Abstract
Walter Benjamin's gestural criticism not only serves as a new perspective of theatre criticism based on the interruption and citation of “gesture,” but also opens a mysterious gate to Kafka's fiction. Gestural criticism of theatre unveils the aesthetic effect of alienation inherent in gesture and highlights the cognitive function of the stage's “dialectical imagery”. Benjamin's criticism of fiction seamlessly inherits the narrative analysis strategies of his theatrical critiques, transitioning from stage performance to broader social spaces. The exploration of gesture shifts from an aesthetic to a philosophical path: it examines the alienation embedded in gestures, their deeper production mechanisms, and their contemporary manifestations; on the other hand, it treats gesture as archaic imagery that recalls the lost experience and seeks opportunities for redeeming collective human experience from mythological violence. Gestural criticism is both a vivid reflection of the tension in Benjamin's thought and a unique contribution to literary criticism.
Keywords
Walter Benjamin, gestural criticism, reorientation, aesthetic path, philosophical path
First Page
191
Last Page
200
Recommended Citation
Zhang, Fan, and Han Zhang. 2025. "On the Reorientation of Benjamin's Practice in Gestural Criticism." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 45, (1): pp.191-200. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol45/iss1/18
