The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Harry Zohn, trans. In WB's Illuminations. New York: Schocken, 1969. Hannah Arendt, ed., introd. 217-51.

A very important work. Opposing Theodor Adorno, WB took a relatively optimistic view of the possibilities of art in the age of film, radio, and the phonograph — technological innovations that strip from art the "aura" given by uniqueness, thereby (potentially) liberating art from the bourgeois ruling elite. Where Adorno saw only commercial exploitation, WB saw the possibility—though hardly the inevitablity — of art truely open to politics. Discussed in clear, concise prose by Raman Selden in A Reader's Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory (Lexington: The UP of Kentucky, 1989) esp. 36-37, which we have consulted.

RDE, Title, 19Aug19