Time as Space and Space as Time: Walter Benjamin’s Urban Reflections as a Form of Secular Mysticism

The paper argues that Benjamin’s writings on places are a form of “secular mysticism,” in which the fundamental categories of time and space are inverted as part of the attempt to penetrate the secrets of “absolute reality.” Focusing on Das Paris des Second Empire bei Baudelaire, the article shows how under Benjamin’s pen, time (manifested by history) is localized as a site of artistic, political, and social gestures, whereas space (manifested by the city) is temporalized as a means of measuring and marking the passage of time. Based on these distinctions, Benjamin’s reflections on urban landscapes and histories are characterized as important examples of his fusion of modern epistemology with religious esotericism.

• Article to be submitted to Religions.