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Hannah Arendt: A Glossary for Living in Dark Times (Maria Teresa Costa)

Some weeks before his death escaping from Nazism, Walter Benjamin entrusts his last manuscript to his friend Hannah Arendt, telling her to save it as it is more important than his own life.
The text appears 1968 in the book Illuminations, the first anthology of Benjamin’s essays published in English and edited by Arendt. With this provocative title she wants to present Benjamin as one of the few intellectuals of the 20th century who was able to “enlighten” those “Dark Times”, which doesn’t seem yet to have come to an end.
With his prophetic gaze Benjamin was not only offering a deep analysis on his own times, but also anticipating a series of tendencies, which found their concretisation only in the 21st century. His disruptive reflection on the origin of modernity, the destruction of tradition, the arise of capitalism, the role of technology in our society, the uses of images as political instruments are only a few examples of the novelty and the freshness of Benjamin’s thinking.
His oeuvre is an immense source for finding new concepts to decipher our times.
During the seminar we will be reading some of Benjamin’s most important essays as well as looking for his legacy both in contemporary philosophy and artistic practices. Following this perspective, “Benjamin’s Illuminations” should be read also as a kind of compass for orienting ourselves in present times.

The goal of the seminar is to develop a critical thinking on the topic. The seminar will be conducted in an interactive format, which allows ample space for discussion. Active participation by the students is therefore expected. During the sessions, we will read texts in the form of close readings, but also confront ourselves with other media, such as excerpts from videos and films, and discuss them together.
Careful reading of the texts at home should accompany the seminar.

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