Theme 2: Crititcal media studies Pre

1. Dialectic of Enlightenment

a. Enlightenment was supposed to save humans from fear and give them power over nature. Fear of the unknown, for example mythology, should vanish by the means of reason, knowledge and rationality. It should eradicate myths and “overthrow fantasy with knowledge”. People started to believe in a systematic research of nature, the goal was to “disenchant nature” with knowledge and the means mentioned above. “What does not conform to the standard of calculability and utility must be viewed with suspicion”. This new way of seeing, enlightening, the world would give humans power over both humans themselves and nature but also reject fear of the unknown.  One difference between enlightenment and a myth could be that enlightenment often include repetitions of events which myths do not.

b. Methods with the purpose of discovering the truth. It contains of an investigation with the means of a thesis and an antithesis/anthiseses. The process through reasoning with these two concepts will result in a synthesis between the thesis and the contradiction/contradictions. As I understand it, the contradictions in the text are “that the myth already is enlightenment” or that “enlightenment reverts to myths”, the reason for this criticism being that the search for domination is a base in enlightenment?

c. Nominalism has multiple meanings, one is that there exists no universals. A second meaning is that it doesn’t exists any abstract objects, which is objects that do not exist in space and time. Depending of which meaning it is of different importance to the text. The first meaning of nominalism could be of importance for the text because people have the power to think for themselves and for example decide not to listen to irrational myths given by rulers. The second meaning could be of importance because it directly separate myths and what is not from nature, which makes the disenchanting of nature easier and more reliable.

d. The purpose of myth, I think, is to criticize enlightenment. This is done by using their parables: enlightenment like myth seeks to explain what is unknown in order to remove fear, dominate, and achieve power. But also criticize by looking at their differences like repetition, rationality, and coherency. In a dialectic fashion.

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

a. Substructure: The base which reflects the superstructures form. It contains “forces of production” (means of labor, examples from the texts context: photography, film, lithography, radio, printers), and it is also contains “relations of production” (Social relationship that are a necessity to survive or for man’s life).

Superstructure: Includes the society’s ideology, culture, institutions etc. Within the texts context: Primarily art and ideology.

The superstructure is more resistant to change than the substructure. The two concepts are the reason for the change in art.

The Marxist perspective has the point to avoid other concepts like, creativity, genius, eternal value and mystery. Prevents a perspective in a fascist sense. The perspective points out that the ones dominating the substructure are the ones who stears the society’s ideology or the culture of art in this context. Since the substructure determines the superstructure with some exceptions. I think Marxism aims straight at the core of the ones ruling over technological reproductivity. 

b. Yes he saw revolutionary potential, especially in film. The reasons were that the actor didn’t perform directly to an audience but to a camera. The camera wasn’t static and the audience could therefore take the role as a judge within the film, which was not possible in previous means in art. The second reason for revolutionary potential was its “mass nature”. That is, it could reach a lot of people. I think that their perspectives don’t differ in that the standardization and reproduction of “culture” makes art lose its “aura” and keeps people imprisoned.

c. People are born with sense perception which are natural and inherent, we have our own “unique” feelings. Events in history can also form perceptions in other words history affects how our sense perceive things. Technological inventions is one example of the many factors that could determine sense perception. He speaks about how reproduction has changed the view on quantity and quality, uniqueness and spatially close. An historical invention which did change our way of living and perceive things are the film for example.

d. Aura is what the reproduction withers. It can therefore be described as something unique with an authenticity. Other things that I think is included regarding an art objects aura is value of the cultural heritage, history, changes in ownership. A natural objects aura is not vulnerable like the art objects aura according to Benjamin.