Abstract

ANDRADE, María Mercedes. The Dangers of Aesthetics in "The Work of Art in the Era of Its Technical Reproducibility". rev.estud.soc. [online]. 2009, n.34, pp.72-80. ISSN 0123-885X.

This article engages with Walter Benjamin's essay, "The Work of Art in the Era of Its Technical Reproducibility". It analyzes Benjamin's criticism of a "disinterested aesthetic" and explores the two alternatives that he suggests: the aestheticization of politics and the politicization of aesthetics. In order to illustrate the warnings that Benjamin makes regarding the "dangers of aesthetics," the article makes a comparison with Franz Kafka's story, In the penal colony. It concludes by underlining some of the similarities between Benjamin and the German aesthetic tradition.

Keywords : Aesthetics; Politics; Walter Benjamin; Franz Kafka; Works of Art; Technical Reproduction.

        · abstract in Spanish | Portuguese     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )