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Studies in Literary Theory (481-0-20)

Topic

On Habit and Habitation

Instructors

Astrid Christa Deuber-Mankowsky

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 2-425: Wed 5:00PM - 7:50PM

Overview of class

On Habit and Habitation

Walter Benjamin is one of the most widely cited and influential media theorists of twentieth century. While attention is focused on the concept of aura he developed in "The Work of Art in the Age of its Technical Reproducibility" and elsewhere, his broader inquiries into technology are often overlooked. The contemporary relevance of Benjamin's philosophy of technology lies in the fact that Benjamin establishes a connection between technology (Technik) and various forms of habitation (Wohnen), which is itself embedded in the concept of habit (Gewohnheit). The seminar brings Benjamin's understanding of these concepts into dialogue with those developed by Heidegger, Deleuze/Guattari, and Simondon, all of whom associate technology with the shaping of environments and the problem of poesis. By reconstructing Benjamin's philosophical anthropology through a close reading of his diaries and essays, the seminar not only brings his work into dialogue with a series of major twentieth-century thinkers but also invites comparison with the most recent and far-reaching theories of technology today.