The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, and Other Writings on Media WALTER BENJAMIN Eprtrn sy Michael W. Jennings, Brigid DohertS and Thomas Y. Levin ThaNstntnp nv Edmund Jephcott, Rodney Livingstone, Howard Eiland, and Others THn BnrrNep Pnrss or Henveno UNtvnnsrty Pnn,ss Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England 2008 I C O NTE NTS ANote on theTexts ix p {tcriF iil Editors'lntroduction 1 N l. The Production, Reproduction, and Reception Jt of the Work of Art e/ t)V 1. The lVork of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility: Second Version T9 fi$i9 2. Theory of Distraction .55 gwt 3. To the Planetarium 58 4. Garlanded Entrance 50 5. The Rigorous Study of Art 67 5. Imperial Panorama 75 Copyright O 2008 by the President and Fellows ofHarvard College 7. TheTelephone 77 All rights reserved 8. The Author as Producer 79 Printed in the United States of America 9. Paris, the Capital of the Nineteenth Century 96 Additional copyright notices appear on pages 425426,which 10. Eduard Fuchs, Collector and Historian t16 constitute an extension of the copyright page. 11. Review of Sternberger's Panorama 1s8 Benian'rin, Valter, 1 892-1. 940. ll. Script, lmage, Script-lmage [Kunstwerk im Zeitalter seiner technischen Reproduzierbarkeit. English] 't71 'Ihe work of art in the age of its technological reproducibilitS 12. Attested Auditor of Books and other writings on media / \Talter Benjamin; 13. These Surfaces for Rent 173 edited by Michael !0V. Brigid DohertS and Thomas Y. Jennings, Levin; 14. The Antinomies of Allegorical Exegesis 175 translated by Edmund . al.l.-lst ed. Jephcott [et 15. The Ruin 180 ,,.;;Jil;.,. 15. Dismemberment of Language 187 ISBN-13: 978-O-674-024a5-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 17. Graphology Old and New 192 1. Art and society. 2. Photography of art. 3. Mass media-Philosophy. 4. Arts, Modern-20th century-Philosophy. 5. Benjamin, ![alter, 1892-1940- lll. Painting and Graphics knowledge-Mass media. 5. Benjamin, S?alter, 1892-194O-Translations into English. 18. Painting and the Graphic Arts 21,9 I. Jennings, Michael William. IL Doherty, Brigid. III. Levin, Thomas Y. 19. On Painting, or Sign and Mark 22t IV. Jephcott, Edmund. V. Title. \World N72.S6B413 2008 20. A Glimpse into the of Children's Books 226 302.23-dc22 2008004494 21. Dream Kitsch 236 'rf i ],r. toor,rn Nights on then'". a";".t. 240 ILLUSTRATIONS 23. Chambermaids' Romances of the Past Century 243 24. Antoine Wiertz: Thoughts and Visions of a Severed Head 249 25. Some Remarks on Folk Art 254 26. Chinese Paintings at the Bibliothbque Nationale 257 lV. Photography 27. News about Flowers 271 28. Little History of Photography 274 29. Letter from Paris (2): Painting and Photography 299 Paul Klee, Abstract Watercolor x95 30. Review of Freuncl's Photograpbie en France au dix-neuuiime Max Ernst, frontispiece to Paul Eluard, Rdpdtitions 199 'Walter sibcle 31.2 Benjamin, "A Glimpse into the Vorld of Children's Books," page from Die literariscbe Weh 203 V. Film 'Walter Beniamin, t'Cha'mbermaids' Romances of the Past 31. On the Present Situation of Russian Film JL.7 Century," page from Das illustrierte Blatt 207 32. Reply to Oscar A. H. Schmitz 328 Antoine Joseph'\Jfiertz, Thoughts and Visions ctf a Seuered 33. Chaplin JJJ Head 2i0 'Wang 34. Chaplin in Retrospect 335 Yuanqi, Landscape in the Styles of Ni Zan and Huang 35. Mickey Mouse 338 Gongwang 2L2 36. The Formula in Which the Dialectical Structure of Film Finds Illustration from Aesop's Fables, second edition 228 '229 Expression 340 Moral sayings from the book by Jesus Sirach Illustration from Johann Peter Lyser, The Book of Tales for Vl. The Publishing lndustry and Radio Daughters and Sons of the Educated Classes 230 37. Journalism 353 Cover of The Magical Red Umbrella )"32 38. A Critique of the Publishing Industry 355 Illustration from Adelmar uon Perlstein 244 39. The Newspaper 359 Frontispiece to Lady Lucie Guilford, the Princess of Vengeance, 40. Karl Kraus 36t Known as tbe Hyena of Paris 245 41. Reflections on Radio 391 Illustration from O. G. Derwicz, Antonettd Ozerna 246 42. Theater and Radio 393 Illustration depicting the notorious Black Knight 2.47 43. Conversation with Ernst Schoen 397 David Octavius Hill, Newhauen Fishwife (photo) l_77 44. Two Types of Popularity: Furndamental Reflections on a Radio Karl Dauthendey, Karl Dauthendey witb His Fiancte (photo) :278 Play 403 Anonymous, Th e Philosopher Schelling (photo) 280 45. On the Minute 407 David Octavius Hill, Robert Bryson (photo) 284 August Sander, Pastry CooA (photo) 288 August Sander, P ar li am ent ary Rep r e s e nt at iu e (photo) 289 Index 41,1 Germaine Krull, Display Window (photo) 29t Germaine Krull, Storefront (photo) 292 18 PRODUCTION, REPRODUCTION, AND RECEPTION 13. Benjamin, The Arcades Project, trans. Howard Eiland and Kevin The true is what he can; the false is what he wants, Mclaughlin (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1999), pp' 462- or, Dunesl 463, Convolute N3,1. -Meoeur. 14. Ibid., p.463. 15. Ibid., p. 530, Convolute Q1a,8. 15. Ibid., p. 845, Convolute H",16. 1 The \fork of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility SECOND VERSION I When Marx undertook his analysis of the capitalist m<lde of production, that mode was in its infancy.2 Marx adopted an approach which gavc his investigations prognostic value. Going back to the basic conditions of capitalist production, he presented them in a way which showed whrrt could be expected of capitalism in the future. What could be expected, it emerged, was not only an increasingly harsh exploitation of the prolctar- iat but, ultimately, the creation of conditions which wor"rld malce it possi - ble for capitalism to abolish itself. Since the transformation of the superstructure proceeds far rnore slowly than that of the base, it has taken more than half a century for the change in the conditions of production to be manifested in all areas of culture. How this process has affected culture can only now be assessed, and these assessments must meet certain prognostic requirements. They do not, however, call for theses on the art of the proletariat after its sei- zure of power, and still less for any on the art of the classless society. They call for theses defining the tendencies of the development of art under the present conditions of production. The dialectic of these conditions <lf production is evident in the superstructure, no less than in the ecclnomy. T,heses defining the developmental tendencies of art can therefore corr- tribute to the political struggle in ways that it would be a rnistakc to un- THE WORK OF ART: SECOND VERSION 2-1 PRODUCTION, REPRODUCTION, AND RECEPTION as it could now keep pace with speech. Just as the illustrated newspaper vir- derestimate. They neutralize a number of traditional concepts-such in an un- tually lay hidden within lithographS so the sound film was latent in pho- creativity and genius, eternal value and mystery-which' used allow factual tography. The technological reproduction of sound was tackled at the controlled wuy lurrd controlling them is difficult today)' wbat end of the last century. Around 1900, techrutlogical reproduction not material to be rnanipulated in the interests of fascism, ln follows, those only had reached a standard tbat ptermitted it to reproduce all known the concepts which ire introduced into tbe tbeory of art differ from purpases of works of art, profoundly modifying their effect, but it also bad coptured notu current in that they are completely useless for the fas' of reuolu- a place of its own among the artistic processes. In gauging this standard, cism. On the other haid, tb"y are useful for the formulation we would do well to study the impact which its two different manif esta- tionary demands in the politics <tf art lKunstpolitikl' tions-tlte reproduction of artworks and the art of film-are bauing on art in its traditional form. il made In principle, the work of art has always been reproducible' Objects ilt by by'hum"ns could always be copied by humans' Replicas were made In even the most perfect reproduction one thing, is lacking: the hcrc and in practicing for their iraft, by masters in disseminating their r Oroift now of the work of art-its unique existence in a particular place. lt is works, and, finall5 by third parties in pursuit of profit' But the techno- in- this unique existence-and hothing else-that bears the mark of the his- logicai reproduction of artworks is something new' Having appeared tory to which the work has been subject. This history includes changt:s to t.I*itt..,ily in history, at widely spaced intervals, it is now being adopted the physical structure of the work over tirne, together with any clranges with ever-increasing intensity. Graphic art was first made technologically re- in ownership. Traces of the former can be detected only by chenrical or reproducible by the woodcut, long before written language became brought in physical analyses (which cannot be performed on a reproduction), while producible by movable type. The enormous changes -about changes of ownership are part of a tradition which can be tracr:cl orrly iir"rurrrr" by movable type, the technological reproduction of writing' important from the standpoint of the original in its present location. are well known. But they are only a special case, though an of world The here and now of the original underlies the concept of its ar-rthen- one, of the phenomenon considered here fron the perspective I ticity, and on the latter in turn is founded the iciea of a tradition which In the corrrse of the Middle Ages the woodcut was supplemented history.