The mass ornament : Weimar essays
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The mass ornament : Weimar essays
Harvard University Press, 1995
- : pbk
- Other Title
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Das Ornament der Masse : essays
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Note
Originally published: Suhrkamp Verlag, c1963
Bibliography: p. 391-395
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
- Volume
-
ISBN 9780674551626
Description
Siegfried Kracauer was one of the 20th century's major cultural critics, a prolific scholar and a theorist of film. In this volume his writings on modern society are translated into English. This book is a celebration of the masses - their tastes, amusements, and everyday lives. Taking up themes of modernity, such as isolation and alienation, urban culture and the relation between the group and the individual, Kracauer explores a kaleidoscope of topics: shopping arcades; the cinema; bestsellers and their readers; photography; dance; hotel lobbies; Kafka; the Bible; and boredom. For Kracauer, the most revelatory facets of modern life in the West lie on the surface, in the ephemeral and the marginal. Of special fascination to him is the United States, where he eventually settled after fleeing Germany and whose culture he sees as defined almost exclusively by "the ostentatious display of surface". With these essays, written in the 1920s and early 1930s and edited by the author in 1963, Kracauer was the first to demonstrate that studying the everyday world of the masses can bring great rewards.
This work remains a tribute to popular culture and its interdisciplinary essays continue to shed light not only on Kracauer's later work but also on ideas of the Frankfurt School, the genealogy of film theory and cultural studies, Weimar cultural politics, and the exigencies of intellectual exile. In his introduction, Thomas Levin situates Kracauer in a turbulent age, illuminates the forces that influenced him - including his friendships with Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno, and other Weimar intellectuals - and provides the context necessary for understanding his ideas.
Table of Contents
- Introduction, Thomas Y. Levin. Part 1 Lead-in - natural geometry: lad and bull
- two planes
- analysis of a city map. Part 2 External and internal objects: photography
- travel and dance
- the mass ornament
- on bestsellers and their audience
- the biography as an art form of the new bourgeoisie
- revolt of the middle classes
- those who wait. Part 3 Constructions: the group as bearer of ideas
- the hotel lobby. Part 4 Perspectives: the Bible in German
- catholicism and relativism
- the crisis of science
- Georg Simmel
- on the writings of Walter Benjamin
- Franz Kafka. Part 5 The movies: calico-world
- the little shopgirls go to the movies
- film 1928
- cult of distraction. Part 6 Fadeaway - toward the vanishing point: boredom
- farewell to the Linden Arcade.
- Volume
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: pbk ISBN 9780674551633
Description
Siegfried Kracauer was one of the twentieth century's most brilliant cultural critics, a daring and prolific scholar, and an incisive theorist of film. In this volume his finest writings on modern society make their long-awaited appearance in English.
This book is a celebration of the masses-their tastes, amusements, and everyday lives. Taking up themes of modernity, such as isolation and alienation, urban culture, and the relation between the group and the individual, Kracauer explores a kaleidoscope of topics: shopping arcades, the cinema, bestsellers and their readers, photography, dance, hotel lobbies, Kafka, the Bible, and boredom. For Kracauer, the most revelatory facets of modern life in the West lie on the surface, in the ephemeral and the marginal. Of special fascination to him is the United States, where he eventually settled after fleeing Germany and whose culture he sees as defined almost exclusively by "the ostentatious display of surface."
With these essays, written in the 1920s and early 1930s and edited by the author in 1963, Kracauer was the first to demonstrate that studying the everyday world of the masses can bring great rewards. The Mass Ornament today remains a refreshing tribute to popular culture, and its impressively interdisciplinary essays continue to shed light not only on Kracauer's later work but also on the ideas of the Frankfurt School, the genealogy of film theory and cultural studies, Weimar cultural politics, and, not least, the exigencies of intellectual exile.
In his introduction, Thomas Levin situates Kracauer in a turbulent age, illuminates the forces that influenced him-including his friendships with Walter Benjamin, Theodor Adorno, and other Weimar intellectuals-and provides the context necessary for understanding his ideas. Until now, Kracauer has been known primarily for his writings on the cinema. This volume brings us the full scope of his gifts as one of the most wide-ranging and penetrating interpreters of modern life.
Table of Contents
Translator's Note Introduction by Thomas Y. Levin Lead-In: Natural Geometry Lad and Bull Two Planes Analysis of a City Map External and Internal Objects Photography Travel and Dance The Mass Ornament On Bestsellers and Their Audience The Biography as an Art Form of the New Bourgeoisie Revolt of the Middle Classes Those Who Wait Constructions The Group as Bearer of Ideas The Hotel Lobby Perspectives The Bible in German Catholicism and Relativism The Crisis of Science Georg Simmel On the Writings of Walter Benjamin Franz Kafka The Movies Calico-World The Little Shopgirls Go to the Movies Film 1928 Cult of Distraction Fadeaway: Toward the Vanishing Point Boredom Farewell to the Linden Arcade Notes Bibliographic Information Credits Index
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