tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post1117487800516574767..comments2024-01-02T15:37:04.858-05:00Comments on Caravana de recuerdos: Karl Kraus 2. DemonRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-35578563759897754412013-05-16T15:22:55.185-04:002013-05-16T15:22:55.185-04:00Thanks, Stu. "Demon" was the centerpiec...Thanks, Stu. "Demon" was the centerpiece of one of the most engrossing critical pieces I've read in a while, so the writing really does make me want to read more by both Benjamin and Kraus. Fun stuff!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-19323250016673128382013-05-15T11:59:41.186-04:002013-05-15T11:59:41.186-04:00another eye opening insight Richard ,benjamin and ...another eye opening insight Richard ,benjamin and kraus both interesting people ,all the best stuAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-59744895671502590692013-05-14T21:29:38.931-04:002013-05-14T21:29:38.931-04:00Kraus and Benjamin on Kraus have been quite the ey...Kraus and Benjamin on Kraus have been quite the eye-openers for me, Scott, so I'm glad to be reminded that the Kraus posts haven't gone out into the void completely unnoticed. In other words, thanks for your comment! Thanks, too, for this very useful intro to the "marvelous" Scheerbart. He doesn't make much of a splash in the two Benjamin collections I have in terms of the page counts where he appears, but he does sound right up my alley as a "destructive [literary] character" and as a weirdo associate of the Benjamin & Kraus circles. Between reading Broch and wanting to read much more of Benjamin and Kraus and Musil, I have a feeling a lot more of these early 20th century German-language provocateurs remain to be "rediscovered." That can't be a bad thing, eh?Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-36201373063505029882013-05-14T16:21:07.199-04:002013-05-14T16:21:07.199-04:00Richard - These Kraus posts are fascinating. I loo...Richard - These Kraus posts are fascinating. I look forward to getting the time to dig into him a bit more. Coincidentally, I've been reading Paul Scheerbart, who showed up with Kraus in some of the same literary journals. Walter Benjamin also wrote an essay on Scheerbart and lumped him together with Kraus as a kind of "destructive character." Anyway, I throw this out there as I think it might be fascinating to follow up Kraus with Scheerbart (I guess I'll be doing this in reverse). Plus, Scheerbart's stuff is just marvelous; Two & a half books in I'm already planning to advocate for a collected works in English on the off chance someone is interested in pulling one together. seraillonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654593356535433945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-91386173023397647312013-05-14T12:26:16.987-04:002013-05-14T12:26:16.987-04:00That might have been part of Kraus' motivation...That might have been part of Kraus' motivation in actuality, Brian, but Benjamin is looking for a different explanation of Kraus's behavior in something much more primal in origin: the Platonic concept of the <em>daemon</em> or life force possessing Kraus. It's a very interesting thesis and one I wish I could do better justice to--as a critic, Benjamin sets the bar a little high for the rest of us!Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01746599416342846897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1911087927983597831.post-6651296390843555372013-05-14T06:53:07.688-04:002013-05-14T06:53:07.688-04:00If I am correctly understanding Benjamin's ana...If I am correctly understanding Benjamin's analysis of Kraus as a social critic, I think that, at least to some extent, this may be true of other social gadflies. Not really moralizing, but more like annoying the establishment and motivating by the need to express themselves in a negative way.Brian Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15139559400312336791noreply@blogger.com