Women as Constellation in Walter Benjamin’s Aesthetics Cover Image

Women as Constellation in Walter Benjamin’s Aesthetics
Women as Constellation in Walter Benjamin’s Aesthetics

Author(s): Carla Milani Damião
Subject(s): Philosophy, Aesthetics, Early Modern Philosophy, Contemporary Philosophy
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: women;aesthetics; montage;constellations

Summary/Abstract: In seeking to combine the concept of the ‘Feminine’ and ‘Aesthetics,’ the approach here is to carry out an initial examination of Walter Benjamin’s aesthetic theory, then delve into his texts on Eros, leading to his personal correspondence. These combined references will indicate his change of mind, moving from the feminine, as unique, towards its ‘constellation formation’. Montage is the medium of leading with quotation as a mosaic incorporating the image of constellation. The use of montage has parallels in certain avant-garde art movements, its purpose being to disrupt a purely linear approach, in order to cope with the reality of the fragmentation of experience. Although we have little evidence of Benjamin’s theory being connected to Gender Studies, we can take his theory on Eros as an example of how this philosopher foresaw some of the contemporary questions concerning women, amalgamating these with his Aesthetics theory.

  • Issue Year: 41/2016
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 119-134
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: English