TY - JOUR

T1 - Ink Play

T2 - Walter Benjamin's Chinese Curios

AU - Gilloch, Graeme Peter

AU - Kang, Jaeho

PY - 2016/1/31

Y1 - 2016/1/31

N2 - In this paper, we explore two interconnected aspects of Walter Benjamin’s work which have hitherto received scant attention from scholars; the figure of the Chinese painter as an exemplary exponent of traditional art; and, Benjamin’s reflections on Chinese paintings as contained in his review of an exhibition held in Paris during 1937. We suggest that read in combination these reflections on Chinese artists and art provide a different and potentially interesting slant on familiar Benjaminian concepts like the “thought-image” (Denkbild) and the “dialectical image”. Indeed, we contend that the notion of “ink-play” might contribute to our understanding of the concept of modernité.

AB - In this paper, we explore two interconnected aspects of Walter Benjamin’s work which have hitherto received scant attention from scholars; the figure of the Chinese painter as an exemplary exponent of traditional art; and, Benjamin’s reflections on Chinese paintings as contained in his review of an exhibition held in Paris during 1937. We suggest that read in combination these reflections on Chinese artists and art provide a different and potentially interesting slant on familiar Benjaminian concepts like the “thought-image” (Denkbild) and the “dialectical image”. Indeed, we contend that the notion of “ink-play” might contribute to our understanding of the concept of modernité.

KW - Walter Benjamin

KW - critical theory

KW - modernity

KW - Denkbild

U2 - 10.3917/soc.131.0119

DO - 10.3917/soc.131.0119

M3 - Journal article

VL - 2016

SP - 119

EP - 130

JO - Sociétés : revue des sciences humaines et sociales

JF - Sociétés : revue des sciences humaines et sociales

SN - 0765-3697

IS - 1

ER -