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    Literary Critciom Dr Merin Simi Raj Department of Humanities and Social Sciences Tndian Insitute of Technology, Madras Lecture: Walter Benjamin's The Work of Art inthe Age of Mechanical Reproduction 4 Hello and welcome to this course tte trary Critics’ and we are continuing to look at Walter Benjamin's essay “The Work of Ae in the Age of Mechanicel Reproduction’ ‘And this is the final ectare with respect to this ssa, (Refer Slide Time: 00:15) In the epilogue, he tals about the Larger implications of at with respec top {you as you might know, Walter Benjamin was part ofthe Frankfurt School. We find a certain kind ofa balanced critique of the communist framework over here, And we do Find him trying to articulate those within the poiieal and socio-economic frameworks of his times. ‘When we talk about implications ofthis essay, the larger implications ofthis essay, we find that this has gone dowa in history as one of the foundational texts which help us ‘understand the connection between art and culture, between art, culture and literature. We aso realize that this is @ very important text, this is @ semi text when we ty to ‘understand the polis ofa, ty to understand how the cultural immediacy of works of ant are extremely important in our systems of evaluation, in our systems of critical understanding. ‘When we Took at this epilogue, we find that he begins with a very political statement “The growing prletrianization of modem man and the inroatng formation of masses are two aspects of the same process” He uses very Marxist terminologies in this discussion which is largely about ar. Here we find him emerging a ana erties well, ‘0 cultural ri atthe same time, And what isthe frreaching significance ofthis essay? ‘We do realize that there is 4 continuing fascination that Benjamin has with modem technology wiih has produced this new artform which is film. And his fascination with film is very evident. Many others of his times were also really fascinated by this ‘movement of images, by these moving images which radically revolutionized our ‘understanding of an, our conception of ar, In fils, he also saw the possibilty of an ‘ordinary viewer emerging a8 ctte, And that was a kind of democratization that he found extremely fascinating too. Unlike high art which required someone, an expert ‘someone with expertise asa citi. Here we find in flm that an ondinary viewer could also elevate himself as erie and criticism in that sense becomes a more mass project Here he talks about how this proletarianization of modem man and an increase inthe formation of masses, these are two aspects of the same process, “Fascism attempts to organize « newly ercated proletarian masses without affect ing 19 locate the polities of these new forms of att in our understanding. “Fascism sees its salvation in giving these masses not thee ight but the property strcture which the masses strive to liminate He is also ty instead a chance to express themselves.” So, that is what is more liberating, that is what is the most substantial difference that [enjamia also notices in thete now forms of art—that it gives the ordinary man, the cordinary person a chance to express themselves. Masses become not just passive recipients of art but they also become ative participants in tems oftheir eitigue. We also know that with this increasingly market driven kind of ar economy, the fecdbock, the review that one ges ftom an ordinary viewer, so hecomes a determinant force “The masses have a right to change propery relations; Fascism secks to give thern an ‘expression while preserving propery. The logical result of Fascism isthe introduction of aesthetics into politics life” This is a very important statement that fe makes in this simple Sentence “The logical result of fascism is inttoduetion of aesthetics in the politicl lite” [And now he will lo ake us onto another conclusion that he rie to make where be says “All efforts to render polis esthetic culminate in one thing: war’ And look at these connections that he is making over here where artis connected to culture and the politicization of at and the introduction of the politics into this aesthetic framework that is conected to the emergence of war. “War and war only can set a goal for mass ‘movements on the largest scale while respecting the traditional (Refer Slide Time: 04:50) Os ‘Tis isthe political formula forthe situation.” We find this essay aking sn overt politicl tone towards the end, but sill retaining its original framework which is about the reproducibii of art inthe age of increasing mechanical and technological advancement. ‘And in these times of the increasing use and influence of socil media, we also Find tht kind of an effst. And we find this essay speaking our times in maliple ways where art culture, pois areal aterinked and the digital reproducibility also has simi these newer mass mea seem to work as proper interfaces fr thes sor of dialogues. ‘And the sustenance of a, the dissemination of at and the reproducibility ofa has aso undergone significant changes and very radical changes with the advent of digital technologies. And this isa fa and more challenging than what Walter Benjamin had encountered during his time with ‘photography, moving images, and with Sim. aching impact, as we can se, and perhaps more novel, ‘We find that with newer kinds of mast media and with the kind ofeach that these digital technologies has entailed for us, we find that art itself, the notion of at itself has “undergone a significant change, And the democratization has become very pertinent, very ‘enineat to such an extent that almost everyone is capable of producing at of diferent kinds, There is no longer & distinction between high art an low st as the postmodern tenets would also telus. But ther ie also an accessibility in producing art, in reproducing ‘art and also in disseminating ar to this publi, to the masses. And the masses ae nt just, passive reipients,e¢ we know now, they also participate in making at, in reproducing art and also in disseminating and also inthe larger polite that is part ofthis (Refer Slide Time: 07:01) ‘And he is also quoting Marine “War is beautfal because it combines the gunfire, the ‘annonades, the ceasefire, the sense and the stench of putreacton into a symphony. War is beautiful because it creates @ new architecture, lke that of the big tanks, the _geometrieal formation lights, the smoke spirals from burning villages and many other. Poets and artists of futurism! Remember these principles ofan aesthetics of war so that your strugee fora new literature and a new graphic art may be illumined by them!" ‘This is « very powerful way of looking atthe aesthetics of war and that polities which ‘makes it almost impossible for art to exist in a vacuum oF polities to exist without the intervention of ar. And this isa very eyncal kind ofan image tht he presents before us, very satirical too, but we Dorie, very gory, lke war, has the capacity 19 produce art which we have seen in the post-war re that there is a way in which even somthing very the pot war iteratre ‘We have seen inthe multiple kinds ofa forms which got genorated after violent evens So, this connection isnot something which needs to be violently estelished, but it has always been there. And this also brings us to tis important point that Walter Benjamin doesnot really highlight in his particular essay, bu iis ther througout. And in mest of his works he looks at history not as 4 chaotic seamless existence, He aso believes that one need not perhaps progress in yar progression towards betterment, but more lke ppanicular ways as and when history moves ahee, as tbere could also bea an imitation or application of pat mistakes. ‘This sort ofa chaotic character that he identifies with history, tht also makes sense when ‘he talks about these different kinds of relationships that he is beginning to identify ‘berwoen art and culture, between politcal evens and literary and artistic expressions, and ‘he almost inevitable mesh within which all ofthese things ae intertwined, (Refer Slide Time: 09:40) ‘And drawing upon Marinett even further he says "The homile features of imperialistic ‘warfare are attributable to the diserpancy between tremendous means of production and their inadequate usliztion in the process of production—in other words, to ‘unemployment and he lack of markets, Imperialist war isa rebellion of technology which ollests inthe form of “human material, the claims to which society has denied its natural material, Instead of draining rivers society directs a human stream into a bed of ‘renches; instead of dropping seeds from airplanes it drops incendiary bombs over cities; and trough gas warfare the aura is abolished in a new way” ‘And iti avery dark note toward the end ofthis essy, os we realize, where hei time and again tying to remind us about this intricate connection between aesthetics and politics, between art and the cultural thos of particu Which is always almost inevitably prt of it mes, between ar andthe politics And let me read out to you the final passage here “Fiat ars ~ pereat mundus, says Fascism and, as Marncti admits, expects war to supply the artistic gratification of a sense perception that has een changed by technology”. And this human sense perception ge historically, that was the Focus of the esse ret om the Which undergoes # beginning, as we could see, ‘This i evidently the consummation of “Part pour Vax, (which is art for ants sake) Mankind which in Homer's time was an object of ‘contemplation forthe Olympian gods, now is one fr isl" istorii, the way in which we perceive art hts changed, And even the way in which ‘human mind conceives about humankind that also has undergone a significant change fiom Homer's time, as he indicates. And here we sce these makers as extremely important, the markers that he gives in terms of sitting various historical evens, Various historical artistic projects, they ste very significant, “Tscf alienation has reached such a degree that it can expeicnee is own destruction for an sesthtie pleasute ofthe first order I read to you again, “itself alienation has reached such a degree’, sel alienation isthe way in which human beings have begun to conceive bout themselves. And the alienation that they fel, which he ha already explicated with respec 1 the examples that he fas boon giving, where the art, the srecn ator, when th is being recorded, itis @ mir image; bu it is also a separable, wansporable image ‘wich was unthinkable in the ear forms of traditional kinds of art “self alienation has reached sucha depre that i can experience its own destruction as an esthetic pleasure ofthe fest order. So, this kind of tansportabilty which at affords Uhat also has the possibility of destructng oneself which is What we se when the poites ‘of art, when especially the aesthetics of war that he talks about; that is what we see ‘happening withthe advancement of technology which sal pethops somthing which is ‘avoidable in these situations. “This is © situation of politics which Fascism is rendering aesthetic, Communism responds by poltcizing art’ This is evidently an essay written from the perspective of ‘he Frankfurt School which is sso s prominent Marxist school. The tm Communism appears for the Sst me in his essay towards the en, in the final statement, And here we find that he is ectully responding to the fascist wey of rendering polis, in an acathetic sense, ‘And as he tiesto tellus towards the end ime and again, with these gory images, when wwe try (0 render something aesthetic inject something aesthetic into pois, it can that is what ‘Communism is trying to resist with the increasing democratization of at, with the ‘inevitably result only in war. And thats whet Communism is ying tors inereasing presence of the masses, withthe inreasing tansformation oF the masses into producers of a, into extes of art and alo as active participants in this entire system of production. ‘To sum up, one of the lasting contributions of this essay is that, he very actively

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