Thank you for this. I actually read this entire series within one day and am glad to have hopped on only moments after you had finished!
I’m currently on my 4th read of Benjamin’s piece and due to his “economical” style of writing I find myself discovering something new each time or negating my own prior interpretations. This was a very helpful series in helping me reaffirm and reevaluate my study of Benjamin thus far.
There are many rebranded vulgarizations of Benjamin out there (one particular TikTok video I came across recently was to the extent that Benjamin helped a fashion enthusiast not want to be “basic” anymore and embrace having his own individual "aura" - funny take).
I find the most clear indication of Benjamin’s stance to be in "Section X," where after talking about the Soviet social functionality of art he footnotes a criticism of Aldous Huxley, who being against such reproduction, Benjamin notes as “obviously not progressive.”
I do think to some degree that Benjamin was fond of “aural” aspects, but there are many eras of Benjamin. Perhaps I’m just thinking of the Benjamin who had attachments to the ephemeral - the Benjamin of “Unpacking My Library” (1931) who held onto a large collection of special and first edition books. I’m reminded of cultural critics such as Hiroki Azuma, a self-proclaimed “otaku” who sought to criticize “otaku” through a Hegelian framework. I think Benjamin both had partiality to the “aura,” but as a Marxist knew it ought to be destroyed in the general scheme.
You have no idea how happy it makes me to read this comment! Thank you!
And, yes, I can definitely see the affinity to the aura that you're referring to. His descriptions of the aura as something "special" is especially convincing, in part, I think, because he's experienced that feeling that many of us have felt before some important piece of art. So, I think it comes from a place of having experienced its allure firsthand (perhaps the same way that a former alcoholic still remembers the allure of the bottle).
In general, though, I think we should also expect mystifications to have a kind of residual effect. Like, I still feel the pull of the reified commodity as representing its own value when I see a really nice pair of sneakers or a brand new laptop despite the fact that I *know* that's not the case. In the same way, I *know* that the two lines in the Muller-Lyer illusion are the same length, but, dammit, they look different lengths every time I see them!
I haven't read "Unpacking My Library" yet though! I'll have to read that soon.
Thank you for this. I actually read this entire series within one day and am glad to have hopped on only moments after you had finished!
I’m currently on my 4th read of Benjamin’s piece and due to his “economical” style of writing I find myself discovering something new each time or negating my own prior interpretations. This was a very helpful series in helping me reaffirm and reevaluate my study of Benjamin thus far.
There are many rebranded vulgarizations of Benjamin out there (one particular TikTok video I came across recently was to the extent that Benjamin helped a fashion enthusiast not want to be “basic” anymore and embrace having his own individual "aura" - funny take).
I find the most clear indication of Benjamin’s stance to be in "Section X," where after talking about the Soviet social functionality of art he footnotes a criticism of Aldous Huxley, who being against such reproduction, Benjamin notes as “obviously not progressive.”
I do think to some degree that Benjamin was fond of “aural” aspects, but there are many eras of Benjamin. Perhaps I’m just thinking of the Benjamin who had attachments to the ephemeral - the Benjamin of “Unpacking My Library” (1931) who held onto a large collection of special and first edition books. I’m reminded of cultural critics such as Hiroki Azuma, a self-proclaimed “otaku” who sought to criticize “otaku” through a Hegelian framework. I think Benjamin both had partiality to the “aura,” but as a Marxist knew it ought to be destroyed in the general scheme.
Anywho, very much appreciate the read!
You have no idea how happy it makes me to read this comment! Thank you!
And, yes, I can definitely see the affinity to the aura that you're referring to. His descriptions of the aura as something "special" is especially convincing, in part, I think, because he's experienced that feeling that many of us have felt before some important piece of art. So, I think it comes from a place of having experienced its allure firsthand (perhaps the same way that a former alcoholic still remembers the allure of the bottle).
In general, though, I think we should also expect mystifications to have a kind of residual effect. Like, I still feel the pull of the reified commodity as representing its own value when I see a really nice pair of sneakers or a brand new laptop despite the fact that I *know* that's not the case. In the same way, I *know* that the two lines in the Muller-Lyer illusion are the same length, but, dammit, they look different lengths every time I see them!
I haven't read "Unpacking My Library" yet though! I'll have to read that soon.
Thanks again!