On non-structuring aspects of Walter Benjamin's materialism: heterodox reception of surrealism, psychoanalysis and German classical metaphysics

• Grant number: 19/03048-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: September 04, 2019
• End date: September 03, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - History of Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Ricardo Ribeiro Terra
• Grantee: Fernando Araujo Del Lama
• Supervisor: Daniel Weidner
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Humboldt University, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 17/05560-5 - A constellational disposition of heterodoxies: on the constitution of Walter Benjamin's materialism, BP.DR

Abstract

During the research internship, we intend to investigate some of the "non-structuring aspects" of Walter Benjamin's materialist philosophy. While the main project focuses on the investigation of the "structuring aspects" of Benjamin's materialist philosophy - the heterodox reception of Marxism, Jewish messianism and romantic critique of modern civilization, Enlightenment and capitalist idea of progress -, we propose in the research internship, in a complementary way, to investigate relevant aspects to such theoretical construction, but which present themselves in a more punctual manner in the midst of it and provide tools to establish its methodological foundations. The following aspects will constitute the object of the research, as foreseen in the main project: to examine the reception and incorporation into the materialist arrangement of (i) surrealistic traits (montage, dream image/dialectical image, profane illumination/anthropological materialism), (ii) elements arising from the debate with psychoanalysis (shock, memory and awakening) and (iii) concepts of German classical metaphysics (Leibniz's "monad" and Goethe's "original phenomenon" (Urphänomen), which is rearticulated in Benjamin's concept of "origin" (Ursprung)). We hope this internship may complement the more general perspective that guides the PhD research, namely, to think the constitution of Benjamin's materialism from the selective reception and critical dialogue with diverse traditions of thought that are quite different from one another, but which acquire cohesion within the constellational disposition in which Benjamin inserts them, giving rise to a sui generis and idiosyncratic materialist thought. We also wish that this step of the research allow us to broaden the scope of these questions, as well as refine analyzes and, consequently, enrich the research as a whole.