The Arcades Project - Operi

Gesannnelte Schriften-rarely go theoretically beyond positions that have been formulated
more radically in the texts mentioned above. Any study of the Passagen-Werk (Benjamin's
intentions hardly lay themselves open to a simple penlsal) must therefore deal with the
"Work of Art" essay, the texts devoted to Baudelaire, and the theses "On the Concept of
History." 111ese must always be present to the student's mind, even though they are
manifestly autonomous-writings either introductory to the Passagen-Werk or distinct
from it.
The published volumes of the Passagen-Werk begin with two texts in which Benjamin
presents the project in summary, first in 1935 and again in 1939. Together with the early
essay "Der Saturnring, oder Etwas vom Eisenbau" (The Ring of Saturn, or Some Remarks
on Iron Constluction), these texts are the only ones belonging to the Arcades
complex that may be said to be complete. They were not, however, intended for publication.
The earlier, German one was written for the Institut fUr Sozialforschung, which, as a
result, accepted the Passagen-Werk as one of its sponsored research projects. The other
text, written in French, came into being at Max Horkheimer's instigation: Horkheimer
hoped to make use of it to interest an American patron in Benjamin. TIle most important
part, as well as the lengthiest section, of Volume 5 of the Gesammelte Schrifien consists of
the manuscript of the "Aufzeichnungen und Materialien" (Notes and Materials; here
called the "Convolutes"), which is subdivided thematically. This is dIe manuscript that
had been hidden in the Bibliotheque Nationale during World War II.
Benjamin probably worked on this manuscript from the fall or winter of 1928 until the
end of 1929, and then again from the beginning of 1934. The last entries were made in
the spring of 1940, immediately before Belamin fled Paris. The present order of the
notes does not correspond to the order in which they were Oliginally composed. It seems
that Benjamin would begin a new convolute, or sheaf of notes, whenever a new theme
suggested itself and demanded to be h·eated. Within the different sheafs that were composed
simultaneously, the notes may evince the chronological order in which they were
written down. Yet even this chronology is not always identical with that of the notes'
actual conception. At the beginnings of those rubrics that had guided his research in its
earliest stage, we find notes Benjamin incorporated from older manuscripts. Here the
notes have been rearranged, and therefore the first pages of the respective collections of
material follow certain clear principles. By contrast, rubrics either added to or newly
begun from 1934 onward generally owe their order to the coincidences of Benjamin's
studies or, even more so, to his reading.5
The section "Erste Notizen" (5:991-1038), here called "First Sketches," consists of
consecutive notes that were begun about the middle of 1927 and terminated in December
1929 or, at the latest, by the beginning of 1930. "'-n1ey are published in their entirety, even
dlOugh their contents have for the most part been incorporated into the larger "Convolutes"
section. It is only with their help that we can trace the "transformation process" that
determined the transition from the lint stage of the work to the second. The first of the
"Friihe Entwiirfe" (Early Drafts) entitled "Passagen" (Arcades), dates back to the very
first phase of the work, mid-1927, when Beramin intended to collaborate with Franz
Hessel on a journal article. The draft may well have been written by Belamin and Hessel
together. "Pariser Passagen II" (here called "The Arcades of Paris") shows Benjamin's
attempts in 1928 and 1929 to write the essay he thought the PasJagen-Werk would become.
Benjamin wrote these texts in a format totally unusual for him and on very
expensive handmade paper, which he never used before or after. One can easily imagine
that he approached their composition as he would a festive occasion. But he did not get
very far. The discrete texts, whose sequence he did not establish, are soon interspersed