Profane Illumination – Walter Benjamin and the Paris of Surrealist Revolution by Margaret Cohen

Profane Illumination: Walter Benjamin and the Paris of Surrealist Revolution by Margaret Cohen is a significant scholarly work that explores the intellectual and cultural intersections between Surrealism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, and modern European thought. Focusing on the writings of Walter Benjamin and the revolutionary artistic environment of interwar Paris, Cohen presents a compelling examination of how Surrealist ideas influenced twentieth-century intellectual history and critical theory.

Published by the prestigious University of California Press, Profane Illumination investigates Benjamin’s engagement with André Breton and the Surrealist movement, illuminating the ways in which dreams, imagination, political consciousness, and historical awareness converge within modern cultural criticism. Cohen argues that Surrealism played a formative role in shaping post-war French intellectual life and provides readers with fresh perspectives on Benjamin’s enduring influence in philosophy, literary theory, and cultural studies.

Profane Illumination is particularly valuable for students, academics, and collectors interested in continental philosophy, critical theory, Marxist thought, modernism, French intellectual history, and twentieth-century cultural movements. Richly researched and supported by extensive references and scholarly analysis, it remains an important contribution to Walter Benjamin studies.

An excellent addition to any academic library, university collection, or personal collection focusing on philosophy, cultural theory, literary criticism, and the history of modern European ideas.

Condition – Good

1995 paperback. Covers show light general shelf wear with a scratch mark to the spine. Small tears are present to the top margins of pages 87–98. Binding remains sound and the text is clean and fully readable.