Bøger af Henrik Reeh

Det kulturelle felt nyder en stadig større bevågenhed fra både politisk og økonomisk hold. Med kulturens stigende betydning i socio-politiske processer kan de humanistiske fag – takket være deres forståelsesorienterede forskning og det nære forhold til begrebet kultur – udfordre grænser og tilegne sig en ny central rolle. I denne situation er ”rumlig kultur” begyndt at tegne sig som et vigtigt humanistisk felt, hvor menneskers praktiske og mentale forhold til rumlige omgivelser reflekteres. I Rumlig kultur leverer 20 forskere fra Københavns Universitet deres forskelligartede perspektiver på den moderne urbane livsverden. Begrebet urbanitet markerer, at byer nok er fysiske fænomener, men yderligere må tematiseres som socio-kulturelle erfaringsuniverser. Byen kommer for alvor til udfoldelse, når der etableres urbanitet: omgangs-, udtryks- og tankeformer som kendetegner egentlig bykultur. Og snarere end de enkelte, isolerede sanser er det vekselvirkningen mellem mange sanser i rumligt agerende moderne kroppe og subjektiviteter, som viser nye veje i bykulturen. Rumlig kultur er en tvær-sanselig undersøgelse af samtidens kultur, som den udfolder sig i den urbane livsverdens heterogene rum. Bogens 20 kapitler er inddelt i fem sektioner med fokus på henholdsvis arkitektur, byrum, kunst, erindring og stedsbevidsthed. Under disse overskrifter demonstrerer forfatterne, hvordan en materialefølsom, humanvidenskabelig tilgang til afgrænsede by- og rumkulturelle problemstillinger kan tage sig ud. Bogen er rigt illustreret. Henrik Reeh, lektor ved Institut for Kunst- og Kulturvidenskab, Københavns Universitet.

Variations on the theme of the ornament in Kracauer's urban writings, suggesting ways in which the subjective can reappropraite urban life.For Siegfried Kracauer, the urban ornament was not just an aspect of design; it was the medium through which city dwellers interpreted the metropolis itself. In Ornaments of the Metropolis, Henrik Reeh traces variations on the theme of the ornament in Kracauer's writings on urbanism, from his early journalism in Germany between the wars to his "sociobiography" of Jacques Offenbach in Paris. Kracauer (1889-1966), often associated with the Frankfurt School and the intellectual milieu of Walter Benjamin, is best known for his writings on cinema and the philosophy of history. Reeh examines Kracauer's lesser-known early work, much of it written for the trendsetting newspaper Frankfurter Zeitung in the 1920s and early 1930s, and analyzes Kracauer's continuing reflections on modern urban life, through the pivotal idea of ornament. Kracauer deciphers the subjective experience of the city by viewing fragments of the city as dynamic ornaments; an employment exchange, a day shelter for the homeless, a movie theater, and an amusement park become urban microcosms.Reeh focuses on three substantial works written by Kracauer before his emigration to the United States in 1940. In the early autobiographical novel Ginster, Written by Himself, a young architect finds aesthetic pleasure in the ornamental forms that are largely unused in the profession of the time. The collection Streets of Berlin and Elsewhere, with many essays from Kracauer's years in Berlin, documents the subjectiveness of urban life. Finally, Jacques Offenbach and the Paris of His Time shows how the superficial—in a sense, ornamental—milieu of the operetta evolved into a critical force during the Second Empire. Reeh argues that Kracauer's novel, essays, and historiography all suggest ways in which the subjective can reappropriate urban life. The book also includes a series of photographs by the author that reflect the ornamental experience of the metropolis in Paris, Frankfurt, and other cities.