The Writing
ofAsja Lacis
SusanIngram
In 1971,thechiefeditorof theBerlinjournalAlternative
Hildegard
Brennerwrotethat:"[t]henameof Asja Lacis shouldhave been menconnectionedtwo decadesago by thosewho knewof thehistorical
ofBenjamin'sSchriften
tions.Thisdidnothappen.The 1955publication
of One-WayStreetto his 'girl-friend
saw theremovalof thededication
of the'Naples' essaywas also
in Riga'; thenameof Lacis as co-author
stricken."'Anotherthreedecadeshave passed,and Lacis has yet to
of
she deserves.Creditgivenheras co-author
receivetherecognition
her
in
of
linked
1978
collection
essays,Reflections,
"Naples" Benjamin's
She wouldnow seemto be firmly
withBenjamin's.2
nameirrevocably
ensconcedin Benjaminstudiesas thefemmefatale responsiblefor
seducinghimwithMarxistmaterialism
awayfromhis Jewishheritage
wife.The blurbon thebackofthe1986Englishtranslation
and faithful
a succinct
ofthismyth:
ofBenjamin'sMoscowDiaryoffers
summation
forAsja
theprimary
reasonforthistripwas hisaffection
Perhaps
Bolshevik
an important
intellecwhowouldremain
Lacis,a Latvian
tualanderotic
onhimthroughout
thetwenties
andthirties.3
influence
im
1. HildegardBrenner,
Berichte
"Nachwort,"
Asja Lacis,Revolutiondr
Beruf"
iiberMeyerhold,
iiberproletarisches
Brecht,
Theater,
BenjaminundPiscator,ed. HildefromLacis's
1971,1976) 113.All quotations
(Munich:Rogner& Bernhard,
gardBrenner
workaremyown.
2. WalterBenjaminand Asja Lacis, "Naples,"Reflections:
Essays,Aphorisms,
ed. PeterDemetz,trans.EdmundJephcott
(New York:
Writings,
Autobiographical
SchockenBooks,1978) 163-73.
3. WalterBenjamin,Moscow Diary,ed. GarySmith,trans.RichardSieburth
& London:Harvard
UP, 1986).
(Cambridge
159
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160
TheWriting
ofAsjaLacis
It goesontohailthediaryas:
ofhismasochistic
ononelevel,theaccount
loveaffair
withthiselu- objectof desire.On another
sive- andrather
level,
unsympathetic
itisthestory
ofa failed
romance
with
theRussian
Revolution.
inthispassagebetweenBenjamin'sromance
The parallelism
withboth
has beenfashioned
Lacis and therevolution
to
suggeststhattheformer
ofa "failedromance."
The forcesbehindthecreation
fitthenarrative
of
- objectofdesire"remainunexthis"elusive- andrather
unsympathetic
An
a
and
book
review
theextentof theinterplored. obituary
represent
in English.4
estLacis hasthusfargenerated
Thepurposeofthisarticleis
to makeknownthestoryimmersed
undertheweightofstereotypical
referencesto this"LatvianBolshevik."
It arguesthattheway"Asja Lacis"
is theproduct
of veryspecificlinguistic,
ideofiguresin Benjaminiana
and
industrial
it
and
shows
how
forces,
logical
rewriting
practiceshave
informed
anddeformed
ourviewofBenjamin.5
formed,
One need not look farto uncoverthe elementsof Benjamin'slife
"Ifit werea photograph,"
Linda
storythatmadeitripeforcultification.
has
"the
of
Walter
life
would
written, story
HavertyRugg
Benjamin's
be in the sepia tonesof nineteenth-century
images,imbuedwiththe
colorwe have come to associatewithnostalgiaand regret."6
Michael
AndreBernstein
hasfurther
notedthat:
hisowninterests,
toactagainst
Curiously,
Benjamin's
compulsion
evenagainsthis chancesforsurvival,
and sometimes
has only
ofhisposthumous
enhanced
theglamor
His lifeand
canonization.
4. HeinzUwe Haus,"In Memoriam
Asja Lacis,"TheBrechtYearbook12 (1983):
Reviewof"Revolutioniir
imBeruf,"New GermanCri141-47;andPattyLee Parmalee,
FritzMierau'sRusseninBerlin:Literatur,
Malerei,
tique2 (1975): 163-66.In German,
Theater,
Film,1918-1933(Leipzig:Reclam,1991) and Hans Mayer'sDer Zeitgenosse
Walter
Jiidischer
Benjamin(Frankfurt:
Verlag,1992)engagewithherina lessthanstereoThe standard
on Lacis is in
typicalfashion,akinto Susan Buck-Morss's.
monograph
Latvian:M. Miglane,et al., AnnaLacis (Riga: Liesma,1973). Also of interest
is the
"MommyDearest"memoirby herdaughter
DagmaraKimele,Asja: RezisoresAnnas
Laces dekainadzive(Riga:Liktenstasti,
1996).
5. I intendtheterm"rewriting"
as AndreLefeveredoes in Translation,
Rewriting
and theManipulation
of LiteraryFame (London& New York: Routledge,1992) to
includethemanypracticesinfluencing
and canonization,
suchas translation,
reception
andediting.
criticism
anthologization,
historiography,
6. Linda HavertyRugg,PicturingOurselves:Photography
and Autobiography
(Chicago:U ofChicagoP, 1997) 162.
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SusanIngram 161
his workshaveacquiredtheauraof a legend,and thedecisive
in his career,fromhis semi-deliberate
failureto
turning-points
securetheHabilitation
certification
for
at a Gerrequired teaching
manuniversity,
to his suicideaftercrossing
thePyrenees
and
in
in
Port
Bou
have
been
1940,
reaching
Spain September
described
so often
andwithsuchreverence
thattheybegintoseem
likeset-pieces
from
anorthodox
hagiography.7
The way Benjaminhas cometo be constructed
as "thelastGermanwho buriedhimselfin books,"9"an
Jewishintellectual,"8
"a wanderer
Old Worldintellectual...
an outsider
forall times- including
archetypal
our own,"10and "an intellectual
cult figure,a philosophical
saint...
his
after
suicide...
seems
to
become
a
[who]sixtyyears
poised
pop-culresonatedin the Anglo-American
cultural
tureicon"11has certainly
One couldpointto suchcultifying
as JayParini's
imagination.
spinoffs
fictional
Benjamin'sCrossingand LarryMcMurtry's
autobiographical
in
Walter
the
at
to
an
Benjamin
musings
Dairy Queen, Shadowtime,
on
based
life
and
or
to
a
record
opera
Benjamin's
writings,12 Trilectic,
thelyricsof whichare basedon Benjamin'swritby JewliaEisenberg,
themythological
ings.As thisstudyofAsja Lacis demonstrates,
parametersof the ironicherothathave contributed
to therise in Benjamin's
have also substantially
influenced
thefashioning
of his suppopularity
cast.
The
first
section
of
this
article
introduces
Lacis
as shewas
porting
to scholarswestof theIronCurtainin theheadydaysof the
introduced
'68ers,whilea secondsectionqueriesthecanonicalview of heras it
takesshapein Benjamin'sMoscowDiaryanditsinter-texts.
A finalsectionthenoffersan alternate
view of Lacis based on materialhitherto
inwhatMarkKingwallhas described
unaddressed
as "oneofthoseweird
of thepopularand thescholarly
confluences
thatour cultureproduces
7. MichaelAndr6Bernstein,
New Republic217.23 (8 Dec.
"One-WayStreet,"
databaseAcademicSearchElite.
1997)accessedvia theinternet
8. Gene Shaw,"Book Reviews:Arts& Humanities,"
LibraryJournal124.10(1
Jun.1999): 111.
9. FredInglis,"A Wanderer
whoBuriedHimself
inBooks," TimesHigherEducationSupplement
1430(7 Apr.2000): 24-25.
10. On thedustcover
ofJayParini,Benjamin's Crossing(NewYork:HenryHolt,
1997).
11. MarkKingwall,"ArcadianAdventures:
WalterBenjamin,theConnoisseur
of
Life,"Harper's300.1798(Mar.2000): 70.
Everyday
12. See CharlesBernstein,
2 27.2
fromShadowtime,"
boundary
"11 Interrogations
2000): 73-81.
(Summer
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162
TheWriting
ofAsjaLacis
nowandthen,"l13
thatis,theBenjaminindustry.
"Bornon a country
estatein
thetypicalbiographical
sketch,
Eschewing
of tradesLacis was theonlydaughter
Latviain 1891,AnnaErnestovna
hadconLacis as Hildegard
Brenner
did.Brenner
folk,"letme introduce
aboutBenjaminand theresult,a
tactedLacis in Riga forinformation
in Alternative.14
It begins:"Dear Dr.
was printed
long,detailedletter,
arekaput.I can onlyoffer
Brenner All ofBenjamin'sletters
Hildegard
was
whichshethenproceedstodo.15Thisletter
yousomeobservations,"
of buildinga children's
theater
followedup withLacis's reminiscences
fora Proletarian
Children's
in Orel in 1918 and Benjamin's"Program
in 1973,
in
the
which
theater
Theater,"16
journalPerformance,
appeared
in
of Lacis's has everbeenpublished English.17
theonlytimeanything
to have
thatBrenner
was pleasantly
One has theimpression
surprised
Her initial
sourceof information.
come across such a wide-ranging
butalso in a volnotonlyin theAlternative
selections
requestresulted
in 1971to
ir imBerufwhichwas published
Revolution
umeofmemoirs,
and whichincludesan aftercoincidewithLacis's eightieth
birthday,
and relevance.
Lacis's accomplishments
wordby Brennerenumerating
linkin reconstructing
thecircumFor Brenner,
Lacis was an important
lifein theWeimarRepublicin generalandof the
stancesof intellectual
in particular.
of thevolume,
The subtitle
worker'smovement
proletarian
Brecht,Benjaminand
Reportson ProletarianTheater,on Meyerhold,
on what
of Brenner's
interest.
Lacis concentrates
Piscator,is indicative
male
aboutwell-known,
she was able to add to knowledge
left-leaning,
13. Kingwall70.
56-57(Oct.-Dec.1967):
Alternative
14. Asja Lacis,"Briefan Hildegard
Brenner,"
211-14.
totheresponsive
is also ofinterest
as itdrawsattention
15. Theendingoftheletter
on W.B.
"OfcourseI hada strong
ofLacis's writing
inGerman:
nature
politicalinfluence
and he becamemoreinvolvedin thestudyof Marxism.But myinfluence
onlyhad an
onWerner
hadalreadybeenlaid.I triedtobe a similarinfluence
effect
becausetheground
he was. RolfTiedemann'sassertionis
thereactionary
KrausbutI failed:he remained
- butI'll closenow- perhapsyou
I couldwritean entire
bookaboutBenjamin
ridiculous.
don'tneedsuchmaterialat all. Respectfully
yours,AnnaLazis (calledAsja); 14/XI/67
Reichin Moscow(approx.1927),he wroteon
Riga. ps/WB visitedme and Bernhard
A.L."
articles.
andalso somenewspaper
GoethefortheGreatSovietEncyclopedia
Kindertheaters':
16. Lacis, "Das 'Programm
eines proletarischen
Erinnerungen
59-60 (Apr.-June
beimWiederlesen,"
Alternative
reminiscences,
1968): 64-67.Further
undMenschen.Erinwerepublishedas "Staidte
whichformed
thebasis of hermemoir,
SinnundForm21 (1969): 1326-57.
nerungen,"
trans.Jack
Theater.2 Documents,"
17. Lacis & Benjamin,"Buildinga Children's
1 (1973): 22-32.
Performance
Zipes& SusanBuck-Morss,
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SusanIngram 163
BothLacis's personalcircumstances
andhertheatrical
conpersonalities.
forexample,in glosses:"A decisivestagefor
nectionsare downplayed,
me was workingin Riga. (Personalcircumstances
had broughtme
When
the
volume
in
was
scaled
back by ten
back)."18
reprinted 1976,
it
was
these
areas
the
childhood
of
reminiscences,
pages,
descriptions
relativesand a translated
excerptfromherRussianbookon Revolution- whichwereshortened,
aryTheaterin Germany
necessitating
changing
thetitleof thefirstchapterfrom"Latvia:In theVillage/Riga"
to "St.
which
had
been
of
the
title
Moscow,
1913/17,"
Petersburg,
originally
in
two.
Thus
it
was
the
of
an
Marxist
functionchapter
guise
impersonal
introduced
intoscholarship
intheWest.
arythatLaciswas first
Thisguisewas notto improve
dueto thefactthat,fouryears
primarily
afterthissecondedition,and 53 yearsafterthefact,WalterBenjamin's
MoskauerTagebuchappearedwithSuhrkamp.
In theafterword
to the
1986 Englishtranslation
in
not
the
"Editorische
(but notably
original
us thatthediaryhad notbeenpubNotiz"),editorGarySmithinforms
lishedearlier,
"fortworeasons.First,thepublishing
housedecidednotto
issuethediaryduring
thelifetime
ofAsja Lacis (she diedin 1979).Secin thesixthvolumeof
ondly,the diarywas scheduledforpublication
Gesammelte
which
contains
all of his extantautoBenjamin's
Schriften,
and
other
thanthose of the Paris
biographicalwritings
fragments,
It is unfortunate
ArcadesProject."l19
thatLacis was thusdeprived
of the
to respondto Benjamin'sportrayal
ofher.As pointedoutin
opportunity
bothGershomScholem'sprefaceand GarySmith'safterword
(bothof
ofthediaryitself),
whichI willdiscussaftera briefreading
Lacis is inteand thematic
structures.
The diarybegins
gralto the diary'snarrative
withBenjamin'sarrivalin Moscow,on December6, 1926,wherehe is
metby,andimmediately
Bernhard
Reich:
displaces,
Asja's husband,
railThen,as I wasmaking
mywayoutoftheBelorussian-Baltic
... Weloadedourselves
andthetwo
Reichappeared
waystation,
intoa sleigh.A thawhadsetin thatday,itwas warm.
suitcases
We had onlybeenunderway
a fewminutes,
downthe
driving
broadTverskaia
withits gleamof snowand mud,whenAsja
18. Thesecircumstances
involveda harrowing
Latviato
tripacrosscivil-war-torn
be withherdyingmother,
whodiedshortly
beforeshecouldgetthere.Lacis,Revolutiondr
imBeruf32.
19. GarySmith,"Afterword,"
MoscowDiary 145.All quotations
fromBenjamin's
hereafter
citedparenthetically
thetext.
within
translation,
diaryaretakenfromSieburth's
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164
TheWriting
ofAsjaLacis
thesideofthestreet,
Reichgotoutandwalked
wavedtous from
theshort
distance
to
the
wetookthesleigh.(9)
hotel,
remaining
WhenBenjaminleavesMoscowon February1, thenarrative
breaks
fromthecitybutwithhis finalfareoffnotwithhis actualdeparture
withhis arrival,
one of
well fromAsja, andone willnotethesymmetry
construction:
manyexamplesofthediary'simmaculate
I askedhertohaila sleigh.As I wasabouttogetin,having
said
hertoridetothecorner
toheronemoretime,I invited
good-bye
andas thesleigh
of Tverskaia
heroffthere,
withme.I dropped
wasalready
away,I onceagaindrewherhandtomylips,
pulling
inthemiddle
a longtime,
ofthestreet.
Shestoodthere
wavright
she seemedto turn
ing.I wavedbackfromthesleigh.At first
around
as shewalkedaway,thenI lostsightofher.Holding
my
streets
tothe
onmyknees,I rodethrough
thetwilit
largesuitcase
intears.
station
(121)20
to Asja.
In addition,
mostof theinitialentriesbeginwitha reference
December8: "Asja droppedby in the morning"
(12); December9:
(14); December10: "We go see
"Asja againcameby in themorning"
12:
in
"Reichtooka walkwithAsja
the
December
(16);
morning"
Asja
14
on the 15th):"I shallnot
in themorning"
December
(written
(19);
afterhe
see Asja today"(21); December15: "Reichsteppedoutbriefly
gotup and I hopedI wouldbe able to greetAsja in private.But she
didn'tturnup" (25); December16: "I was writing
mydiaryand had
she
knocked.As she
that
would
Then
stop
by.
Asja
givenup hope
enteredtheroom,I wantedto kiss her.As usual,it provedunsuccessreaaboutLacis beingtheprimary
ful"(27). Therecan be no "perhaps"
of
the
as
indicated
on
the
back
to
son forBenjamin'scoming Moscow,
nordoes thevisitappearto have gone verywell.
Englishtranslation;
theirvisitsseem to have droppedoff
Afterthe firstthreemornings,
whileBenjaminseemsto have remainedcocoonedin consomewhat,
withher,
he wouldreallywanta relationship
of whether
siderations
the
on
not
to
mention
her
the
matter,
veryawkward
ignoring feelings
the
fact
thatshe was
her
not
to
mention
his
attentions
in,
put
position
"Mit dem grol3enKofferauf
20. In the original,the finalwordis "Bahnhof"':
zumBahnhof,"
meinemSchoBefuhrichweinenddurchdie ddimmemden
which,
StraBen
"ichverstehe
nurBahnhof"[I don'tunderstand
Germanexpression,
giventheNorthern
intheRussiancapital.
ofBenjamin'sdifficulties
summation
provesa poignant
anything],
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SusanIngram 165
fora seriousneuraldisorder(and
notwell and had been hospitalized
a pointon
a nervousbreakdown,
not,as herGermanmemoirindicates,
not
seemto
does
whichI elaboratein theconcluding
section).Benjamin
forthestateof Lacis's healthor forthediffihavehadmuchsympathy
As her stayin the sanatorium
cultiesof her situation.
approachesan
theirconend,BenjamininvitesReichfora cup of coffeeandrecounts
intheentry
forDecember26 as follows:
versation
whichforthemostpart
boutsofanxiety,
He spokeofAsja'schronic
ofherMosonDaga,andhewentintothewholestory
werefocused
he
at thepatience
marveled
onceagain.I hadoften
cowresidence
the
withher.Andevennowhewasnotshowing
showedindealing
thatthis
orbitterness,
tracesofill humor
onlythetension
slightest
thefactthatAsja's 'egoHe lamented
talkwithmewasreleasing.
ontaknowthateverything
herprecisely
ism'wasfailing
depended
Her
about
course.
follow
their
anxiety
things
ingiteasyandletting
entail
would
most
that
it
whereto livenext,thethought
probably
I
had
not
a
matter
of
As
her....
tormented
fact,
greatly
moving,
methefollowing
Itwouldonlystrike
heranxiety.
noticed
day.(45)
"Asja" was nota personforBenjaminin whomone notedsuchemoshewas likeMoscow,an "almostimpregnable
tionsas anxiety.Rather,
On
or the impregnating.21
fortress"
(34), therefor the conquering,
he facesas:
thefrustrations
he describes
December20, forinstance,
ofadvancing
anditis onlythetotalimpossibility
so manybastions,
or at leastherweakonlythefactthatAsja's illness,
anyfurther,
thatkeepsme
intothebackground
affairs
ness,pushesourpersonal
from
byallthis.(35)
depressed
becoming
completely
in his work;in his
Nor is MoscowtheonlycityBenjaminfeminizes
the
middleperiodof
"A
he
describes
Berlin
Chronicle"
autobiographical
tomy
fromthewholeofmylaterchildhood
hislifeinBerlin"extending
of
before
the
a
to theuniversity:
entrance
[as] period impotence
city."22
himself
21. In theoriginal,
facing"einefastuneinnehmBenjaminwritesoffinding
echoesa comment
translation
bareFestung"(50). Sieburth's
by Scholemin thepreface:
seinerBerichte,"
"Sie bleibtnurals Empfangerin
(14), [sheis thereonlyto receivehis
alsomeans"toconceivea child"]as wellas Benjamin's
tonoteis that"empfangen"
reports;
laterinthepassagethat,
owncomment
"TodayI toldherthatI nowwantedtohavea child
unnoted.
tothiscomment
goesconspicuously
byher"(35,italicsadded).Herresponse
4.
22. Benjamin,
Reflections
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166
TheWriting
ofAsjaLacis
himselfin suchhostile,potentially
BenSituating
fatal(e)urbanterrain,
himself
as a notparticularly
battlejaminfigures
hardybutnonetheless
anddraining
GolireadyDavid facingone icilyforbidding,
disorienting
ath afteranother.As MichaelAndr6Bernsteinhas pointedout, we
woulddo welltobe waryofsuchself-serving
self-representation:
Likeanyauthor,
confronted
andindifference;
but
Benjamin
rejection
to
Adorno's
commanded
compared,
say,
earlywork,Benjamin's
moreattention
andrespect.
Evenhisimmensely
difficonsiderably
cultbookonGerman
drama
was
in
reviewed
tragic
favorably
many
of hiscountry's
relevant
as wellas in important
periodicals,
journalsin Hungary,
andEngland.
Andyetit is the
France,
Austria,
as a marginal,
imageofBenjamin
disregarded
geniuswhoseradical
hasbeenableto appreciate
thathasbecome
onlyposterity
insights
ofreceived
ideas,fixedso securely
that,
partofourownrepertoire
nofactual
willeverquitedislodge
counter-evidence
it.23
perhaps,
As hisMoscowDiarymakesclear,thisimageofBenjaminas a "maris oneofhisownmaking,
andone inneedofa
ginal,disregarded"
figure
which
both
he
and
his
rewriters
thenprovided.
cast,
particular
supporting
It is in Scholem'spreface
toMoscowDiarythatthevilifying
ofLacis is
mostblatant.Scholemis notlikelyto havebeenkindlydisposedto the
hismaincompetitor
inthebattleplayedoutbetween
personhe considered
Judaism
and Marxismin thesecondhalfof the 1920sforBenjamin's
thepersonhe heldresponsible
forinterfering
withthearrangeallegiance,
mentshe hadmadeforBenjamin
to receivea stipend
whichwas to bring
himto Jerusalem
to studyHebrew.24
The shadingScholemis interested
in givingBenjamin'srelationto Russia,and his Marxisttendencies
in
canbe seenintheemphasis
inthepreface
on the"sharpcontrast
general,
betweentheoptimistic
thatBenjamininitially
harbored
conexpectations
the
his
with
relations
the
Moscow
milieu
cerning shape
literary
might
takeand thebitterdisappointments
thatawaitedhimtherein reality"
23. Bernstein,
accessedvia theinternet
databaseAcademicSearchElite.
24. For theircorrespondence
on Benjamin'sproposedtripto Palestine,see Benjamin,The Correspondence
of WalterBenjamin,1910-1940,eds. GershomScholem&
TheodorW. Adorno,
trans.Manfred
R. Jacobson
& EvelynM. Jacobson
(Chicago& London: U of ChicagoP, 1994) esp. 339, 346, 359, 364-65.GiventhatScholemwas also
withBenjamin'swife,Dora,andthathe receivedheraccounting
ofthe
closelyacquainted
entire
divorceprocess,itis understandable
thathewouldblameLacis forhavingarbitrated
overandseveredwhathe sawas Benjamin'slife-line
tohisJudaictradition.
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SusanIngram 167
the reputedly
influ(6).25 Scholemundermines
"powerfulintellectual
ence thatshe [Lacis] exercisedoverhim"(7) by pointing
outthat"the
of preciselythis
diaryleaves us withoutinsightintoor understanding
intellectual
dimension
of thewomanhe loved"(7-8). For Scholem,the
"absenceof anyconvincing
evocationof herintellectual
profile"(8, a
will
one
he
takes
care
to
is
not
a
reflection
of his
note,
point,
restate)
friend'sambivalentattitudetowardsthe relationship
but ratherof
Lacis's perfidy.It is "her continualrejections,
and finallyeven the
eroticcynicismthatshe displaysto no uncertain
extent"(8, italics
which
is
to
blame
for
the
added)
"infinitely
problematic"
(7) natureof
therelationship,
and notthefactthatBenjaminwas chasinga woman
withanother
whohad already
man,one,moreover,
verymuchtogether
to leave
successfully
adaptedto lifein SovietRussia.Scholemprefers
matters
and
his
closes
with
the
statement:
enigmatic
preface
hyperbolic
This[absenceof anyconvincing
evocation
ofherintellectual
prowhowitnessed
file]is borneoutby everybody
Benjamin
together
withAsjaLacis:inconveying
their
tome,theywereall
impressions
bewildered
butquarrel.
And
bythesetwoloverswhodidnothing
thiswasin 1929and1930,whenshecametoBerlinandFrankfurt
andBenjamin
wasgetting
divorced
onheraccount!
Partofthepuzzle therefore
remains
whichis infactentirely
unsolved,
appropriate
toa lifesuchas Walter
(8,italics
Benjamin's.
added)
Thereareseveralpointstobe notedhere.First,Lacis didnotcometo
Berlinto see Benjaminbutrather
becauseshe had been orderedto do
so byherSovietbosses.Norwas hertripto Frankfurt
motivated
byper- she wenttherein orderto seek medicaltreatsonal considerations
mentand Benjamin,in fact,refusedto accompanyher.Thirdis the
matter
of Benjamin'sdivorce,whichI willhavereasonto discusspresently.I will onlynoteherethatReichandDaga cameto visitLacis in
Berlinand stayedfora month,
so therecan be no doubtthatBenjamin
knewshe andReichwerestillverymuchtogether.
Thisconstruction
of
25. In his Walter
Scholemspeakscandidlyof
Benjamin:TheStoryofa Friendship,
hisdifferences
withBenjaminovercommunism
inthechapter
"Trustfroma Disentitled
tance:1924-1926":"To me,communism
initsMarxist
formconstituted
thediametrically
convictions
thatBenjaminand I hitherto
had shared
oppositepositionto theanarchistic
Thiswas thebeginning
of a splitin Benjamin"(Frankfurt/Main:
politically.
Suhrkamp,
Zohn'stranslation,
Walter
1975),herecitedinHarry
Benjamin:TheStoryofa Friendship,
TheJewish
Publication
(Philadelphia:
SocietyofAmerica,1981) 123.
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168
TheWriting
ofAsjaLacis
Benjamin's life as enigmatic,an unsolvedpuzzle, is designedby
Scholemto fittheversionofBenjaminthathe wantedto establish,
that
Marxismupon a reliis, a JewishBenjaminwho had "superimposed
Scholemassumesthat
gious,and ultimately
mystical,imagination."26
forthereaderof Lacis's Germanmemoirs,
Benjamin'sMoscowDiary
anddepressing
"willcomeas an unpleasant
(7). He evengoes
surprise"
so faras to call Benjamin'sdiary"thenarrative
of a courtship"
(8). If
thereis anything
thatis unpleasant
anddepressing,
not
much
of
though
a surprise,
it is his,and Benjamin's,inability
to treatLacis as anything
morethanan objectofundisputed
eroticcynicism.
Smith
is
moreastutethanScholeminrecognizing
thedynamics
of
Gary
with"Mother
Russia."WhileScholemconsiders
Benjamin'srelationship
withBernhard
Reichas "moreimportant
to [BenBenjamin'srelationship
in
activities
Moscow
and
more
instructive
than
was
jamin's]
intellectually
his relationship
withAsja Lacis" (7), Smithemphasizes
in his afterword
thattherelationship
betweenthetwomenis "anything
buttransparent:
theysharea passionforthesamewoman,liveunderthestrainof daily
and havecompetitive
aims"(139). If Smithtellsthe
contact,
journalistic
of
a
is
it
not
between
story
triangle,
Benjamin,Lacis and Reich,but
rather
betweenBenjamin,
Brechtand theSovietUnion,forwhichLacis
servedas conduit.27
his observation
that"[j]ustas BenNevertheless,
different
whilebeingunableto
jamin could identify
Cyrilliccharacters
discerntheirmeanings,
he couldobservea performance
ordiscussion
and
notunderstand
its import"
both
the
of
(138) captures
spirit Benjamin's
almosttwomonths
inMoscow,as wellas hisrelationship
withLacis.
Given Smith'sbalanced,prominently
placed accountingof Lacis's
influenceon Benjaminin the afterword
to the 1986 translation,
the
of her in the 1991 Benjaminiana.
brazen,sensationalist
portraiture
Eine biografische
withHans PuttRecherche,whichhe put together
of a let-down. Puttniesand Smithdevote
nies,comes as something
thefourth
and thepersonof his
chapterof fiveto Benjamin'smarriage
26. David Stem,"The Man withQualities,"
NewRepublic212.15 (10 Apr.1995):
accessedvia theinternet
databaseAcademicSearchElite.
27. In Walter
zu einerdialektischen
Asthetik
BenjaminundBertoldBrecht:Ansdtze
indendreif3iger
Jahren(St.Ingbert:
Werner
J.Rohrig,1993),InezMilllercoversthesame
ingreater
detailwithbuta paltry
reference
toLacis intheintroduction.
territory
28. Hans Puttnies
and GarySmith'sBenjaminiana:
Eine Biografische
Recherche
beentranslated
intoEnglish.All
(Giessen:Anabas,1991)has notyet,to myknowledge,
translations
fromitaremyown.
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SusanIngram 169
ex-wife:"Ehetacheles:Ein Leben mit Dora Benjamin"("Marriage
Goings-on:A LifewithDora Benjamin").WhileDora is notportrayed
in a particularly
manner- she is introduced
as an "Alma
sympathetic
Mahleren miniature"
in
italics
and
referred
to as "eine
(135,
original)
the
divorce
is
recounted
from
Sprech-maschine"
("a windbag,"156),
her perspective,
fromwhichLacis appearsa monsterresponsiblefor
her"poorWalter"to a creature
reducing
who,as Dora writesScholem,
else has beencom"consistsonlyofheadandsexualorgans,everything
pletelyshutoff,and you know,or can imagine,thatin such cases it
doesn'tlast longuntilthehead is also switchedoff' (145). According
to Dora, Lacis is "theonlyrealcalamity"(144) themarriage
is unable
to withstand,
andPuttnies
and Smith,in theirtextconnecting
thesedocassumeDora's attitude.
Lacis's workin Berlin:
uments,
Theydenigrate
"she endedup in November1928 in an unimportant
positionwiththe
Russiantrademissionin Berlin"(144), and misrepresent
herpresence
in Capri,implying
thatshe has fledtherefromMoscowto escape the
of theSovieteconomy:"Asja Lacis ... had managedto
restructuring
flee fromtheNew EconomicPlan in Moscow"(144). Any readerof
Lacis's Germanmemoir,
whichSmithobviously
was as he quotesfrom
it in theafterword
to MoscowDiary,wouldknowthatLacis didnotgo
to CaprifromMoscowbutratherfromMunichand notforeconomic
reasonsbuton accountofherdaughter's
poorhealth.The passageinA
Revolutionary
byProfessionreads:"We spentthespringand summer
withReichin Italy- (Daga, myyoungdaughter,
had comedownwith
recommended
pneumoniaand the doctorshad urgently
Capri)" (41).
well in
PublishingDora's lettersto Scholemmay servescholarship
evidence
of
the
offering
decidedly
disadvantageous
positionofa woman
in divorceproceedings
in the Germanyof the 1920s. One can well
imaginewhatan ordealthewholeprocessmusthavebeen forherand
how frustrating
it musthave been to have supported
Benjaminforso
It is a sad
long onlyto have himpubliclyflauntanotherrelationship.
that
the
of
distress
had
to
be
at
Dora's
another
woman's
irony
exposing
in keepingwiththeimageof Lacis in the
expense,but one certainly
Westas Benjamin'scynicalcommunist
girlfriend.
Whata Difference
a LanguageMakes:Russianvs. German
The finalpartof thisarticlewill go beyondthe German-language
based image of "Asja Lacis" and turnnow to "Anna Ernestovna
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170
TheWriting
ofAsjaLacis
was notLacis's onlymemoir.
Lacis."29A Revolutionary
byProfession
In 1984,fiveyearsafterherdeath,KrasnayaGvozdika[TheRed Carnain SovietRiga.30TheRed Carnation
is Lacis's story
tion]was published
and expandupon,theGermanversionand it
as she chose to rewrite,
in a much
in keyrespects
resulting
assemblage
divergesfromBrenner's
of her.The onlyreviewof the German
morepersonableperception
memoirto appear in EnglishcriticizesLacis for her impersonal
approach:
sheseemsto
herto obscurity,
Butif it is hersex thatcondemns
modintheplot:shehasa sortof'female'
havebeenanaccomplice
estyalmostto a fault....
She describesBrecht'sand Benjamin's
herrelationship
dressin detailbutnevermentions
homes,habits,
ofherdaughter
Reichorwhowasthefather
withBernhard
Daga.
in proletarian
theater
involved
She reports
theideasof everyone
herown.31
a fewexceptions)
(with
except
The Red Carnationcannotbe accused of "femalemodesty"or of
theonly
byProfession
withholding
personaldetails.In A Revolutionary
thesecondedition:
from
was removed
husband
toLacis's first
reference
formymother
I married
onlythe
JulijsLacisin a civilceremony;
theunionwithLacisas a
Sheregarded
mattered.
church
wedding
She tookthe
anda seriousbreachof decorum.
publicannoyance
toldme,'Your
Shefellill.Thedoctor
verymuchtoheart.
'disgrace'
Shemustn't
be upset.Medicaheart
condition.
hasa serious
mother
thecauseofthe
in
must
eliminate
tionis ofno use thiscase.One
LaterI paid
a
church
I
have
had
to
and
wedding.
comply
problem.'
from
Laciswashardonthenerves.32
divorced
forit.Getting
fullaccounta reasonably
offers
on thecontrary,
TheRed Carnation,
"Of all my
involved
withhowtheygot
beginning
ingof theirstory,
at thetechnical
a student
Mama preferred
friends,
college,JulijsLacis.
oftheGerman
textcanbe gaugedbythefactthattheonlytrans29. Thehegemony
ina Western
thusfarpublished
lationofa Lacis memoir
languageis: Profession:
RdvoluSur le thkdtre
tionnaire.
Brecht,Benjamin,Piscator,trans.&
prolitarien:Meyerhold,
Brenner
afterword
intro.PhilippeIvernel,
(Grenoble:PressesUniversitaires
byHildegard
de Grenoble,
1989).
30. Lacis,KrasnayaGvozdika,
(Riga:Liecma,1984).
Vospominanya
31. Parmalee164.
imBeruf11.
32. Lacis,Revolutiondr
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SusanIngram 171
He was a well-built,
handsomeyoungmanwithwavyhairand large
he was verypleasingto me too,"33and
grayeyes.Quiet,even-tempered,
endingwiththereasonsfortheirdivorce.On herway out thedoorto
facea commission
fromMoscow,Julijsis reported
as saying:"It would
be reallywonderful
ifthey'dfinally
throw
out
of
thetheater!"
you
I staredat Julijs:beforemyeyestherestooda stranger.
We had
beengrowing
alienated
from
oneanother
fora longtime;dropby
anddisappointment
hadcollected.
Andnowitwasas
drop,thehurt
if an invisible
hadbeenlowered
curtain
between
us. I feltcomalone.34
pletely
The Red Carnationalso includesthe storiesof Lacis's "close
friend"35
and Brecht'schiefassistant,
ElisabethHauptman,
thestories
of heryouthful
as a governessand tutorin Warsaw,her
experiences
in Latviawhereshe was arrested
adventures
and imprisrevolutionary
as
her
unsuccessful
to be with
mentioned,
oned,and, already
attempt
herdyingmother.
The
Red
Carnation
is
a
love story,
Primarily,
though,
and a workof mourning.
Lacis beganworkon it afterReich'sdeathin
1972. She dedicated it to him - the dedicationreads: "moemudrugu,"
would likelybe translated
(which,althoughit means"to my friend,"
thesedaysas "to mypartner"),
and at timesit descendsrather
drippily
intotheelegiac:
Reichhadalready
earneda Ph.D.in philosophy
in Vienna,butin
orderto workin Moscowitwasnecessary
to requalify.
He began
attheCommunist
and
a
doctoral
studying
Academy completed
protakessixyearsintwo.Theprofessors
atRANgramwhichusually
ION (RussianAssociation
of Scientific
ResearchInstitutes
of
General
ofphilosophy,
hiseruScience)valuedReich'sknowledge
ditionandintelligence.
himfora responsible
Theyrecommended
he becametheAcademic
ofthetheater
division
position:
Secretary
oftheCommunist
andforsometime- thedeputy
direcAcademy,
torofGITIS (TheStateInstitute
ofTheater
Arts),andhe lectured
on theMarxist-Leninist
of art.. .. He lectured
without
theory
notes,
anddidn'tevenbringanywithhimfrom
hisofficeforcitations.
Why?Becausehecouldquotewholepagesfrom
memory.36
33.
34.
35.
27.
Lacis,KrasnayaGvozdika
49.
Lacis,KrasnayaGvozdika
Lacis,KrasnayaGvozdika80.
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TheWriting
ofAsjaLacis
172
herlove forReich,and forher
However,in theprocessof revealing
Lacis becomesforthereaderof The Red Carnationa
manyfriends,
a farcryfromthepartyfunctionveryhumanfigure,
verysympathetic,
she
would
and
appeartobe inGerman.
ary cynicaltemptress
of a moresympathetic
to theemergence
A secondfactorcontributing
of Lacis in herRussianmemoiris themannerin whichherill
portrait
bekam
In theGermantext,shewrites:"Im September
healthis depicted.
undmuBteinsHospital"[InSeptember
icheinenNervenzusammenbruch
Lacis's knowland had tobe hospitalized].37
I gota nervousbreakdown
heremade
her
editor
and
less
than
was
of
German
perfect,
clearly
edge
some
had
thatshe
theimpression
no attempt
tocorrect
undergone kindof
collapse.In Russian,thistypeofmisunderstandpsychicandnotphysical
becauseLacissuppliesmorecontext:
to
arise
no
chance
has
ing
On thefinalday,the
thecampswereclosing.
Itwassoonautumn,
and
children
themselves,
puton theplaywhichtheyhadwritten
andsang.Andthenitwasover,we wentour
danced,andrecited,
well:my
ways.ButwhenI gothome,I wasn'tfeeling
separate
double,I lostmybalbodylistedto one side,I saw everything
and thento a sanitarium.
ance.So I firstwentto thehospital,
hurried
thatI was seriously
ReichwroteBenjamin
ill,andWalter
Berlin.38
toMoscowfrom
suchan attackis duringher
The secondtimeshe mentions
suffering
intheRussiantext:
areincluded
stayinBerlin.Onceagainsymptoms
ofmovement
andDagaleftandI fellill:mycoordination
Bernhard
neuralsurgeon,
tookmetothefamous
becamedisturbed.
Benjamin
Gold'I can'tdiagnose
KurtGoldstein.
youinjusta fewminutes,'
inFrankfurt
am
metocometohissanitarium
steinsaidandinvited
Mainfortreatment.39
Whileit is clearin Russianthatshe is beingsentto a medicaldoctor
andambigutheGermantextis moretelegraphic
fora neuralcondition,
thematter:
ous concerning
36.
37.
38.
39.
Lacis,KrasnayaGvozdika111-13.
imBeruf54.
Lacis,Revolutiondiir
Lacis,KrasnayaGvozdika117.
Lacis,KrasnayaGvozdika136.
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SusanIngram 173
WhenI fellillinBerlin,
tookmetothefamous
Professor
Benjamin
whohappened
to be in Berlin.Goldstein
KurtGoldstein,
saidthat
he couldn'tcureme in a fiveminute
visit.I shouldcometo his
sanatorium
inFrankfurt
amMainfortreatment.40
small,
private
No reference
is madehereto thekindofdoctorBenjamintookherto,
to counteract
the
norto thenatureofherillness.Again,thereis nothing
thatsheis mentally
unstable.
negativeimpression
A finalnotabledifference
betweenLacis's Russian and German
discussion
is thewayLacis portrays
her
memoirsrelevant
to thepresent
The
of
A
with
editorial
priorities Revolutionary
by
relationship Benjamin.
on Meyerhold,
BenTheater,
Brecht,
Profession:
Reportson Proletarian
WhenLacis menjaminand Piscator(and notReich)areunmistakable.
tionsthat"Reich,Benjaminand I oftenwentforwalks" duringher
in Moscow,it is notReichwho is thesubjectof discusconvalescence
sion nextbut:"Benjaminwas relatively
calm,he wrotean enthusiastic
ofmajesticSt. Basil's.'41WhenLacis writes,
"At theendof
description
Octoberwe [i.e.,she andReich]returned
to Germany.
We livedin Berherlifeor work
lin,"thetextagainoffersno detailsof theirrelations,
"In BerlinI oftenmetup withBenjamin."42
therebutrather
continues
Whenafterthe war,she regainscontactwithBrecht:"Brechtreplied
andwhenhe wentto Moscowhe invited
Reichand me to
immediately,
comeandmeethimthere,"
theirfirst
is relatedas "I
subjectofdiscussion
asked aboutBenjamin,he answered:Benjaminis dead."43That these
to TheRed
Germanpriorities
arenotLacis's owncanbe seenbyturning
where
is
but
one
of
intellectuals
with
whom
Carnation,
many
Benjamin
over
the
of
her
and
varied
life.
course
As Arvids
Lacis was involved
long
pointsout in his
Grigulis,thegrandpoobahof SovietLatvianletters,
introduction
toTheRedCarnation:
hagiographic
ofitsauthor
is explained
Itsoriginality
bya raregiftcharacteristic
withexceptional
theabilityto strike
people.
up an acquaintance
inBerlinorinParis,nottomention
Whether
Riga,AnnaLaciswas
the
alwaysableto getto knowthosewhoseworkbestexpressed
essenceofthecultural
lifeoftheir
times.
Itis possible,
ofcourse,
to
40.
41.
42.
43.
imBeruf64.
Lacis,Revolutiondr
imBeruf54.
Lacis,Revolutiondr
imBeruf48.
Lacis,Revolutiondr
imBeruf77.
Lacis,Revolutiondr
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174
TheWriting
ofAsjaLacis
AnnaLacis was a well-educated
explainthisby manyfactors.
with
a
from
the
Bekhterev
Institute
forPsychowoman,
degree
who
had
studied
at
F.
theater
neurology,
Komisarjevsky's studio,
andgainednota little
intheaesthetic
education
ofchilexperience
with
dren;she was a well-read,
conversationalist, an
interesting
excellent
of
German
and French
a
knowledge Russian,
literature,
wit
and
at
the
same
time
a
feminine
of
One
sharp
purely
sensibility.
thebestbooksoflovelyrics
in Latvian
literature
wasdedicated
to
her- the'Ho-Tai'cycleofpoemsbyLinards
Laicens.
In theRussianmemoir,
"WhenReich
Benjaminis a meresubstitute:
once againreturned
to Germany,
became
in GerWalter;"44
myguide
Reich
never
in
man,
reappears ItalyafterBenjaminarriveson thescene.
In theRussiantext,Lacis's interest
in Benjaminis primarily
didactic.
She is happyto do whatever
shecan to helphimfulfill
hispolitical,and
notpersonal,
desires:
WhenWalter
cametovisitmeinthesanatorium,
hewouldsaywith
'Do youknowhowbadlyI wantto liveandworkin
greatfeeling,
Moscow!Noteventhechaoticlivingconditions
putme off.'The
onlythinghe wantedto bringwithhimto Moscowwas -- his
Severalyearslater,
after
hademigrated
toParis,I
library.
Benjamin
received
a letter
from
him.He onceagainspokeof hisdesireto
cometo Moscow,to liveandworkinthefirst
capitalintheworld
witha socialist
government.45
In theRussianmemoir,
it is Benjaminwhois influenced
by Lacis: "It
turnedoutthatourconversations
and debateshad notbeen ineffectual.
Whenwe metup againlater,in Berlin,Waltersaid thathe was reading
The emphasisin theGermantext,
Marx,Engels,Lenin,Plechanov.'A6
on theotherhand,is on whatLacis learnedfromBenjamin:"Back then,
in Capri,I didn'tproperly
the connection
betweenallecomprehend
I now understand
how clearly
goryand modempoetics.In retrospect,
WalterBenjaminsaw through
themodemproblematics
of form."47
The
Germantextconcentrates
on Benjamin'sown independent
intellectual
"I would like to note thatthe dedicationof One-Way
development:
44.
45.
46.
47.
88.
Lacis,KrasnayaGvozdika
Lacis,KrasnayaGvozdika118.
86-87.
Lacis,KrasnayaGvozdika
imBeruf44.
Lacis,Revolutiondr
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Susan Ingram 175
Street... pointsto a veryimportant
thatWalter
changein world-view
thathe foundtheONE street."48
In theRussian
Benjaminexperienced,
on theotherhand,Benjaminis notonlycompletely
memoir,
dependent
on hisguidesbutalso influenced
bythem:
knewhowReichhadlivedbefore
in Moscow,
hisarrival
Benjamin
and was astonished
thatBernhard,
since
childhood
and
pampered
in
ideal
had
all
but
the
bare
essenconditions,
brought
up
givenup
tohim;hemayhaveworked
a greatdeal
tials,that'showitseemed
butwascontent.
LaterBenjamin
thatforReichthemain
understood
inhisideas,forthesakeofwhich
was- faith
hesacrificed
his
thing
and trulyforgot
himself.
Reich'sobsessiveness
personalcomfort
wascontagious,
evenBenjamin
it.49
caught
The special treatment
Benjaminreceivesin theGermantextseems
when
In German,
exaggerated
comparedwithits Russiancounterpart.
forexample:
Reichwas writing
at thetimefortheGreatSovietEncyclopedia.
He
introduced
to theheadsofitsliterary
section.
Benjamin
Benjamin
madean unusually
on
the
editors.
goodimpression
Theygavehim
theextremely
ofwriting
on Goethe.
He wrote
important
assignment
an in-depth
footnote:
of
which
inthe
essay[Brenner's
parts
appeared
Weltof 7 Dec. 1928,also in Alternative,
56/57(1967):
Literarische
221ff.Benjamin'sarticleforthe GreatSovietEncyclopediaunder-
wenteditorial
besidesBenjamin,
twofurther
authors
are
revision;
listedforthearticle].
TheVechernaya
Moskva(theMoscowevening
ranBenjamin's
article
ona distinguished
German
writer
newspaper)
not at all knownabroad- I don't remember
which.
orLichtenberg.50
H1lderlin
.
. perhaps
In Russian,thereis no mention
of any"unusually
good impression,"
of how "extremely
theassignment
on Goethewas, thathis
important"
or thatHilderlinis "distinguished."
The Russian
essaywas "in-depth,"
reads
passage
simply:
Bernhard
introduced
to theeditors
of theGreatSoviet
Benjamin
48.
49.
50.
imBeruf71(italicsadded).
Lacis,Revolutiondr
Lacis,KrasnayaGvozdika117-18.
imBeruf55(italicsadded).
Lacis,Revolutiondr
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176
The Writing
ofAsja Lacis
andtheygavehimtheassignment
on Goethe,
which
Encyclopedia,
waslaterprinted.
in
AndBenjamin
an
article
published
Vechernaya
Moskva
onF. H61lderlin.51
To conclude,consideration
of Lacis's Russianmemoirservesto highof
the
its
German
versionand itsaggrandisement
of Benlight agenda
of
jamin.In lookingfirstat Lacis's Germanmemoirand theconditions
its production,
and thenturning
to how she has been represented
by
we saw the emergenceof an unsympaBenjaminand his rewriters,
eroticPartyfunctionary,
who in turninflects
ourview
thetic,cynically
ofBenjaminas a marginal,
wrongly
disregarded
genius.In thefinalsecof evenone additionaltextcan act to
tion,we saw how consideration
counterbalance
themyth-making
of previousrewriters.
MichaelAndre
Bernstein
finds"something
in
distastefully
self-flatteringthezeal with
whichBenjamin'slegendhas beenembraced
andamplified
by hismore
clamorous
that:
admirers,"
continuing
It is our'enormous
condescension'
to theintellectual
worldthat
that
inhabited
lets
us
suchthinnarratives
as the
Benjamin
recycle
that
he
embodied
culture's
myth
uniquely
European
'redemptive'
wishto be acclaimed
as his
hopes,andit is thescarcely
disguised
successor
thatprompts
critics
whose
circumstances
are
so
literary
different
from
his
to
announce
their
identification
with
Benutterly
instead
to focusentirely
jamin'sstruggles...
[andtheir
preference]
on thestory
ofBenjamin's
finalyearsas an exilein Paris,andon
hisfutile,
decision
to makeuse oftheAmerican
too-long-delayed
visathatHorkheimer
hadsecured
forhim.
In additionto theirintrinsic
valueand theuse theycouldbe in helpto
in
locate
shifts
to traverse
the
ing
ideologyand genderthatcontinue
terrainof whatis now the former
EasternBloc and thatare increasof transnational
feminist
academicpractices,
thetwo
inglytheattention
volumesof Lacis's memoirs
call attention
to themyth-making
inherent
in Benjaminiana
and encouragea revisiting
and revaluingof theway
Lacis's relationship
withBenjaminhas thusfarbeenrepresented.
Anna
Lacis was a remarkable
woman,as Benjaminwas wellaware,one worthyof thesamewordswithwhichTorilMoi concludesherintellectual
ofSimonede Beauvoir:
biography
51.
Lacis,KrasnayaGvozdika118.
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SusanIngram 177
I am struckat once by her strength,
Readingher autobiography,
and
and
her
WhenI
vitality, by
helplessnessand fragility.
energy
realizehow hardit was forherto gain a sense of autonomyand
I findherachievements
all themoreadmirable.To
independence,
admire,however,is notto worship.We do notneedto be perfect,
Simonede Beauvoirteachesus, we simplyneedneverto give up.
To me,thatis botha comforting
andanutterly
daunting
project.52
52.
Woman(Oxford
TorilMoi,Simonede Beauvoir:TheMakingofan Intellectual
& Cambridge:
Blackwell,
1994)257.
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