The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction is an essay by German cultural critic Walter Benjamin that has been influential across the humanities, especially in the fields of cultural studies, media theory, architectural theory, and art history. Walter Benjamin wrote the work in an effort to describe a theory of art that would be useful for the formulation of revolutionary demands in the politics of art. He argued that, in the absence of any traditional, ritualistic value, art in the age of mechanical reproduction would inherently be based on the practice of politics. Walter Benjamin was a German Jewish philosopher and cultural critic. An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish mysticism, Walter Benjamin made enduring and influential contributions to aesthetic theory, literary criticism, and historical materialism. In addition, Walter Benjamin's work has also influenced politics & social sciences, politics & government, ideologies & doctrines, communism & socialism, and arts & photography.