A review by alanffm
The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction by Walter Benjamin

4.0

This book is a truncated version of Benjamin's The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility with two extra essays - one on Kafka and one on Proust. The books main essay, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, focuses on the role of art in the modern age and how - where it once served the purpose of enlightenment, expression and veneration-it now serves a more sinister role. Benjamin argues that modern art serves the interests of the worlds Capitalists and governments instead of serving its previous role. Art is used to sway the opinions of the masses and no longer focuses on 'art for art's sake". While Benjamin provides a robust and troubling argument, I feel like this work could have gone into more depth. Of course, as I've said this is a truncated version of the original, so perhaps that is why I feel unfulfilled reading this. Still a new idea I'm happy to explore - glad I read it!