[Yangtze Forum] Prof. Zhang Liang from Nanjing University Gives Lecture at the 217th Yangtze Forum

(Correspondent: Wen Xinyang) On the evening of May 23, Professor Zhang Liang from the School of Philosophy, Nanjing University, delivered the 217th Yangtze Forum lecture at the School of Philosophy, Wuhan University. His report was titled “Walter Benjamin: A Critic Unsuitable for Academic Life.”

Prof. Zhang began by analyzing Benjamin’s early life and educational background, then delved into Benjamin’s views on the “crisis” of German universities and his own academic experiences. He noted Benjamin’s indecisiveness in pursuing a career path. After earning his doctorate in 1919, Benjamin initially wanted to be an independent scholar and sought continued financial support from his father. However, post-WWI economic downturns shrank the family’s wealth, making that plan untenable. He also considered launching a magazine New Angel and running a bookshop, but failed to secure investors. Benjamin did attempt to secure academic posts, but his arrogance during student years and disregard for academic norms alienated him from the scholarly community. His conduct and demeanor sharply clashed with his aspirations to enter the academic system.

Based on the above discussion, Professor Zhang Liang offered a summary and evaluation of Walter Benjamin’s life. On the one hand, Benjamin was widely recognized for his talent: he possessed an innate sensitivity and insight, a mentally coherent inner structure, and a habitual tendency toward aimless flânerie. On the other hand, Benjamin's flâneur-like disposition was fundamentally at odds with the modern university system—he could not, and was not suited to, integrate into the academy. The kind of talent required by modern universities is aligned with modern science, which is disciplinary, theoretical, and universal. In contrast, Benjamin’s talent preceded modern science—it was undisciplined, experiential, and corporeal. Even if he had forcibly tried to integrate into the university system, he would have either been disciplined and lost his sense of self, or quickly fled from it. For Benjamin himself, the poverty and hardship he experienced later in life were undoubtedly unfortunate. However, from the perspective of intellectual history, this very process produced a significant, genius-like thinker, one through whom we can gain profound insight into the nature of Germany’s modernization at the time. In this sense, it may be seen as a fortunate outcome.

During the discussion session, Professor Zhang engaged with faculty and students on topics such as the relationship between Benjamin and the youth movement, the connection between universities and intellectual innovation, and the tension between great creative works and industrialization. At the end of the lecture, Professor Li Dianlai expressed his gratitude to Professor Zhang, noting that the lecture was deeply insightful. He pointed out that Benjamin’s life not only offers life lessons but also reflects the historical and intellectual conditions of an era.