Abstract:
While we will never know the definitive form of the Arcades Project, Benjamin discussed its design (or “Critical Dispositive”) in several methodological notes of “Convolute N.” In this article, we focus on the note N 1 a 8 where Benjamin confronts two ways of understanding the task of the historian: one where the historian “says” (sagen), which he identifies with the “Historicism”; and other where the historian “shows” (zeigen), which he identifies with the “Materialist Historian.” We contend that this distinction is crucial for the “Critical Dispositive” of the Arcades Project since only through this dispositive, the materials of the book (the “refused” and the “wasted”) might be able to “speak for themselves” and to “show (by) themselves.” Seeking to clarify this “dispositive” of Arcades Project, we analyze the Benjamin’s early concepts of “Presentation”, linguistic “Objectivity” and “Method”.
Keywords:
Dispositive; Presentation; Objectivity; Criticism; Method