The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Literary Elements

Academic Essay, Cultural Criticism

The essay was published during the Nazi regime in Germany in 1935.

Benjamin writes from an academic, third-person point of view.

In keeping with the genre of the essay, Benjamin maintains an academic, critical, and didactic tone throughout.

The essay has no discernible protagonist or antagonist. However, Benjamin warns against the spread of Fascism and the aestheticizing of politics throughout, suggesting the inherent antagonism of the Nazi party.

The central conflict at work in Benjamin's essay is the separation of art from aura, which is defined by authenticity and connection to tradition.

Because the essay is a work of nonfiction, there is no climax. However, the end of the essay brings readers to the crux of Benjamin's argument, which is that without a discernible aura, art will be co-opted for political gains, specifically by Fascist governments.

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Benjamin makes frequent allusions to different art forms and artists, tracing art history from the printing press to the lithograph to photography and finally to film. He makes specific reference to Eugene Atget, a photographer from the 1900s, as well as the Dadaists who produced shocking, absurd, and contemplatively empty works of art in the early twentieth century.

There is little imagery within Benjamin's argument itself, but he alludes often to different works of art and why they are meaningful.

The central paradox of the essay, as Benjamin maintains, is that art is no longer being made for ritualistic or ceremonial means and is instead being produced purely for the purpose of reproduction.

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Benjamin metonymically refers to film throughout the essay as a representative of all contemporary art and its means of production.

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