The second theme revolves around two chapters from the book "Dialectic of Enlightenment" by Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno and the essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Technical Reproductivity" by Walter Benjamin. This blog post will discuss the following questions:
1. Dialectic of Enlightenment
a. What is "Enlightenment"?
b. What is "dialectic"?
c. What is "nominalism" and why is it an important concept in the text?
d. What is the meaning and function of "myth" in Adorno and Horkheimer's argument?
2. The Work of Art in the Age of Technical Reproductivity
a. In the beginning of the essay, Benjamin talks about the relation between "superstructure" and "substructure" in the capitalist order of production. What do the concepts "superstructure" and "substructure" mean in this context and what is the point of analyzing cultural production from a Marxist perspective?
b. Does culture have revolutionary potentials (according to Benjamin)? If so, describe these potentials. Does Benjamin's perspective differ from the perspective of Adorno & Horkheimer in this regard?
c. Benjamin discusses how people perceive the world through the senses and argues that this perception can be both naturally and historically determined. What does this mean? Give some examples of historically determined perception (from Benjamin's essay and/or other contexts).
d. What does Benjamin mean by the term "aura"? Are there different kinds of aura in natural objects compared to art objects?
Here are my thoughts on the questions:
1 a. Horkheimer and Adorno begins their first chapter by telling the reader that enlightenment is "the advance of thought" and that its purpose is to uncover the world with its mysteries and enchantments. This can be compared to Socrates' discussion about knowledge as perception and how Protagoras said that man is the measure of all things. Our thoughts are colored by perception and it is the combination of the two that leads us to knowledge, wisdom and enlightenment.
b. Going back, once again, to Socrates and Theaetetus' discussions; their form of argument can be seen as dialectic. When different opinions on a matter have surfaced the two (or more) parties listen to each other in order to essentially find the truth together.
c. Nominalism is a theory which claims that universal objects exists only in theory and that only individual objects are real. This can be understood as so that the grouping of things can only exist in people's minds and are only a way of describing the actual individual objects. Nominalism relates to enlightenment as both terms encourages realism and the dismissal of myths.
d. Generally, a myth is a story that indicates true events but which takes place in a scenery that contains illusions and fictious creatures. The writers of The Dialectic of Enlightenment describes myth as false clarity and argues that it is "distinguished by its familiarity and its exemption from the work of concepts".
b. Going back, once again, to Socrates and Theaetetus' discussions; their form of argument can be seen as dialectic. When different opinions on a matter have surfaced the two (or more) parties listen to each other in order to essentially find the truth together.
c. Nominalism is a theory which claims that universal objects exists only in theory and that only individual objects are real. This can be understood as so that the grouping of things can only exist in people's minds and are only a way of describing the actual individual objects. Nominalism relates to enlightenment as both terms encourages realism and the dismissal of myths.
d. Generally, a myth is a story that indicates true events but which takes place in a scenery that contains illusions and fictious creatures. The writers of The Dialectic of Enlightenment describes myth as false clarity and argues that it is "distinguished by its familiarity and its exemption from the work of concepts".
2 a. In Marxist theory the term superstructure is a way of describing the culture, ideas and the power structure of a society while substructure can be translated into the bureaucracy that the superstructure is built upon. Benjamin talks about how it takes a long time to transform a superstructure which complicates the possibilities to analyze the change. He continues to say that the tools and concepts that are introduced from such analysis are “useless for the purposes of Fascism” but further insinuates that they may be of great value to those of Marxism and socialism.
b. Considering what I mentioned above in 2 a. Benjamin gives the impression that culture does indeed have revolutionary potential. The film industry is a great example of this. The film gives humans the possibility to express themselves and to portray and represent a certain environment with the help of a camera. The film shows the viewer a seemingly objective and straight-forward view of the world. This, in combination with mass distribution, turns the film medium into a powerful weapon of possible deception.
c. The human perception can be determined in not only a natural sense but in a historical sense as well. The author argues that perception changes over periods of history and that historical events and circomstances changes the way we relate to objects, social customs and manners. Benjamin talks about the shift of the art industry during the fifth century but there are numerous historical events that points towards the same conclusion. The attitude towards different minorities and ethnicities is an example from modern time. Not too long ago groups such as homosexuals or colored people (mostly in the U.S) were treated differently from other people when it came to rights or acceptance. During the middle of the last century, however, the black population started to stand up and thanks to individuals such as Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, being black is not something a lot of people consider negative anymore. Pride festivals all over the world have helped in making the same change of attitude towards gay people as well.
d. Benjamin tells the reader that the aura of an object can be compared to the contours of said object but that it is also a bit more than that. Depending on the distance to the object (in time, space or culture) we see different elements of the aura. A quote in the essay mentions how all great artists such as Beethoven, Rembrandt and Shakespeare will be pictured in films and that those events can be seen as kinds of resurrections. What Benjamin wants to bring forward is that these resurrections as well as reproductions of famous paintings cannot depict the true aura of the original object. It is only the original art, or artist, that holds an aura.
b. Considering what I mentioned above in 2 a. Benjamin gives the impression that culture does indeed have revolutionary potential. The film industry is a great example of this. The film gives humans the possibility to express themselves and to portray and represent a certain environment with the help of a camera. The film shows the viewer a seemingly objective and straight-forward view of the world. This, in combination with mass distribution, turns the film medium into a powerful weapon of possible deception.
c. The human perception can be determined in not only a natural sense but in a historical sense as well. The author argues that perception changes over periods of history and that historical events and circomstances changes the way we relate to objects, social customs and manners. Benjamin talks about the shift of the art industry during the fifth century but there are numerous historical events that points towards the same conclusion. The attitude towards different minorities and ethnicities is an example from modern time. Not too long ago groups such as homosexuals or colored people (mostly in the U.S) were treated differently from other people when it came to rights or acceptance. During the middle of the last century, however, the black population started to stand up and thanks to individuals such as Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, being black is not something a lot of people consider negative anymore. Pride festivals all over the world have helped in making the same change of attitude towards gay people as well.
d. Benjamin tells the reader that the aura of an object can be compared to the contours of said object but that it is also a bit more than that. Depending on the distance to the object (in time, space or culture) we see different elements of the aura. A quote in the essay mentions how all great artists such as Beethoven, Rembrandt and Shakespeare will be pictured in films and that those events can be seen as kinds of resurrections. What Benjamin wants to bring forward is that these resurrections as well as reproductions of famous paintings cannot depict the true aura of the original object. It is only the original art, or artist, that holds an aura.
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