Benjamin's Theory Fable

Walter Benjamin was a rare talented thinker in the20th century. His books involved many aspects of philosophy, theology, literature, language, history and politics, his ideas had replaced the kind of grand concept of system with one kind of fragmented state. The allegory was the most unique part of Benjamin’s thinking, but also the part that ran through his whole system of thought. Study on Benjamin’s allegory theory could help us to grasp the light of truth that flashed in Benjamin’s fragmented thought.From the concept of redemption that was rooted in the heart of Benjamin, Benjamin’s allegory theory had a very clear process of constructing:The allegory had developed from a literary criticism dimension to the philosophy of critical dimensions when it faced of the depravity of modern society. The allegory had borne the characterization of truth and revealed the mission of redemption. Based on this idea, the first chapter mainly introduced theoretical basis for the formation of Benjamin’s allegory theory and the evolvement of allegory in the historic context in the western countries. The second chapter mainly excavated the change of constructing Benjamin’s allegory theory from The Origin of German Tragic Drama and The Arcades Project. Benjamin named the allegory from the angle of literary criticism in The Origin of German Tragic Drama; the allegory had been given the significance of philosophical epistemology in The Arcades Project, that is, the allegory recognized the truth in order to complete the redemption from the fragmentation of modern society. The third chapter mainly analyzed the categorical change of Benjamin’s allegory that was developed from smash to intermediary and spleen to redemption, to further improved the categorical concept of allegory. The last chapter mainly discussed the important role of allegory in the view of Benjamin’s literary criticism and the concrete practice of allegorical literary criticism. Benjamin’s allegory theory began in the field of literary criticism, at the same time Benjamin had seen literary criticism be very important. In his view, the task of art and philosophy was like to characterize the truth, and allegorical expression in literature and art was particularly important in modern society.