Abstract: At the end of the 19th century, the tension between rationality and irrationality constituted the spiritual climate of Germany. On the one hand, more profit and higher efficiency, regarded as "progress" of individuality and society, had created a more prosperous material world but failed to provide population with inner peace and satisfaction. On the other hand, in order to fight against the boredom of the material civilisation, the youth indulged in subjective fantasy and particular experiences in the name of "Romanticism". It allowed people to temporarily escape from the problems of excessive rationalisation but couldn't help them achieve true redemption of the soul. It is in this context that Benjamin carried out his early representative work The Concept of Criticism in German Romanticism and other contemporaneous studies on Romanticism. In these works, Benjamin clarified the core spirit of Romanticism, especially Jena Romanticism based on their concept of "criticism". He pointed out the ethos of Romanticism was not about being intoxicated and fanatical, but calm and sober. Rather than subjective fantasies, it pursued objective truth through serious contemplation, and rather than narrow particularities, it concerned with the history of human spirit as a whole. Benjamin's discussion on art criticism and the sober character of Romanticism sheds a light on the relationship between literature, history and truth, as well as the effective ways to deal with the crisis of modernity. In addition, through the elaboration of Adorno and others, this discussion has had a profound impact on the Frankfurt school and even on the critical theory in Europe as a whole. Benjamin's work transcends the category of art, and echoes the social reality of Germany at the turn of the century, shares the common vision of German social theory. Therefore, for the purpose of understanding the value of Romanticism and Benjamin's contribution to social theory, this paper builds its discussion by focusing on the concept of "criticism".

Key words: Walter Benjamin, Jena Romanticism, criticism, holy-sober