Johannes Lenhard 
Totaladler — Fragmentary remarks on Walter Benjamin’s ‘On the concept of history’ 

Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Philosophy — Philosophy of the 20th century, grade: 2:1, London School of Economics, course: Modern Social Thought, language: English, abstract: Today, Benjamin’s ‘angel of history’, his ‘angelus novus’ has to fight an even greater danger than the storm of progress that was characteristic for Benjamin’s time. Today’s force is more material, more powerful and perhaps even more catastrophic but just as total and real as was the storm blowing away the angel sixty years ago. The angel has finally found a counterpart that fights him, something that he can touch. But does this make it easier for the angel, the embodiment of history, “to stay, awaken the dead, make whole what has been smashed” (392) or are we still to await the coming of a messiah that can win over the antichrist (391)?