Walter Benjamin and the Media: The Spectacle of Modernity
Description
Walter Benjamin (1892-1940), one of the most original and perceptive thinkers of the twentieth century, offered a unique insight into the profound impact of the media on modern society. Jaeho Kang's book offers a lucid introduction to Benjamin's theory of the media and its continuing relevance today.The book provides a systematic and close reading of Benjamin's critical and provocative writings on the intersection between media - from print to electronic - and modern experience, with reference to the information industry, the urban spectacle, and the aesthetic politics. Bringing Benjamin's thought into a critical constellation with contemporary media theorists such as Marshall McLuhan and Jean Baudrillard, the book helps students understand the implications of Benjamin's work for media studies today and how they can apply his distinctive ideas to contemporary media culture.
Kang's book leads to a fresh appreciation of Benjamin's work and new insight into critical theoretical approaches to media. The book will be of particular interest to students and researchers not only in media and communication studies but also in cultural studies, film studies and social theory, who are seeking a readable overview of Benjamin's rich yet complex writings.
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About the Author
Jaeho Kang is Lecturer in Critical Media and Cultural Studies at the Centre for Media and Film Studies, SOAS, University of London
Reviews
"In Walter Benjamin and the Media Jaeho Kang strikes a near perfect balance between biographical narrative and theoretical analysis. In doing so, Benjamins media critique is fully contextualised removing any notion of obsolescence which may arise from a contemporary reading."
LSE Review of Books
For too long Walter Benjamin's lapidary texts have merely sparkled in the distance, unintegrated into everyday analyses of media and communications research. Jaeho Kang's fluent and energetic new reading of Benjamin's writings on radio, storytelling, media industries, and urban culture reinvigorates our connection with this great 20th century thinker of cultural change. Kang's beautifully organised book provides us with a welcome toolkit for grasping today's high-speed reconfiguration of our once familiar media landscapes.
Nick Couldry, London School of Economics
We know of Walter Benjamin in several guises: failed academic, brilliant journalist, messianic writer. But do we really know about Benjamin the media theorist, beyond Work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction?
Jaeho Kang takes us across disciplines along the intensely original intellectual journey that led Benjamin to the media. Brilliant and grave, erudite and luminous, Kangs book invites us to share Benjamins incandescent curiosity.
Daniel Dayan, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris
"Kang's exploration of the relationship between Banjamin's media theorizing of McLuhan and Baudrillard renders Walter Benjamin and the Media a substantial achievement that is well worth a read."
H-Net Reviews
