Critical media studies.

1. Dialectic of Enlightenment

a. What is "Enlightenment"?

Enlightenment is in Theodor Adorno & Max Horkheimers text “Dialectic of Enlightenment” to be understood as “the advance of thought”. The purpose of Enlightenment has always been to liberate ourselves, humans, from fears of the world by dispelling myths and overthrow fantasy with knowledge.

b. What is "dialectic"?

The term dialectic refers to various methods of reasoning and discussion in order to discover the truth.

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

According to oxford dictionaries nominalism is “The doctrine that universals or general ideas are mere names without any corresponding reality. Only particular objects exist, and properties, numbers, and sets are merely features of the way of considering the things that exist. Often contrasted with realism”

Nominalism is used by Horkheimer and Adorno in the sense where a material object refers to an idea or concept. For instance the word “Car” does not have any corresponding reality, there exist particular objects while its properties are a way of considering the objects that exist (the Car).

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

Myth is as enlightenment a way of looking at things. Since the purpose of enlightenment is to de-enchant and de-myth the world myth and enlightenment are oppositions of each other. Adorno and Horkheimer is talking about that enlightenment is in fact not “de-mything” the world but rather taking the relation between myth and what we don’t know to another level.

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?

Substructure is refering to the conditions of and the means of production, the economic-political system. Where as the superstructure is reffered to as the activities of the human, that is, culture, religion etc. Therefore the superstructure, which is on top of the substructure, is to a large extent dependant on the economic and political system.

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?

Because changes to culture were becoming rapid over time Benjamin suggests that rather than looking at culture in terms of ideology (a system of ideas and ideals) we should instead examine how it influences ongoing society. Both the art of film and photography can give mass society insights and awareness which could make way for a social revolution. In contrast of Benjamins thoughts Adorno & Horkheimer suggests that  “Culture has always contributed to the subduing of revolutionary instincts”. Culture with the mere purpose of entertainment is numbing, deceiving and does not result in any cultural or intellectual insights.

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).

An example of historically determined perception is how the Roman's ability to perceive art changed during the fifth century with the introduction of Roman art. The population not only developed this new art differently from the antiquity but also developed a new way of understanding art. Therefore perception is not only affected by nature itself but also historical circumstances. Naturally and historically determined perception means that it matters in which human sense perception is organised and in which medium it is accomplished. Therefore we perceive things differently depending on individual experiences.

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

The term "aura" is a representation of an objects unique attachment of time and space and authencity. When we are reproducing things the autencity of the object changes and the aura changes. For instance a fake painting is loosing it's authencity due to the painting being reproducable. A lot of art objects are reproduced and therefore the aura changes. Natural objects are in themselves unique and therefore the aura is persistent. In some sense natural objects haven't been "made" so to say and therefore cannot be reproducable.