The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Walter Benjamin
SeriesPenguin Great Ideas
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:128
Dimensions(mm): Height 181,Width 111
Category/GenreTheory of art
ISBN/Barcode 9780141036199
ClassificationsDewey:834.912
Audience
General
Illustrations No illustrations

Publishing Details

Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publication Date 7 August 2008
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

One of the most important works of cultural theory ever written, Walter Benjamin's groundbreaking essay explores how the age of mass media means audiences can listen to or see a work of art repeatedly - and what the troubling social and political implications of this are. Throughout history, some books have changed the world. They have transformed the way we see ourselves - and each other. They have inspired debate, dissent, war and revolution. They have enlightened, outraged, provoked and comforted. They have enriched lives - and destroyed them. Now Penguin brings you the works of the great thinkers, pioneers, radicals and visionaries whose ideas shook civilization and helped make us who we are.

Author Biography

Walter Benjamin (1892-1940) was a philosopher, translator and critic. Born in Berlin into a prosperous Jewish family, he made a precarious living as a literary journalist, championing the drama of Bertolt Brecht and translating the work of Baudelaire and Proust. He is most famous for his essays 'The Task of the Translator' (1923) and 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction' (1936). With the rise of the Nazis in 1933, he emigrated for Paris, and in 1940 he fled for the Spanish border, where he committed suicide.