Benjamin defined genuine progress as interruption of time’s continuum

Evidence

Progress does not lie in the continuity of the course of time, but in interferences with it, at home, or wherever something truly new makes itself felt for the first time with the soberness of the dawn. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 854

Categorization

• DEFINE: This note from the Passagen-Werk states Benjamin’s idiosyncratic definition of progress as interruption rather than continuity — a core concept for understanding his philosophy of history.
• XREF: connects to: Benjamin’s Jetztzeit meant a rupture in temporal continuity, not the present — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 1469; Benjamin conceived artistic progress as interference with time’s continuity, not smooth succession. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 854; Benjamin secularized Jewish messianism into his Marxist theory of revolutionary time — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 600

Broader Connections

• Benjamin’s Jetztzeit meant a rupture in temporal continuity, not the present #corroborates (0.95) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 1469
• Benjamin conceived artistic progress as interference with time’s continuity, not smooth succession. #expands (0.90) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 854
• Benjamin secularized Jewish messianism into his Marxist theory of revolutionary time #expands (0.75) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 600