Walter Benjamin and José Carlos Mariátegui: two dissenting Marxists against the ideology of 'progress'

Walter Benjamin, a Jewish writer of German culture, and José Carlos Mariátegui, a brilliant Peruvian revolutionary intellectual, represent two dissident visions in the field of Marxism. Both belong to very different geographical, cultural and historical universes. Each ignored the writings of the other. Benjamin knew nothing about Latin American Marxism, and Mariátegui knew European Marxist culture well, but he did not read German. Despite this distance, they have many common elements. In this text we hypothesize that there is a true affinity between their thoughts. Both share a romantic critique of modern Western civilization and a rejection of the dogma of progress in history.