregt und überzeugend, was über Benjamin und seine Geschichte zu wissen ist, und das ist außerodentlich viel. (...) Zum Glück hält Palmier sich von der sprachlichen Imitation Benjamins strikt fern; in Begrifflichkeit und Bildlichkeit folgt er jedoch weitgehend dessen Gebrauch, der bekanntlich höchst idiosynkratisch war. (...) An Palmiers monumentalem Werk wird in Zukunft keiner vorbeikommen, denn er hat dafür die umfangreiche Basis gelegt." - Wolfgang Matz, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
  
  
• "Walter Benjamin est d'une précision chirurgicale. (...) Palmier reconstitue le monde de Benjamin en ne négligeant aucun débris, aucune scorie." - Libération
  
  
• "Palmier verfährt rückschauend, sammelnd, ordnend. Seine Stärke ist die von einem robusten Positivismus getragene Erschliessung umsichtig arrangierter Werk- und Themengruppen, die systematisch nebeneinandergestellt und verständig referiert werden. Wo es nottut, wird er speziell. (...) Jean-Michel Palmiers Lehrstück der Entzauberung ist ein Zeitdokument, das manchem Leser hilfreich sein und auf die Sprünge helfen wird. Doch auf das grosse Benjamin-Porträt des 21. Jahrhunderts warten wir weiterhin." - Ralf Konersmann, Neue Zürcher Zeitung
  
  
• "Palmier has written nothing short of an encyclopedic work from which every reader of Benjamin who can read French or German will benefit. It is a pity that it remained unfinished owing to its author's early death. (...) A translation into English would be a luxury rather than a necessity." - Nicholas Jacobs, Times Literary Supplement
  
  
• "Auch in der nunmehr veröffentlichten Form erinnert Palmiers Riesenfragment - eine Mischung aus Biografie und Kompendium -- an die von Jorge Luis Borges beschriebene Landkarte, die wuchs und wuchs und schließlich so groß war wie das Gebiet, das sie abbilden sollte -- und daraufhin zerfiel. Dass Walter Benjamins Leben und Werk beim Lesen dieses Buches dennoch nicht zerbröckeln, liegt an der Begeisterung Palmiers für seinen Gegenstand, die den Leser bei Aufmerksamkeit hält. (...) Jean-Michel Palmier fällt kein Urteil, er ist kein Richter, sondern ein Repetitor. Ein Repetitor, der seinen Stoff kennt und liebt -- und von dem man viel lernen kann." - Wolf Lepenies, Die Welt
  
  
• "Wer sich nun durch Palmiers Werk gekämpft hat, wird sich gemischter Gefühle nicht erwehren können: zum einen der Bewunderung für die ausdauernde Synthesekraft und luziden Werkdeutungen; zum anderen jedoch der Gewissheit, dass dieses Buch einen Endpunkt markiert, keinen Anfang." - Alexander Cammann, Die Zeit

Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure.

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The complete review's Review:

       Jean-Michel Palmier's Walter Benjamin is a massive work, yet remains unfinished, with only three of the projected five parts more or less complete. This Benjamin super-monograph was Palmier's magnum opus, but he died before he could come close to finishing it; it took another eight years until the posthumous publication was possible, but the wait was worthwhile: while Florent Perrier's preface isn't particularly useful, this is an editorial tour de force as well, and the presentation largely exemplary. Much credit is due to both Palmier and Perrier that, though heavily annotated -- there are literally thousands of footnotes -- the text nevertheless reads astonishingly smoothly and easily.
       Palmier subtitles his book Le chiffonier, l'Ange et le Petit Bossu, three aspects of Benjamin that guide his narrative. The 'Petit Bossu' is the "bucklicht Männlein" -- the 'little hunchback' -- from Benjamin's Berlin Childhood around 1900, the 'chiffonier' the 'ragpicker' who collects the detritus of his era, while the angel ('Ange') refers to the 'angel of history', depicted in the Klee painting 'Angelus Novus' -- "His face is turned to the past" -- that was once Benjamin's prized possession.
       Palmier's Walter Benjamin isn't a straightforward biography. The long first section is framed chronologically, but even in considering Benjamin's childhood Palmier refers constantly to Benjamin's later writings (obviously including Benjamin's childhood reminiscences) and context, writings, and events from later periods are constantly woven into the entire biographical account. Even this section is more intellectual biography than a simple account of the life-events; hence, at times, it reads almost subdued. One might expect any Benjamin-life-story to culminate in his tragic death -- suicide when he could not cross the border into Spain -- but while Palmier presents these facts as well it's barely more than the end of that particular road.
       The strength of the book is in how Palmier weaves together the many threads of Benjamin's life and, especially, his work. The many influences and complex relationships with an astonishing number of intellectuals of the time, from Brecht to Gershom Scholem, from Adorno to Bloch to Karl Kraus, are particularly well-handled, with Palmier presenting the (many) significant figures and their relationship to Benjamin very well -- and, significantly, largely objectively, not taking sides (where Benjamin could be very opinionated in his likes and dislikes).
       Benjamin's political evolution and its influence, his literary interests -- including his embrace of the then still completely forgotten Baroque 'tragic dramas' (Trauerspiele) as well as surrealism (and his lack of interest in much contemporary work) -- and his fascination with, for example, the works of Kafka are all very well developed.
       The massive book wends its way back and forth and around Benjamin's life and writing. It is not so much built up piece by piece, but rather tries -- throughout -- to present the totality of Benjamin. Hence, individual pieces of writing, trains of thought, philosophical concepts, personal (and intellectual) relationships are repeatedly brought up in different contexts. As such, Walter Benjamin isn't the easiest of reference works to use: its usefulness lies in its larger vision -- which, even in its incomplete state, is fairly clear.
       Particularly noteworthy is how well this complex material -- and this complex approach -- is presented. Walter Benjamin isn't exactly light reading, but it reads exceptionally well and is very approachable, full of fascinating stories and ideas that Palmier presents succinctly and entertainingly. It also functions well as an intellectual history of the first half of the twentieth century (though admittedly with a few glaring omissions, of writers and literary schools Benjamin showed no interest in). Despite the subject matter, however, this isn't a dry academic tome.
       Palmier notes in his Introduction that the fascination Benjamin's life exerts has led too often to hagiographic accounts, and that he was at pains to avoid that trap. He succeeded -- Walter Benjamin is truly neutral. This volume offers a comprehensive overview of the man's life and work. An essential addition to Benjamin-studies, it's only a shame that the work remains incomplete, preventing it from being the definitive account.

- M.A.Orthofer, 9 June 2010

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Links:

• Klincksieck publicity page
• Suhrkamp publicity page

• artnet (German)
• Beatpunk (German)
• Berliner Zeitung (German)
• Deutschlandradio (German)
• Entre les lignes entre les mots (French)
• Le Figaro (French)
• Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (German)
• Frankfurter Rundschau (German)
• Glanz & Elend (German)
• Libération (French)
• Le Monde diplomatique (French)
• Neue Zürcher Zeitung (German)
• Die Welt (German)
• Wiener Zeitung (German)
• Die Zeit (German)

• The Walter Benjamin Research Syndicate

• See Index of Biographical works under review

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About the Author:

       French author Jean-Michel Palmier (1944-1998) taught at the Sorbonne.

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© 2010 the complete review

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