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Kang, Jaeho (2016) '“Ink-play”: Walter Benjamin’s Chinese Curios.' Sociétés: Revue des sciences humaines et sociales, 131 (1). pp. 119-130.

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Abstract

In this paper, we explore two interconnected aspects of Walter Benjamin’s work which have hitherto received scant attention from scholars; the figure of the Chinese painter as an exemplary exponent of traditional art; and, Benjamin’s reflections on Chinese paintings as contained in his review of an exhibition held in Paris during 1937. We suggest that read in combination these reflections on Chinese artists and art provide a different and potentially interesting slant on familiar Benjaminian concepts like the ‘thought-image’ (Denkbild) and the ‘dialectical image’. Indeed, we contend that the notion of “ink-play” might contribute to our understanding of the concept of modernité.

Item Type: Journal Article
SOAS Departments & Centres: Departments and Subunits > School of Arts > Department of the History of Art & Archaeology
Legacy Departments > Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Centre for Media Studies
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN0080 Criticism
P Language and Literature > PT Germanic literature
ISSN: 07653697
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.3917/soc.131.0119
Date Deposited: 12 Apr 2016 14:19
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/22287

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