Reference literary critic: Walter Benjamin

The story is told of the American tourist in Paris who told Pablo Picasso that he didn't like modern painting because they weren't realistic. Picasso made no immediate reply. A few minutes later the tourist showed him a snapshot of his house.

"My goodness," said Picasso, "is it really as small as that?"

Jacob Braude

In Benjamin's essays "The Metaphysics of Youth" (1913-14) and "Student life" (1915), he elaborated an original and idiosyncratic philosophical position regarding historical time, experience and aesthetics that supplied the foundation for his subsequent work. These experiences were also tied to concrete experience such as writing a diary.

There are two other work of his that I've taken an interest in. A quote from one of the essays:

"ʻthat which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art," in his 1936 essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. Benjamin was concerned with the impact of mass production on art. For example, think about what will happen to Vincent Van Gogh's painting of Sunflowers being reproduced on merchandise such as postcards, posters or stamps without regard to its original size, location or history. 

Technology and nature seems to be drifted apart gradually. The horse is replaced by automobile, candles replaced by the electric light, muscles replaced by steam, electricity and nuclear power. Is technology becoming autonomous from nature?

This reading has evoked a sense of nostalgia as I thought about how minute and insignificant I felt standing before the woods. Shadows were cast with natural light. Without the presence of automobiles, the chirping of crickets sounded so crisp and the rustle of leaves, music to my ears. Listening to the gentle streams of water caressing the rocks, time stood still and my photograph of that moment couldn't do justice to my feelings. And thus I deleted most of them. Even if I could capture the best shot, something would lack in the photo - its unique existence in time and space. 

The second work I'm referencing is: Das Passagen-Werk (The arcades project: 1938-1940).

It chronicles a specific stage of research and writing for the planned book on 19th century France. Unfortunately, Benjamin was unable to complete his compilation of observations and excerpts from other authors of the bourgeois experience of the 19th century history. The resulting manuscript was arranged in folders. 34 such folders to be exact, each designated by a letter of the alphabet and a descriptive title.

In Benjamin's project, he describes his work as 'literary montage', meaning fragments and juxtaposition of critiques arranged in folders. It's very much scraps and pieces of observations and writings documented and presented as it is. Likewise, besides my online organisation of observations, I do keep tactile materials and record them in my books. These provide the sensory qualities which this virtual blog couldn't afford.



Caygill, H., Coles, A., & Klimowski, A. (1998). Introducing Walter Benjamin. Clays Ltd, St Ives plc. United Kingdom: UK.

Hanssen, B. (ed.). (2006). Walter Benjamin and the arcades project. Continuum International. New York: NY.

Jennings, M. W. (1987). Dialectical images: Walter Benjamin's theory of literary criticism. Cornell University Press: USA.