The dandy and the historical ragpicker : a study of contrary responses to modernity of Charles Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin

Abstract

The period of “modernity” has shaped the artistic and intellectual works of both Charles Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin and – as a result – has informed our understanding of this formative period of European history. While both writers engage with the period in 19th century Paris, both arrive at fundamentally different appraisals of some of its artefacts: the commodity, the roles of the “flâneur”, and the prostitute. Tracing the difference of both author’s experiences through their writing, this thesis argues that Baudelaire escapes the confines of the experience of modernity which Benjamin erects.

Offering a fresh interpretation of the original works, this paper takes Baudelaire’s dandyism and his theory of “art for art’s sake” as a theory of art and pleasure that conceived of Paris as the stage —an artistic opportunity —for playing with the stimuli of evil and pain. I will argue that in building this artistic world, Baudelaire forcefully rejects the moralization and politicization of art. By contrast, as a Marxist and moralist—all political animal —Benjamin positions himself as the ragpicker collecting the ruins behind the phantasmagoria and commodity of pre-modern times. Paris- to him – becomes a case-study for the aberrations of capitalism.

Through a critical discussion of Benjamin’s theories of artistic production, allegory and shock – the sources that make him see Baudelaire as the last lyric poet—a fresh view of Baudelaire as an artist and dandy is proposed. While literary posterity owes greatly to the insights of the “Benjaminian” Baudelaire, I argue that a comprehensive appreciation of Baudelaire’s work will benefit from moving beyond a political and towards an artistic reading – a first attempt of which is offered in this thesis.