moments that do not fit the traditional histories, in order "to blast open the continuum of

history" ("Theses" 262). Lightning flashes, in other words, mark the limits of the

traditional modes of historiography, pointing the way out of the continuum of history.

 While the theoretical foundation for the materialist historian is laid in the "Theses"

essay, it is the Arcades Project that shows that history in action. Here is the basic way to

proceed

 (1) An object of history is that through which knowledge is constituted as the
 object's rescue. (2) History decays into images, not into stories. (3) Wherever a
 dialectical process is realized, we are dealing with a monad. (4) The materialist
 presentation of history carries along with it an immanent critique of the concept of
 progress. (5) Historical materialism bases its procedures on long experience,
 common sense, presence of mind, and dialectics. (AP, "N [On the Theory of
 Knowledge, Theory of Progress]" 476)

Historical materialism begins at a different place than traditional history. Instead of

timeless truths, a historical materialist is interested in specific objects and moments that

can be snatched out of the jaws of linear history. He must renounce the epic element in

history. Therefore, he cannot proceed in a chronological manner. As Susan Buck-Morss

puts it, "Benjamin was at least convinced of one thing: what was needed was a visual, not

a linear logic" (218). Therefore, the fragments that the materialist historian gathers are

assembled associatively, even poetically. The past is presented in a dialectical

relationship with the present, not as it actually was. Moreover, the materialist historian

gathers everything; a worthless object, like a well-worn stamp, is worth more than any

major find. As Buck-Morss notes, Benjamin "broke radically with the philosophical

canon by searching for truth in the 'garbage heap"' (217). Finally, the method of

historical materialism consists of showing, not telling. The past is not just exhumed by