Theme 2: Critical media studies

1. Dialectic of Enlightenment

a. What is "Enlightenment"?

Enlightenment was a an intellectual movement. Its purpose was to reform society so that beliefs would be founded from reason and scientificit proof. The content was that every man should be able to think for themselves. An advance of thought would give them knowledge so they would not feel fear, therefore a fantasy could be replaced with knowledge.

b. What is "dialectic"?

It is an logical method of arguments where concepts are put in montion against eachother. The outcome of the argument, between persons with different points of view, should aim to establish the truth. 

c. What is "nominalism" and why is it an important concept in the text?

Nominalism refers to objects that has only one thing in common; the name. Therefore do only individuel objects exist, not universal objects.

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

In a way, myth was a form of knowledge before the age of enlightenment. Therefore myth had a function in Adorno and Horkheimer's argument. Myth is superstitious and can be seen as a belief or an idea with the purpose to explain a phenomena.

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

a. 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?

Basically Benjamin claims that de reason for the transformations of art is due to the society, there are two concepts; substructure and superstructure. Substructure refers to material elementents and superstructure can be associated to the social and politcal aspects. Material elementents could be compared to paintings, and social and politcal aspects could be compared to the ideology of art. The tranformation of the superstructure takes longer time than the transformation of substructure, material elements are easilier adjustable than social and politcal aspects over a period of time. The society is influenced by the process of production according to Marx, therefore does substructure form the superstructure. Hence, by changing the production Marx means it could have an effect on the society.

b. 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?

According to Benjamin does culture have revolutionary potentials, since the the theory of art can get influence society. I believe that Benjamin's perspective are in som levels alike from the perspective of Adorno & Horkheimer in this regard.

c. 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).

Perception is dependet on human senses which means that perception can be both naturally and historically determined. Individuals perceive differently depending in the person itself, therefore can perception be naturally determined. It can also be determined historically since human senses can change over a period of historically time and the society can have an impact how to preciev. The birth of the late Roman art industry and the Vienna Genesis are exampel of historically determined perception given by Benjamin.

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

Benjamin describes aura as ”an unique phenomenon of a distance, however close it may be.” An aura is perceptual. Traditional art had according to Benjamin an aura because of the arts unique existence in time and space, therefore aura can be associated to authenticity. Modern art does not have an aura because of the technique of reproduction, there are no unique existence or authenticity within the modern art. Natural objects have an aura since it is unique, but art objects does not since it is not unique.