WalterBenjamin,Politics,Aesthetics

EstherLeslie
WhowasWalterBenjamin?
On 15 July 1892 Walter Benjamin was born to a wellheeled assimilated Jewish
familyinthecapitalofthePrussianReich,Berlin.On26September1940hetookhis
lifewhileinterruptedinhisescapefromNaziGermanybywayofOccupiedFrance.
UnabletocrossfromFranceintoSpainbecausehehadnovisa illandthreatened
withhandovertotheGestapo,tofacecertainincarcerationasaMarxistandaJew,he
chose suicide. In the intervening years between these two dates he had lived in
WeimarBerlinandinParis,witnesstomuchpoliticalturmoilandtechnologicaland
socialchange.Hemadehisfairlymeagremoneyasafreelancewritersellingliterary
criticism, historical analyses of culture and everyday life, interpretations of new
technologicalculturalformssuchasfilmandphotography,hehadwrittenontheories
oflanguage,anddeliveredtheradiolecturesforchildren.Thetopicsthatattracted
Benjaminarediverse:literatureofthe baroque,Romanticandmodernperiods,the
philosophyofhistory,the social dynamics oftechnology,nineteenth centuryParis,
fascism and militarism, the city, capitalist time, childhood, memory, art and
photography.Givenhisownprecariousfreelanceexistence,oneofBenjamins key
concernswaswiththechangingstatusoftheintellectual,writerandartistoverthe
periodofcapitalistindustrialization.Hetracked,forexample,thechangingfortunesof
theavantgardeinnineteenthcenturyFrance.Hewantedtounderstandthewaysin
whichartistsareskeweredbythecontradictionsofcapital.InhisstudiesofCharles
Baudelaire,forexample,henoteshowthefailureofsocialrevolutioninthelate19 th
century,andtheinescapablelawofthemarket,bredahardenedhoardofknowledge
workerscondemnedtoenterthemarketplace.Thisintelligentsiathoughtthattheycame
onlytoobserveitbut,inreality,itwas,saysBenjamin,tofindabuyer.Thissetoffall
manner ofresponses:competition,manifestoism,nihilisticrebellion,courtjestering,
hackery, ideologueism. Benjamin diagnosed the situation of cultural workers that
precededhim,alwayskeentoassesstheirclassandpoliticalpositions.

Benjaminalsoanalysedthepresent.HisfamousessayDasKunstwerkimZeitalter
seinerReproduzierbarkeit,fromthemid1930s,andhislectureforacommunistcircle
DerAutoralsProduzent,from1934,wereinvestigationsintothepossibilitiesthathad
openedupforcontemporarycriticalLeftcultureworkers.Heexaminedstrategiesthat
wouldavoidthepressuresonartiststobeindividualistic,competitiveorpromotersof
artasanewreligionoranevasionofthepolitical.Heevaluatedartistseffortstowork
outculturalformsthatcouldnotberecuperatedbyfascism.Heassessedwhatthenew
mass culturalformsthatexistedradio,film,photography,photomontage, worker
correspondentnewspapers meantinthewiderschemeofthesocialworld,andhow
factssuchasmassreproductionchangehumansrelationshiptocultureofthepastand
thepresent.Hewascertainthattheageinwhichhelivedasanageofthemasses,a
mass ageand,acting andthinking politically, itshouldbeconceived as anageof
classesinconflictwitheachother.
BythetimeofhisdeathontheSpanishborder,Benjamins Germannationalityhad
beenannulled, specificallybecauseofanessayhewroteforacommunistmagazine,
DasWort,aboutthedecadenceoffascistartandNazirule.WiththevictoryofNazism
inGermanyandthefallofFrance,hisadoptedhomeland,thespacesofsafeEurope
werecontracting.TheEastheldlittlepromisetoo.Attheendof1926Benjaminvisited
Moscowfortwomonths,inordertohelphimdecidewhethertojointheCommunist
Party.He foundanexciting,energeticsocietywithdangeroustendenciestowards
leadershipcultsandcorruption.Bythe1930sthingsweremuchworse.Furthereastwas
nooption.AZionistfriendfromhisyouthGershomScholemhadtriedforseveralyears
to tempt him to Palestine, but Benjamin did not find the Desert State or Zionism
appealing.InsteadhebegantofollowthepathofotherdisplacedEuropeanintellectuals
andfriendssuchasAdorno,Horkheimer,Kracauer,BrechttoAmericaandthehope
ofsomesortofacademicpostorgovernmentsponsoredworkorsimplytheopportunity
tohawktalentstoHollywoodstudios.BenjamindidnotmakeitoutofEurope.
Intheyearsafterhisdeath,slowly,throughtheeffortsofAdorno,Scholemandothers,
Benjaminsworkbegantoreachawiderpublic.Thepoliticaleventsof1968brought
Benjaminintoanewlegibilityand,atthattime,itwashismorepracticallyoriented

writingsontechnologicalreproductionandinterventionistculturalpracticethatcameto
thefore,alongsidehiscriticalcommentariesonthemythofbourgeoisprogress. The
mobilisedstudentsoflate1960sWestGermanytooktheirlessonsfromhiminpirate
editions. The specifically 1960srediscoveryofBenjamin bythecadres ofsocial
revoltisencapsulatedintheirimageofhimwithphotocopierinonehandandajoint
intheother(forhehadcarriedoutexperimentswithhashishinthe1920s,partofan
explorationoftheparametersofexperience).Anembellishmentoftheimagemight
includeaKalashnikovorbombAndreasBaaderoftheRoteArmeeFraktionwould
cite Benjamin in the coming years, for example drawing on On the Concept of
HistoryinhisLettertothePrisonersfrom1976.1
Intheseyears,BenjaminwasseentoprovidewritersandartistsontheLeftwitha
vocabularyforartandculturethatdidnotsharetheassumptionsofSocialistRealism.
SocialistRealistdirectivesrankedtheintelligibilityofcontentaboveform.Atitsmost
basic,SocialistRealismadvisedthatthecontentofthepictureorthestoryhadtobe
clear,unambiguous,deliveredthroughrealistmeans.Ithadtopresenttheinexorable
riseofaheroicworkingclassandpeasantry.Georg Lukcs,tonameaninfluential
exponentofthedoctrine,advocatednineteenthcenturyparagonsofrealiststylesuchas
Balzac and Walter Scott. Socialist Realist initiatives recommended the return to
traditionalformsofoilpaintingandnovelwriting.WalterBenjaminsanalyseswere
directed against this course. He was a theorist of modernity. He believed that the
modern age had thrown up new modes and media of representation, and, for any
contemporaryengagementinart,whetherovertlypoliticalornot,thesewereformsthat
neededtobeexplored.HeregrettedthewaythatthedevelopmentofSocialistRealism
repressedapostrevolutionarywaveoftechnologicalandformalexperimentationinart,
restoringoldmodelsofculturewiththeirdisempoweringmodesofreception,which
expectedaudiencestostandinreverentialawebeforegreatworks.Benjamin,largely,
though not without qualification, celebrated the progressive function of technical
reproducibilityinart.Hemappedtheimplicationsoftechnologicalreproductioninarton
artproductionmorewidely,pinpointinganalogiesbetweentechnologicalandtechnical
ThisiscitedextensivelyinIrvingWohlfarthsessay,Entsetzen:WalterBenjamin
unddieRAF,InWolfgangKraushaar(ed.), DieRAFundderLinkeTerrorismus,
HamburgerEdition,Hamburg,2006,pp.28031
1

formalinnovation.ThisworkofBenjaminscontributedburgeoningcriticalandmedia
theoryinthepostwar,asevincedtheworkofHansMagnusEnzenbergerwithhis
forwarding in 1970 of the potentially liberatory uses of the photocopier within the
ideologicallystultifyingconsciousnessindustry.2
CulturalandTechnologicalReproduction
WalterBenjaminunderstoodtechnologicalreproductionincultureintwoways.Firstly,
itreferredtotheeasyaccessibilityofpostcardrepresentationsofgreatart,illustrations
inbooksandmagazines,posters:copiesthatcouldbeacquired,heldinthehand,cutout
andincorporatedintoaviewersenvironment.Somesortofexperienceofartworks,
previouslyavailableonlytothosewhocouldtraveltotheplaceofdeposit,couldnowbe
hadbyallincopyform.Itwasasifarthadundergonethetypeofevolutionthatthe
printing press had brought about for the written word. Secondly, technological
reproductionwasanaspectofrelativelynewculturalforms: filmandphotography.
These were mechanical forms of cultural production in their own right, and their
appearanceboreimportantimplicationsforconceptssuchasoriginalityanduniqueness,
key concepts of traditional art understanding. Photography and film possessed no
original.Eachprintfromthenegativewasasoriginalasthenextortheonebeforeit.
Each filmstrip was as authoritative as all other versions of the same film. Each
recordingfromamasterwasofequalvalidity.Theuniqueoriginalobjecteithertended
towardsirrelevanceordisappeared.
Thesedevelopments,Benjamininsisted,broughtaboutthedeclineofwhathetermed
art'saura.Heobservedhowunique,authoredworksofartexudedaspecialpresence
andeffect,akintomagicalormysticalexperience.Art'saurawasasortofglowthat
adheredtoproductsofhighart,makingthemuntouchable,unapproachable,immensely
valuable artifacts of geniuses. Auratic artworks disenfranchised the spectator, who
becameanindividualprivilegedenoughtoenjoyuniquecommunionwiththeartobject.
Theycompelledthespectatorintothepositionofapassivebeholderwhoconsumedthe
visionofgenius.Benjaminarguedthatthedeclineofthisaurathehappybyproduct
See Hans Magnus Enzensberger, Baukasten zu einer Theorie der Medien,
Kursbuch20,1970,pp.15986.
2

ofmassreproductionopenedthewaytoanewappropriationofartbythemasses.
Atechnologicallypromptedprocessofbreachingdistance,ofbringingart,dataand
materialswithintheambitofthemassestobeusedandmanipulatedbythemasses
istheparamountpromiseoutlinedinTheWorkofArtintheAgeofitsTechnological
Reproducibility.Thenewartformsmettheviewerhalfway,exitingfromdarkened
niches,outofthegallery,fromthecaptivityofsingulartimeandspace.Intheageof
technologicalreproducibility,artwas,atleastpotentially,removedfromitstraditional
spaces;indeed,artdisintegratedandmultipliedallatonce.AsBenjamin'staleofthe
fateofartgoes,by1900orthereabouts,arthadtheopportunitytobreakawayfromor
bebrokenfrommagic,ritualandreligion.By1900photomechanicalreproductionwas
perfected, swallowing up the images of all previous art and generating its own
inimitable forms. By that time too Atget had formulated a desolate subject for
photography,breakingwiththesentimentalismofportraituretodocumentspacesofthe
objectiveworld.Technologicalartformssurfacedbecausetheyweredemandedbythe
matrixedmassesinhabitingatechnologisedworld.
Ademystifiedappropriationofculturebyaudienceswasbestwitnessedinthecinema,a
collectivelyproducedandconsumedculturalform.Inperceivingartworksinamore
casualfashion,indifferentenvironments,andinperceivingmoreandmoreofthem
throughtheorgansofthepress,audienceslearnttomanipulatethem,tocriticiseand
evaluate.Benjaminswasnomanifestoforselfproclaimedavantgardeart.Oneofthe
filmsBenjaminrecalledinalettertoGretelKarplusAdorno,whileworkingonthe
WorkofArtessay,was a1933filmversionof AliceinWonderland,oneofthefew
bookshehadmanagedtoreadinpartinEnglish,aswellasinFrenchandGerman.3
Thefilm,whichhecalledanextraordinarything,starredGaryCooperastheWhite
Knight,CaryGrantastheMockTurtleandW.C.FieldsasHumptyDumpty.Itwas
richwithspecialandopticaleffects,andtheWalrusandtheCarpentersequencewas
animatedbyMaxFleischer.ThiswasthetypeoffilmthatattractedSurrealistsand
massaudiencesalike.Itproposedalternative,disfiguringandanalyticalvistasonthe
WalterBenjamin,GesammelteBriefe,vol.5,FrankfurtamMain:Suhrkamp,1995,
pp.2212.
3

real.
Filmopensupthebanal,uninterestingeverydayspacesoftheworldtovisionand
analysis.Cinemablastsapartaprisonworld,sothatwe,fromthecomfortofthe
cinemaseat,maytakeextraordinaryadventuresinitswidelyscatteredruins.Films
experience of the world extends our own. Film extracts a beauty from everyday
environments.Allisstreamedpastoureyesandmadeasiteoflooking,apointof
fascination.This,Benjaminargues,isliberating.Itallowsustopenetratethesecrets
containedeveninveryordinaryreality.Itisasifamicroscopeishelduptoreality,
allowingthestructuralforms,theinterconnections,themolecularstructuretobeseen.
We penetrate it through its mediation and through the opportunity given us for
reflection.Problemsemerge,though,Benjaminnotes,withnarrative.Thedeviceof
the plot borrows clichs or templates from theatre, not allowing the tendencies
immanenttofilmtechnologytodictatedevelopment.Intermsofform,filmhasan
array of technological devices at its command: slowmotion, speedup, closeup,
reversal,repetition,montage,image/soundmontage,splitscreen,superimpositionand
soon.Intermsofcontent,technologycanformthebasisoffilminmanyways.The
world we inhabit is technological. Film technology is simply a subset of the
technologiesthatstructuremodernlivesinhomes,offices,factories,streets.Tothis
extentfilmallowsagrapplingwiththeforcesthatstructureexperienceintheworld.
TechnologyisnotonehomogenousentityforBenjamin.Heillustratesthisideaby
pointing to two examples, slapstick films, such as Charlie Chaplins or Buster
Keatons, and Soviet montage cinema. American slapstick movies play with
technology, technology gone wild, technology as overlively. It is humorous and
indicates something of the potential a liberated technology might open up. The
oppositeoftheludicrouslyliberatedtechnologyinChaplinorDisney,hesuggests,is
the lethal power of naval squadrons on manoeuvre, as openly displayed in
Eisensteins Potemkin.4 In each of these films the fact of human grappling with
technologyanddominantforceinpeopleslivesisonshow.Becausefilmisa
technologicalform,theheroesoffilm,notesBenjamin,havetobethosewhohave
WalterBenjamin,ErwiderunganOscarA.H.Schmitz,Benjamin, Gesammelte
Schriften,Band.II.2,Suhrkamp,Frankfurt/Main,1991p.753.
4

directexperienceoftechnologyintheirdailylivestheproletariat,theworkerswho
dailyengagethemachinerythatproducescommoditiesandreproducesdailylife.The
proletariatisacollective.Itworksandexperiencescollectively,justasthespacesof
itsleisurearethecollectivespacesofindustrialandurbanmodernity.
MickeyMouseandMontage
In 1935, in the first version of Benjamins The Work of Art in the Age of its
Technological Reproducibility, a section titled Mickey Mouse explains how in
films strange modernist montageland, first steps were taken for a critical
reconfigurationofourworld.Thiswasamovemoresignificantthantheescapadesof
dada, which might only limp behind the gags of commercial culture. Cartoons
radicalisethateffectoflivefilmwherethenaturethatrevealsitselftothecamera,a
second nature, is unlike the unmediated nature that flaunts before the eye.
Adventuroustravellersareofferedamultitudeoftripsthroughwidelystrewnruinsin
aworldturnedantiphysical.Thedynamiteofthesplitsecondexplodesthisworld.
Spaceisexpandedandshrunkbymontage,whiletimeisstretchedandcontractedby
timeloops.Cartooningtakessuchantiphysicsforgranted.Benjaminnotesthatthis
cosmosofdetonatedphysicsrequiresMickeyMouseasoccupant,forhisfunctionis
curative.Inthesameessay,Benjamincontraststhemagician,orfaithhealer,whocures
throughthelayingonofhandstothesurgeonwhointervenesinthebody,augmented
bymachinerysuchasscalpelandforceps.Suchcuttinginisdesignedtoopenupand
thenheal.Benjaminextendstheassociation.Thepainter,hesays,islikeamagicianor
faithhealer,glossingoverasurface.Thecameraoperatorislikeasurgeonwhocutsin
tothewebofreality.ForBenjamin,themostappropriateuseofthecameralensandthe
processesofeditingorprintingupsubjectrealitytoasegmenting,whichslicesthrough
thenaturalappearanceofeverydaylife,contraveninganyinnatetendencyoffilmto
glideacrossthemirrorsurfaceofrealityinpurereflection.Realityasmediatedinfilm,
Benjamin says,is cutintobythesurgeoncinematographer, thenstitched together
againinmoreorlessvisiblesutures.ForBenjaminsuchdissection,aninvestigationof
theworldincloseup,theproductionoflinksbetweenthingsthroughmontage,the
analysisofmovementthroughslowmotionandsoon,ispartofacritical,scientific
approachtotheworld.Thisisaccompaniedbyanantinaturalist,utopianrebuttalof

physicallawsandnaturalconstraint.AsheputsitinThesisXI,theimagebecomesa
multiplyfragmentedthing,whosepartsreassemblethemselvesaccordingtonewlaws.
Filmandphotographymightnotdothis,mightjustreaffirmthesurfaceofrealitybut
theirverynature,theirverytechnologycriesouttobedeployedinmontageform.What
point film without montage? What point film without slowmotion or speedup or
photographywithoutsuperenlargementofscale?Theimageofreality,asspecifically
representedinfilmandphotography,isanimageoftherealthathasbeenmediated,
subjected to analysis, works with incongruities, destruction, construction,
reconstructions.
TheimageofrealitythatBenjaminsfilmandphotographybringsbackmaybean
image,butitisanimagewithdepth,notasurface.Itcanbecutinto.Itismontaged,a
termthatisimportedfromtheworldofengineering and architecture,aworldthat
presenteditself,intheyearsaroundtheFirstWorldWar,throughtheambitiousand
moreorlessfantasticaltheoriesandpracticeofBrunoTautscrystalchainorPaul
Scheerbartstheoryofglassarchitecture,aswellasthemorerationalvisionsofLe
CorbusierorMiesvanderRohe,astheprimaryrealmforutopianexplorationandnew
worldbuilding.Architecturalexperiment,likemontage,allowedrevisedpossibilitiesof
inhabitingspace,ofinteractingsociallyandofexperiencingbeauty.ForBenjamin,all
theartsculminateinarchitecture:themodernworkofculture,suchasisfilmand
photography, finds its template in architecture, itself a penetrable space that is
experiencedthroughcollectiveandtactilereception.Withitsarchitectural,tactileand
collectivereferents,themontagedworkreinventedeverything:thespaceinwhichthe
artworkexists(looser,enterableinsomeway),thematerialsofwhichitmightbe
made(diverse,andevenincludingscrappedmatter),therelationships betweenthe
various modes of art (intermedial and nonhierarchical), the relationship of parts
within theartwork(disjunctive) andtherelationship betweenviewerandartwork,
artisticproducerandtheaudienceforart(dynamic,anticontemplative,interactive).
FascismandCapitalism
TheepilogueofBenjamin'sessayreversedtheoptimisticcurrentallthepotential
creditedtoartintheageoftechnologyevaporatedbeforethetechnomysticismand

classviolenceoftheNationalSocialists.Intheessay'scoda,Benjamindeterminedthat
fascists mirrored mass society in representations without substance; they too
participatedintechnologicalmodernity.ButinNazifilmculture,themassescameto
theirexpressionbutnottotheirrights.Effectivelythemassesexpressedthemselves
they left an imprint of their presence, but they were not present. They were
representedformally,butnotrepresentedpoliticallyinanymeaningfulway.Their
imagewasappropriatedbyfilm.
Aestheticisationistheappealtotheeye.Politics,undertheswayofaestheticisation,
wasapassivematter.Masseswererepresentedfromtheoutside,asmassesinralliesor
war.Thefascistcameragobbleduppassivemassesastherawmaterialforanawe
inspiringfascistornamentalism. Havinginfiltrated amedium that came tomeetits
viewershalfway,thefascistcamerareestablisheddistance.Halfwaycametoseema
longwayagain.ItwasthesamesortofgestureasthatmadevisiblebyJohnHeartfield
inhisphotomontageofGoebbelshangingaMarxbeardonHitler.TheNazismoved
halfway towards acknowledging the political desires and rights of the masses to
democratisepropertyrelationsandbepoliticallyrepresented,buttransmuteditcraftily
intoanillusion,adeception,asurface.Filmgrippedthemassesandyet,inthiscase,
therewasnothingforthemtogripholdofinreturn,justashinysurfacewithtwitching
flatghoststhatweresupposedtobethem.Theywererepresentedonlysuperficially.In
contrast,themasseswhoweregenuinelygrippedbyliberatorypoliticsbecameself
active,loosenedup,gotaeratedintheirselfactivity.Suchdissolutiondemandedthe
skillsofthemodernistcamera,tracingmotility,mobility,transformation,speedand
simultaneitythroughfilmstrickeryofmontage,superimpositionandtimeeffects.
ItwasnotjustFascismthatcoulddivertcinemaawayfromitsliberatorytendencies.
Benjaminwaskeenlyawareofthewaysinwhichtheproductionofculturewithinthe
propertyrelationsofcapitalismactedtoconstraintheprogressive,democraticpotential
ofculture.TheHollywoodstarsystem,forexample,alsoattemptedtoreinstateawe
beforetheproduct. Thestarsystemandcapitalaccumulationreestablishedbarriers
betweenaudienceandfilm,justasNazipropagandafilmstriedtoilluminateHitlerand
friendswithaflatteringauratic,charismaticglow.Inradioandfilm,asinpolitics,a

newselectionbytheapparatuswasunderwaythosewiththerightvoice,thegood
looks and skilled exhibitionism were favoured. The beneficiaries of this were the
champion,the starandthedictator. But,atthesametime,proceduressuchasSergei
EisensteinsworkerscinemaorCharlieChaplinsbattleswithtechnologyandauthority
showedthatcinemahadatleastthepotentialtogenerateacritical,politicallybased
cultureinwhichnegotiationsofthecentral(technologicalandclass)forcesinourlives
aretackled.