Lyric poet of the developed capitalist era

Author: Walter Benjamin (Germany), translated by Wang Caiyong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-02-01
Features: The Lyric Poet in the Age of High Capitalism is a monograph by Walter Benjamin on Baudelaire. Baudelaire's exploration of the modern experience in mid-19th-century Paris deeply captivated Benjamin. From the perspective of a lyric poet alienated by the capitalist commodity world, Benjamin sought to reread Paris in its early stages of capitalist industrial revolution. In the book, Benjamin laments alongside Baudelaire the "flickering gas lamps of the Second Empire, the housing lots that fixed people to the land, and the columnists gradually degenerating into commodity producers." Together, they observe this noisy material world of commodities as "urban flaneurs," hidden among the crowds, and express a sense of "shock" at the rapidly changing social reality. Yet, in the conclusion, Benjamin poignantly and melancholically shatters Baudelaire's modernist hero's dream. With his unique perspective, meticulous observation, and keen insight, Benjamin's brilliant work, built upon a vast foundation of citations, gains an additional layer of poetic depth.