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German Literature

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University of Richmond

Philosophy Faculty Publications

2003

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Ariadne's Thread: Walter Benjamin's Hashish Passages, Gary Shapiro Jan 2003

Ariadne's Thread: Walter Benjamin's Hashish Passages, Gary Shapiro

Philosophy Faculty Publications

In a letter of 1932 to Gershom Scholem, Benjamin outlines his literary ambitions; he plans four major books, one of which would have been on hashish. The others were to include the Passagenwerk, his essays on literature, and his letters. It could be said that we now have those three books, if only in the form of sprawling and gigantic ruins. The Passagenwerk has been the object of many inspired and yet hopeless projects of reconstruction; the literary essays are available in German and other languages; and letters from throughout his life have been collected and published. All can be …