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The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (Penguin Great Ideas) [Paperback]

Walter Benjamin , J.A. Underwood
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Book Description

7 Aug 2008 Penguin Great Ideas

One of the most important works of cultural theory ever written, Walter Benjamin's groundbreaking essay explores how the age of mass media means audiences can listen to or see a work of art repeatedly – and what the troubling social and political implications of this are.

Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves – and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives – and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.


Frequently Bought Together

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (Penguin Great Ideas) + Society of the Spectacle + The System of Objects (Radical Thinkers)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 128 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (7 Aug 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0141036192
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141036199
  • Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 0.7 x 18.1 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 12,679 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Product Description

About the Author

Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (1892 – 1940) was a German-Jewish Marxist literary critic, essayist, translator, and philosopher. He was at times associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory and was also greatly inspired by the Marxism of Bertolt Brecht and Jewish mysticism as presented by Gershom Scholem.

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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous cover, interesting read 14 May 2010
Format:Paperback
I bought this book because my Aesthetics professor mentioned it in class. The first thing I noticed is that the cover is absolutely brilliant. As for the book itself, it consists of an essay about how the reproducibility of art changes the way we perceive it and how it relates to the mass media society. This is a classic essay but in my opinion it's still a great read today.

The book also includes two more essays, one on Kafka and another on Proust, which I found very interesting and insightful, albeit unexpected considering the book's title. I did find a few connections between these essays and the one on the mechanical reproduction of art, but not many. It's possible that I'm missing something, and this is definitely a book that I will re-read some time in the future.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Great 24 Jan 2013
By GH
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A really good book for anyone interested in contemporary art or media theory. Looking at how the culture of mass media allows an audience to view or hear an artisctic piece repeatedlly and examines the attendant effect that the political and social implications of that viewing can have on the wider society.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com: 4.2 out of 5 stars  5 reviews
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and Free. 11 Feb 2011
By G. - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition
Walter Benjamin's assessment of the nature and the value of art in juxtaposition to an industrial, materialistic, and modernizing world is a must-read for anyone interested in the study of communications media and the arts in society. Without this essay, the work of many modern critics, including Marshall McLuhan and Frederic Jameson, among others, would never have been conceived.

But remember, Benjamin was a socialist. His writing is in the public domain and available free of charge here (regardless of what country you're in):
http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm

I appreciate the role that Amazon has had in the dissemination of information at the dawn of the digital age, despite their primarily commercial interests. It is unfortunate that the US falls prey to unjust copyright regulations that limit access to freely available content, essentially holding knowledge hostage and demanding ransom. I hope this review will not be taken down.
28 of 39 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars You Wanna Be Smarter Obviously, You're Thinking Of Buying This Book 5 Sep 2009
By R.S. Encaustic - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
Your first step in that direction would be not to buy this book. This essay is available in "Illuminations" along with a host of others for just a little more money. $9.95 for a 36 page essay? Prove how smart you are.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Enormously influential essay of the Critic as Creator 7 Aug 2012
By Shalom Freedman - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This is one of Walter Benjamin's most influential essays. It has to do with the changing way we perceive works of art and culture now that they can be mechanically reproduced. Works today are detached from their original place in the Tradition, their connection often with cultic and religious worship and are instead mass copied and reproduced. Benjamin suggests that they lose their authenticity and are perceived in wholly new ways. Benjamin speaks primarily about visual Art and much is written about the way Photography and Film alter our perception, deprive the work of its static being and transform it into a series of moving images. Benjamin connects the aesthetic transformation and concludes the essay with a criticism of the Futuristic pro-Fascist manifesto celebrating War.
There is much in the essay I did not understand. Benjamin is an artist of complex metaphors and each of his sentences is difficult to decipher. He is the critic as creator and each sentence of his begs for rereading and reinterpretation. As Camus said of one of Benjamin's favorite subjects Kafka he must be read and reread to be truly understood. And then read again and still not be completely understood.
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