Abstract

SIGUENZA, Javier. Riddle of Walter Benjamin. Acta poét [online]. 2013, vol.34, n.2, pp.77-100. ISSN 2448-735X.

The following essay begins by reconstructing the story of the last days in the life of Walter Benjamin, in the historical context of World War II and the existence of a mysterious manuscript lost in his abortive escape across the Franco-Spanish border in 1940. In the second part, we try to decipher the enigmatic physiognomy of the Berlin thinker, whose multiple perspectives, both theoretically and politically, render him a misunderstood but endlessly fascinating author. In part three we explore one of Benjamin's most hermetic texts, his Theses on the Philosophy of History, with the intention of highlighting the critical nature of his speech as key to understanding the mysteries of the modern world and its necessary revolutionary transformation.

Keywords : Walter Benjamin; memory; history; messianism; marxism.