班雅明的歷史感

Abstract

本篇論文討論德國哲學家瓦特‧班雅明早期所提出之「歷史感」（der »historische Sinn«）的思考：人要如何意識到自己是為歷史的存有？班雅明將此「歷史感」視為來自過去的啟明（Erleuchtung），發展出其獨特之歷史方法論。作為一個唯物史家，「構成歷史」並非以如實呈現的方式認識過去，而是去體驗於此刻（Jetzt）與過去曾在（Gewesene）之間、前歷史與後歷史之間、讀者與說故事的人之間、不完全的時間（歷史時間）與完滿時間（彌賽亞時間）之間所形成的辯證張力。班雅明所討論的是一個新的歷史概念：將歷史當成一個整體意象予以捕捉，必須立足於個人的歷史感。人才是真正構成歷史的範疇。討論分為四部分：首先從現代史學的角度來探討歷史構成的定義，思考歷史感對於歷史構成的作用。其次討論以捕捉過去意象作為把握歷史感的方法，一方面從星陣來理解意象的構成，一方面討論如何以「靜止中的辯證」來形成意象。第三章討論辯證意象的時間結構：此刻與起源，構出前後歷史的延續生命（nachleben）。其方法即為歷史唯物論。其政治效果即為知識上的辯證倒轉。延續生命不僅透過書寫歷史來達成，也透過說故事與聽故事共同形成的集體活動來達成。第四章探討政治與神學攜手達成的歷史救贖之意義。第五章結論則以青年作為認識歷史的起點，歷史感引領我們去面對歷史中的階級鬥爭——朝向「進步的風暴」。

This study is to discuss about “the historical sense” [der »historische Sinn«] mentioned by Walter Benjamin, in his early articles about historical thinking. How can one be conscious of himself as historical being? Benjamin takes the “historical sense” as an illumination [Erleuchtung] given from the past, developing his own historical methodology. As a historical materialist, to “make history” means nothing such as to know the past in the way it really was. On the contrast is to experience the dialectical tensions between now [Jetzt] and what-has-been [Gewesene], fore-history and after-history, readers and storytellers, incomplete time (the historical time) and the fulfilled time (messianic time). Benjamin discussed on a new concept of history: to catch the history as an image of the whole, have to stand in the ground of the individual’s historical sense. Humanity is in fact which constitutes the category of history. The argument falls into four parts. First, to discuss the definition of making history in a standpoint of modern historiography, and at the same time to think of the effect that the historical sense can bring to it. Second, to discuss the way to “catch” the historical sense by “catching image of the past”. A discussion under this goal is taking two parts to proceed: on the one hand to understand the formation of this image by the concept of “constellations” [Konstellationen], and on the other hand is to discuss how to form it by the concept of “dialectics at a standstill”. Third, to discuss the time structure of dialectical images [dialektische Bild], which is composed by now [Jetzt] and origin [Ursprung], both of the two different timeliness constitute the “afterlife” of fore and after history. It is also the historical materialism as a methodology, and the dialectical reversal [dialektischen Umschlag] in its political effect. The afterlife is not only the writing of history and also is a collective activity of telling and listening stories. At the last, to discuss the meaning of the historical redemption as a result while the historical materialism works together with the theology.The argument comes to the conclusion that a kind of history which starts from the “youth” might be possible. The historical sense leads us to see that the class struggle is always happened in history, and it’s the meaning of “the storm of progress”.