Theme 2: Critical Media Studies

Dialectic of Enlightenment

1. What is "Enlightenment"?

During the 18th century the intellectual movement Enlightenment dominated the world of ideas in Europe. The movement could be understood as the “advance of thought”, that is knowledge. The aim of enlightenment was to liberate human beings from fear and myth and instead emphasize the human being as masters of nature. Anything that could not be resolved into numbers must be viewed with suspicion, i.e. reason and science were the most important factors while factors like tradition and beliefs lost its power and influence. 

2. What is "Dialectic"?

Dialectic is a method of argument that is being used between two or more people with different opinions and minds about a certain subject. The intention of dialectic methods is to find out what it true by using reasoned and logical arguments. 

3. What is "Nominalism" and why is it an important concept in the text?

Nominalism is described as a metaphysical view of philosophy which denies the existence of abstract objects, that is objects that does not exist in time and space, and universals, that is for example courage and humanity. The only existing objects are physical objects that you can see and touch, however, some versions of this view admits that numbers (which is an abstract object) exist but only because they are needed in order to measure and count the physical objects.

The nominalism goes in line with most of the thoughts of the enlightenment and the dialectic methods, concerning the focus on science and what is “real” as well as the denial of abstract objects, beliefs and tradition. Therefore nominalism is an important concept in the text. 

4. What is the meaning and function of "myth" in Adorno and Horkheimer's argument?

Before the movement of Enlightenment entered the world stage, everything that could not be proved or explained in any way were explained through “myths” which are created by humans. According to Adorno and Horkheimer, the reason why people made the myths up were to protect us from fear and the unknown. During the Enlightenment, we started to explain the world through knowledge and science instead of myths.

"The Work of Art in the Age of Technical Reproductivity"

1. 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?

According to my interpretations, the concepts substructure and superstructure are directly connected to each other. The superstructure is a result of the substructure and therefore develops much slower than substructures. One could say that the substructures are the actual productions in the society, for example theatres, paintings, sculptures and movies, while superstructures are the consequences of it, for example cultures, norms, art and religion. By changing the substructure you could change the superstructure. Benjamin mentions the example of the enormous changes which printing has brought about in literature where the mechanical reproduction of writing allows the society to take part of literature in a greater extension. From a Marxist perspective, which to some extent puts culture in the spotlight, the meanings of the above mentioned terms tells a lot about the society and how it works. If the substructure is good, the superstructure has good potential of being good as well, and if it is bad there is a risk that the superstructure will be bad as well.

2. 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?

Yes, according to Benjamin, culture does have revolutionary potentials. Benjamin talks about how new technology can be used for this and especially highlights the camera and photography. The camera revolutionised the reproduction of objects which has changed our minds when it comes to, for example, art as of creating new ways of performing art. This is an evidence that there is revolutionary potentials of culture. However, Benjamin argues that this new technical and spreadable way of creating art destroys the beauty in art. In contrast to Adorno and Horkheimer who instead encourage technology that can spread knowledge. 

3. 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).

When Benjamin talks about natural perception he means the perception of the world that everyone experience through their own senses, which means that this perception of the world is individual. The historically determined perception, on the other hand, is the perception of the world that is determined by historical events and conditions, that is what we already know and have learned. According to Benjamin we use both the above-mentioned perceptions to collect our worldview. An example of a historically determined perception could be that of war and the consequences of war. 

4. What does Benjamin mean by the term "aura"? Are there different kinds of aura in natural objects compared to art objects?

The definition of the term aura given by Benjamin is “the unique phenomenon of distance, however close it may be”. My interpretation of the text and term aura in natural objects and art objects is that it differs in their meaning when it comes to how “real” the aura is. The aura of an art object, for example a painting, has its original and unique aura while the aura is lost, or at least somewhat different, in a photography of the exact same painting. The painting in itself could only hold the “real” aura when trying to reproduce it implies a very different aura.