Constellations of a Contemporary Romanticism

Constellations of a Contemporary Romanticism takes its title and point of departure from Walter Benjamins concept of the historical constellation, which puts both contemporary and romanticism in play as period designations and critical paradigms. Featuring fascinating and diverse contributions by an international roster of distinguished scholars working in and out of romanticismfrom deconstruction to new historicism, from queer theory to postcolonial studies, from visual culture to biopoliticsthis volume makes good on a central tenet of Benjamins conception of history: These critics grasp the constellation into which our own era has formed with a definite earlier one. Each of these essays approaches romanticism as a decisive and unexpired thought experiment that makes demands on and poses questions for our own time: What is the unlived of a contemporary romanticism? What has romanticisms singular untimeliness bequeathed to futurity? What is romanticisms contemporary redemption value for painting and politics, philosophy and film?