Between contemplation and distraction.pdf

8/11/2019 Between contemplation and distraction.pdf

1/23

German Studies ssociation

Between Contemplation and Distraction: Configurations of Attention in Walter BenjaminAuthor(s): Carolin DuttlingerSource: German Studies Review, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Feb., 2007), pp. 33-54Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Presson behalf of the German Studies AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27668212.

Accessed: 25/09/2014 13:54

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at.http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

The Johns Hopkins University Pressand German Studies Associationare collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,

preserve and extend access to German Studies Review.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 164.41.102.240 on Thu, 25 Sep 2014 13:54:30 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=jhuphttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=gsahttp://www.jstor.org/stable/27668212?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/27668212?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=gsahttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=jhup


2/23

Between

Contemplation

and

Distraction:

Configurations

ofAttention in

Walter

Benjamin

Carolin

Duttlinger

Wadham

College,

Oxford

University

Although Benjamin

is best known

for his

advocacy

of distraction

(Zerstreuung)

as

the

perceptual

stance

most

appropriate

for

modernity,

the

contrasting

concept

of

attention

(Aufmerksamkeit)

plays

a

similarly

central,

yet

still

more

complex

role

in his

thought,

where

itmediates between

his

earlier,

religiously

informed

writings

and his later

political

agenda.

While attention underlies

his assessment

of

different

cultural-historical

configurations

and

their

impact

on

human

perception

and

experience,

it

lso takes

on an

important

self-reflexive

character,

as

its ritical

exploration

refers back to

Benjamin's

own

theoretical

approach,

which

relies

on a

particular, highly

mobile

form of attentiveness

for

its ritical

insights

and

response.

The

issue

of

attention

has become

a source

of

growing anxiety

in

modern

culture. In the age of computer games, digital media, and the Internet,At

tention

Deficit

Disorder

(ADD)

has

gained

the

status

of

a

maladie du

si?cle,

exemplifying

the

precarious

and

deeply

elusive

nature

of

attention

as

mental

capacity

and cultural resource.1

The

current

debate,

which

runs across

disci

plines

as

varied

as

medicine,

psychology,

and

pedagogy,2

is

by

no means a new

phenomenon

but finds

an

intriguing

precursor

in

the

early

twentieth

century,

when

various

cultural

anxieties

first

crystallized

in

what

was

perceived

to

be

a

widespread

crisis of

attention.

Both

periods

bear

witness

to

fundamental shifts

in

entertainment and information

technology?today's digital

culture has

its

equivalent

in

the

early

twentieth-century

media revolution

triggered

by

inno

vations

in

photography,

radio,

and film.At the same

time,

the earlier debates

about

attention,

particularly

in eimar

Germany,

took

place

against

a

backdrop

of

socio-political

crisis

that

lent the issue of

attention

an

added

urgency

and

immediacy.

The

complexities

of

this situation find

poignant

expression

in

the

writings

ofWalter

Benjamin,

which both reflect and reflect

on

the

precarious

role of

attention

in

modern culture.

With

the

onset

of industrialization and

urbanization,

attention

gained

a

central

significance

for

the

history

of

modernity

and,

in

particular,

ofmodern

subjec

tivity.

t

the

workplace,

in

the

shopping

arcades,

and the

burgeoning

world of

mass

entertainment,

the

subject

was

exposed

to

a

heterogeneous

succession

of

heterogeneous

stimuli

and

impressions

that defied mental

synthesis.

At

a

time

when

the

individual

and collective

capacity

for

attention

was

fundamentally

put

into

question,

the

term

Zerstreuung

acquired

increasing

prominence,3

reflecting

the

emergence

of

a

new

culture,

or

indeed

cult,

of distraction.

Yet

as

distraction

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/23

34

German Studies

Review 30/1

(2007)

became the

new

buzzword

of

modern

culture,

the issue

of

attention

gained

an

unprecedented significance

as

the

subject

of

a

fervent

debate

transcending

the

boundaries between

arts

and

sciences,

between

psychology

and

physiology,

and

between the

personal

and the

political.4

Among

the

various factors

influencing

this

development,

economic

issues

played

a

central role.

With the

onset

of

industrialization,

automated

modes

of

production required

workers

to

focus

closely

on

the task

at

hand,

not

least

because of the

danger

of

serious

accidents.

Ironically,

however,

thismethod of

production induced thevery opposite of the required alertness, as the extreme

monotony

of

the

repetitive

tasks led

to

tiredness, boredom,

and

inattention.

This

example

is

symptomatic

of

a more

general,

paradoxical

pattern:

if taken

too

far,

the

disciplinary

imperative

for

attention

threatens

to

collapse

into its

opposite.

The

same

mechanism

can

be observed

in

the

spheres

of consumerism

and

mass

entertainment

that,

by perpetually

trying

to attract

the

spectators'

attention,

end

up

dispersing

it.On

the

whole, then,

themanifold

attempts

to

produce,

manage,

and control

attentive

individuals

through

a

range

of

disciplin

ary

techniques

and

institutions

illustrate both the vital

significance

of

attention

for

modernity

and

its

troublingly

elusive

nature.

Among

the cultural commentators of the 193

Os,

alter

Benjamin

is

commonly

perceived

as

one

of the

most

prominent

advocates

of

distraction.While

many

of

his

contemporaries,

among

them

Siegfried

Kracauer

andTheodor

W.

Adorno,

condemned

mass

culture

as

detrimental

to

the individual's reflective and critical

faculties,

Benjamin

defends distraction

as

both

perceptually

and

politically

effec

tive.

ttention,

in

contrast,

particularly

in its

more

contemplative

manifestations,

appears

to

provide

little

more

than

a

negative backdrop

forhis cultural

analyses.

This overall

impression,

however,

is

highlymisleading;

in

fact,

attention

plays

an

intriguingly

versatile and

complex

role

in

Benjamin's

writings,

where

it

recurs

in

a

range

of different

contexts

and

configurations.

For

Benjamin,

unlike for

many

of his

contemporaries,

the

goal

is

not

simply

to

salvage

attention

in

the

face of

a

culture of

distraction; rather,

his

writings explore

how this

stance

can

be

productively

mobilized

in

the face of

challenges

both

perceptual

and

political.

In

this

respect,

attention holds

a

dual

significance

as

both

object

and mode of

enquiry;

its

discussion

as

a

themewithin

Benjamin's

works

is

echoed

in

a

critical

practice

that

strategically

adopts

attention

as

a

tool of

analysis

and reflection.

Yet

while the

issue

of

attention

acts

as a

crucial

driving

force

in

Benjamin's

thought throughout

the

1920s

and

1930s,

it

also

raises,

as

I

shall

demonstrate,

troubling

questions

about his critical

perspective,

approach,

and

methodology.

One

of the

challenges

characteristic of

Benjamin's

discourse

on

attention

lies

in

its

terminological diversity.5

For

Benjamin

does

not

limit himself

to

the

term

Aufmerksamkeit,

but

frequently

enlistswords from

related

semantic

fields,

such

as

Kontemplation,

Konzentration,

and

Geistesgegenwart,

in

order

to

express

broadly



4/23

Carolin

Duttlinger

35

comparable

but

subtly

different

ideas and

perspectives.

Moreover,

while

these

different

forms

of

attention

are

frequently

evoked

in

contrast

to states

such

as

Zerstreuung,

Geistesabwesenheit

or

Gewohnheit,

these

oppositions

are never

held

up

as

absolutes

but

are

brought

into constructive

dialectical

interplay.

The

roots

of this

dialectical

approach

can

be

traced back

to

the

early

fragment

?ber

das

Grauen

(1920-22),

where

attention

underpins

the

individual's

rela

tionship

to

himself,

to

God,

and

to

the

world

at

large.

Benjamin

here

contrasts

two

forms

of

contemplation,

or

Versunkenheit,

and

their effects

on

the

subject.

One such form is religious devotion:

Es

gibt

Zust?nde

der

Versunkenheit,

gerade

in

ihrer

iefe,

welche

dennoch

den Menschen

nicht

geistesabwesend,

sondern

h?chst

geistesgegenw?rtig

machen.

[...]

Die

einzige

Art

von

Geistesgegenwart,

welche

Bestand

hat

und

nicht

untergraben

zu

werden

vermag,

ist die

in

der

heiligen

Versunkenheit,

etwa

der

des Gebetes.

(VI,

75)6

Prayer

and other

forms

of

religious

devotion

enable

a

double

focus,

whereby

the

subject

is

in

Gott

und

damit auch

[...]

in

sich selbst

v?llig

versunken

(VI, 76).

The

attention directed

at

the

divine other

is

thus

compatible

with

a

continued sense of self-awareness. Unlike in the

mystical

tradition,

then,

this

form of

religious

contemplation

does

not

dissolve

the boundaries between

man

and

God;

but

provides

the basis

for

a

different form

of

awareness,

resulting

in

a

presence

ofmind

that

protects

the

subject

against distracting

disruptions.

In

prayer,

then,

the

individual's

contemplative

focus

on

the divine

does

not

preclude

a

continued

awareness

both

of himself

and of

theworld

at

large.

The

merits of

religious

contemplation

become

clear when

it is

compared

to

its

secular

counterpart;

as

Benjamin

points

out,

the

presence

of

mind achieved

during

prayer

is

diametrically

opposed

to

a

non-religious

Zustand

tiefer

Kontemplation

und

Konzentration,

wie tiefes

Sinnen,

Versunkenheit

in

Musik

oder Schlaf

(VI,

75).

As

the

inclusion

of

sleep

in

this list

suggests,

these

forms

of concentration

continually

threaten

to

collapse

into

their

opposite:

oblivion.

While

devotional

practices

are

compatible

with

continued

self-awareness,

in

secular forms

of

contemplation

the

individual

is

said

to

be

in

Fremdes

und

daher

nur

unvollst?ndig

versunken

(VI,

76).

Paradoxically,

however,

it

is

precisely

this

incomplete

state

of

absorption

that threatens

to

undermine

the

subject's

presence

of

mind,

leading

to

a

dangerous

form of absent-minded

ness.

As

Benjamin

argues,

the

contemplation

of

an

external

object

or

stimulus

absorbs all

mental

awareness,

leaving

the

subject's physical

self

depotenziert

unter Abwesenheit des Geistes (VI, 76). Benjamin here takes the notion of

absent-mindedness

literally

when

describing

a state

of

absorption

devoid

of

self-reflexive

awareness.

It is

in

such

a

state

that the

subject

can

fall

prey

to

external

disruptions,

leading

to

an

experience

of

shock

or

Grauen

at

whatever

impression

interrupts

this

contemplation.

He

points

out

da?

dermenschliche



5/23

36

German Studies

Review

30/1

(2007)

K?rper

im

Zustande der

Geistesabwesenheit keine

bestimmte

Grenze

hat.

Das

Wahrgenommene,

vor

allem

das

im

Gesicht

Wahrgenommene

bricht

nun

in

ihn

hinein

(VI, 76).

Crucially,

then,

this loss

of

a

sense

of

self is

triggered

not

by

a

state

of

solipsistic

absorption

but

by

the

subject's

Wahrnehmung

des

Anderen,

in

dem

beide ihre

Konturen

verlieren

(Liska

144).

Intriguingly,

the

trigger

of

this

disturbance

evokes Freud's

theory

of the

uncanny;

Benjamin

cites

as

the

exemplary

and

most

powerful

source

of

Grauen die

Erscheinung

der

Mutter

(VI, 75),

whose familiar

appearance

becomes

threateningly

alien

as the boundaries of self and other are dissolved.7

Benjamin's

assessment

of attention

in

?ber

das Grauen

thus follows

a

dual

trajectory.

The

absent-mindedness of secular

contemplation

is

set

against

its

religious

counterpart,

where the

encounter

with the

divine other enables both

self-awareness and

a

wider,

outward-directed

presence

of mind.

From

an

early

stage,

then,

Benjamin rejects

oblivious

absorption

in

favor

of

amore

dialectical

model

of

attention

that combines

contemplative

reflectionwith

outward-look

ing

alertness.

Although

his

advocacy

of

religious contemplation

subsequently

gives

way

to

an

avid

critique

of this

stance

and its

underlying

traditions,

the

dialectical model

of

attention

developed

in

this

early

text

remains

central for

his

writings

throughout

the 1930s.

A

decade

later,

Benjamin

builds

on

his earlier

approach

in

the

piece

Ge

wohnheit und

Aufmerksamkeit,

part

of the collection Ibizenkische

Folge

(1932).

Here

attention is

contrasted

not

with sudden external

disruption

but,

on

the

contrary,

with

more

habitual modes of

perception.

Citing

Goethe's

assertion

that

Aufmerksamkeit

is

[d]ie

erste

aller

Eigenschaften, (IV

1,

407)

Benjamin

argues

that

attention is

inherently

linked

to

Gewohnheit,

which

acts

as

its

neces

sary

counterpart;

indeed,

the

two

stances

need

to

be

combined for the

sake

of

mental

stability:

AlleAufmerksamkeit

mu?

in

Gewohnheit

m?nden,

wenn

sie

den

Menschen nicht

sprengen,

alle

Gewohnheit

von

Aufmerksamkeit

verst?rt

werden,

wenn

sie

denMenschen nicht

l?hmen soll

(IV1,407f.).8

As

in

?ber

das

Grauen,

where


was

commended for

its

ombination

of

introspective

reflection

and continued

outward-looking

alertness,

Benjamin

here

advocates

a

dialectical model based

on

themediation

between

two extremes.

As

he

writes,

Aufmerken und

Gew?hnung,

Ansto?

nehmen und Hinnehmen

sind

Wellenberg

undWellental

im

Meer

der Seele. Dieses Meer

aber hat seine

Windstillen

(TV 1,408).

Importandy,

it s

not

the

process

of

perpetual

oscillation

that interests

Benjamin

in

his

essay

but

the

more

elusive

moment

of

balanced

equi

librium

betweenAufinerksamkeit

and

Gewohnheit..This

precarious

state,

however,

is explored in a series of reflectionswhose dialectical twists and turnsbelie the

image

of

the

quiet

sea,

inducing

in

the

reader

a

kind of

argumentative

seasickness.

The

first

example

of

such

a

balance between attention

and

habitual

experi

ence

is

provided

by

the

experience

of

pain:



6/23

Carolin

Duttlinger

37

Da?

einer,

der

ganz

und

gar

auf

einen

qu?lenden

Gedanken,

auf

einen

Schmerz

und

seine

St??e

sich

konzentriert,

dem leisesten

Ger?usche,

einem

Murmeln,

dem

Flug

eines Insekts

zur

Beute

werden

kann,

den

ein

aufmerksameres

und sch?rferes

Ohr

vielleicht

gar

nicht

vernommen

h?tte,

steht

au?er

Zweifel.

Die

Seele,

so

meint

man,

l??t

sich

um so

leichter

ablenken,

je

konzentrierter

sie

ist.

Aber

ist

dieses

Lauschen

nicht

weniger

das Ende

als

die ?u?erste

Entfaltung

der

Aufmerksamkeit?der

Augenblick,

da

sie

aus

ihrem

eigenen

Sch??e die

Gewohnheit

hervorgehen

l??t?

Dies

Schwirren oder Summen ist die Schwelle, und unvermerkt hat die Seele

sie

?berschritten.

(IV1,

408)

As

Benjamin

argues,

the

experience

of

physical

pain

or

mental

anguish

makes

the hence

absorbed

subject

not

less

but

more

alert

to

the

most

inconspicu

ous

sounds,

which

would

remain unnoticed

even

by

a

deliberately

attentive

listener.

Thus the

absorption by

a

painful

experience

frees

up

attention

for

outside

impressions

that invade

this

inward-looking

state.

Unlike

in

?ber

das

Grauen,

such external

distractions

are

figured

not

as a

disruptive

threat

to

the

subject's

contemplation,

but

as

the basis

of

a

new,

heightened

mode

of

atten

tion born out of thevery concentration that ishence interrupted.As attention

and distraction

thus

go

hand

in

hand,

the final result

is

not

only

the ?u?erste

Entfaltung

der

Aufmerksamkeit

but

this

in

turn

marks

the

moment

where

at

tention

turns

back

into

Gewohnheit,

as

attention is

drawn

away

from

its

original

focus towards

a new

target,

pain?the original

stimulus?is

transformed

into

a

habitual

background

experience.

A

second,

similarly

complex example

is

taken

from

the realm of

dreams.

As

Benjamin

points

out:

auch Gewohnheit

hat

ein

Komplement,

und

dessen

Schwelle

?bertreten

wir im

Schlaf.

Denn

was

im

Traume sich

an uns

vollzieht,

ist

ein

neues

und unerh?rtes

Merken,

das sich

im

Sch??e

der

Gewohnheit

losringt.

Erlebnisse

des

Alltags,

abgedroschene

Reden,

der

Bodensatz,

der

uns

im

Blick

zur?ckblieb,

das Pulsen

des

eigenen

Blutes?dies

vorherUnvermerkte

macht?verstellt

und ?berscharf?den

Stoff

zu

Tr?umen.

(IV1,

408)

Experiences

of

waking

life

that,

due

to

their

habitual

character,

do

not attract

any

conscious

attention take

on

a

new

dimension

during

sleep,

where

they

are

invested

with

a

new

and

unexpected

vividness.

As

in

the

previous

example,

however,

this

reversal

is

subjected

to

a

further dialectical

twist.As

Benjamin

concludes,

Im

Traum

kein

Staunen und

im

Schmerze

kein

Vergessen,

weil

beide ihren

Gegensatz

schon

in sich

tragen,

wie

Wellenberg

undWellental bei

Windstille

ineinander

gebettet

liegen

(IV1,

408).

Thus

the

attention

which,

during

a

dream,

is directed

at

previously

unnoticed

impressions

does

not

trigger

any

sense

of

surprise

or

marvel,

just

as

the

redirection of

attention

during

the



7/23

38

German

Studies

Review

30/1

(2007)

experience

of

pain

does

not

make the

subject

fully

oblivious of the

unpleasant

sensation.

In

both

cases,

the

coexistence

of attention

and Gewohnheit

prevents

not

only

the

complete collapse

into either

extreme

but also the

transcendence

of

this

binarism

into

a

mediating

third

state.

Benjamin's

primary

interest

concerns

the

threshold,

the

moment

of

transition

from

one

extreme

to

another,

as

is

indicated

by

the

term

Schwelle

which

features

prominently

in

both

examples.

As in

?ber

das

Grauen,

then,

Benjamin's

discourse

on

attention is

informed

by

an

intricately

dialectical

approach

whereby

an

inward-looking

state

of

atten

tive concentration is invariably shaped by its opposites, whether these be the

alert

stance

o?

Geistesgegenwart

or

the

contrasting

mode

o?

Gewohnheit.

Although

the

chosen

examples

appear

rather abstract

in

their

formalized

discussion,

they

nevertheless

lay

the

foundation for

Benjamin's

subsequent

engagement

with attention

in

its

more

specific

cultural and

historical

manifestations.

That

said,

while the

underlying

parameters

of this

discussion remain

the

same,

the

assessment

of

attention

and

its

counterparts

undergoes

some

radical

changes

that

reflect

Benjamin's

increasingly

politicized

perspective.

As

Benjamin

turns

his interest

towards

contemporary

mass

culture,

the

phenom

enon of distraction

gains

increasing significance

inhis

writings.

Importantly,

however,

neither distraction

nor

its

apparent

opposite,

attention,

is

subject

to

a

homogenous

and

consistent

discussion.

Their

varying

appeasement

reflects

the

deeply

ambivalent

stance

towards

popular

culture within

both

Benjamin's

own

writings

and those

of

his

contemporaries.

A

rather critical

comment

on

distraction

can

be

found

in

the

piece

Bekr?nzter

Eingang

(1930),

the

review

of

an

exhibition

organized

by Benjamin's

friend,

the

doctor

Ernst

Jo?l,

who also

supervised Benjamin's

hashish

experiments.

The

exhibition's

title,

Gesunde

Nerven,

is

a

timely

response

to

contemporary

debates

about

neurasthenia; Benjamin's review, however,

focuses less

on

the

exhibition's

content

than

on

its

mode of

display,

which

is

aimed

to

provoke

a

particular

response

in

the

audience. Rather

than

being

modeled

on

the

bour

geois

institutions of

art

gallery

and

museum,

it

takes

its

cue

from the

popular

attractions

of the

fairground,

which have

one

primary

agenda:

um

jeden

Preis

und

jedem

die

kontemplative

Haltung,

das

unbeteiligte

und

schn?de Mustern

zu

verlegen

(IV1,

559).

Both

contemplative

absorption

and

disengaged,

dis

tracted

assessment

are

held

as

symptomatic

of the

same

underlying

problem:

the

audience's

lack of active

involvement.9

To

shake the visitors

out

of their

inertia,

an

element

of

surprise

is

introduced

into

the

displays.

The

exhibits

are

accompanied by apparently incongruous commentaries?a montage technique

reminiscent

of

Dadaism and

avant-garde

cinema?whose

goal

is

to

create

[k]luge

Fallen,

die die Aufmerksamkeit

locken und

festhalten

(IV.

1,

561).

Attention

is

thus

constructed

as a

two-fold

remedy

for the

unproductive

extremes

of

contemplation

and distracted

detachment;

for

Benjamin,

it

provides

the

most



8/23

Carolin

Duttlinger

39

effective tool

to

achieve the exhibition's

agenda:

Wer

als Gaffer

gekommen

ist,

soll nachhause

gehen

als

einer,

der mitmachte

(TV1,

559).

In

this

comment

on

reception

in

modern

mass

culture,

Benjamin

thus

turns

against

both

distraction

and

contemplation

as

two

inherently

impassive

modes

of

reception

that

need

to

be

overcome

through techniques

of

attention. This

tripartite

model

of

attention,

contemplation,

and distraction

will

recur

at

various

points

in

Benjamin's

cultural

theory, although

its

individual

elements,

their

function,

and interrelation

are

subject

to

recurrent reassessment.

While

Benjamin

here turns to attention as a

simple

escape

from the vicious circle of

distraction

and

absorption,

its

role

becomes

increasingly

more

precarious

in

subsequent

accounts.

A

more

extensive

and

politically grounded

assessment

of

contemporary

culture

is

developed

in Der Autor

als Produzent

(1934),

where

Benjamin

gestures

towards

a

fundamental redefinition

of artistic

tools and

techniques

for

the

purpose

of

Marxist

critique.

His

argument

is

not

directed

primarily

against

conservative

art

movements

but rather towards their

leftist

counterparts

whose

political

impetus

thinly

conceals

a

very

different

agenda.

While

contemporary

political photography

turns

poverty

into

an

object

of

consumerism,

the leftist

writers

of the

Neue

Sachlichkeit

have

gone

one

step

further,

making

den

Kampf

gegen

das Elend

zum

Gegenstand

des

Konsums

(II.2,695).

In

both

cases,

then,

critical

reflexes

become

Gegenst?nde

der

Zerstreuung,

des

Am?sements,

die

sich unschwer dem

gro?st?dtischen

Kabarett-Betrieb

einf?gen ;

rather than

working

towards

actual

change,

writers

such

as

Erich

K?stner

or

Kurt

Tucholsky

transform

political

critique

into

einen

Gegenstand

kontemplativen

Behagens

and the concomitant

texts

into

Konsumartikel

(II.2,

695).

As in

Benjamin's

exhibition

review, distraction,

and

contemplative absorption complement

each

other

to

offer

a

momentary

respite

from the

mounting political

and

economic

crisis. In this essay,however, he moves away from straightforward techniques

of

attention

towards

a

more

complex approach

intended

to

counter

both dis

traction

and

absorption

through

its

critical

impetus.

This model

is

provided

by

Bertolt

Brecht's

epic

theater,

whose

innovative

conception

of audience

response

Benjamin explores

in

this and other

essays.

In

traditional

theater?as

inneusachliche

literature?distraction and

contemplation

are

two

sides of the

same,

politically

ineffective,

coin: Dieses

Theater?mag

man an

dasjenige

der

Bildung

oder

der

Zerstreuung

denken;

beide sind

Kom

plemente

und

erg?nzen

sich?ist

dasjenige

einer saturierten

Schicht,

der

alles,

was

ihreHand

ber?hrt,

zu

Reizen

wird

(II.2,

697).

The

bourgeois

culture

of

contemplative absorption has its counterpart in the distractions of popular

mass

entertainment;

in

both

cases,

the audience's desire for

stimulation

and

entertainment

prevents

any

critical

response.

The

epic

theater

resists

both of these

traps;

Benjamin

singles

out

Brecht's

capacity

to

induce

Staunen

rather than

contemplative

identification

in

the



9/23

40

German

Studies

Review 30/1

(2007)

audience

(II.2, 698).

In

Joel's

exhibition,

this effect

was

achieved

through

the

montage

of

exhibits

and

incongruous

commentary,

and

a

similar

technique

is

at

work

in

Brecht's

plays.

As

Benjamin

stresses,

the

core

feature of

epic

theater

is

its

strategy

of

interruption,

the

Unterbrechung

der Abl?ufe of dramatic

action

through

song,

gesture,

or

captions

(II.2,698).

Yet

where

Joel's

exhibition

merely

aimed

to attract

the

visitors'

attention,

the Brechtian model of

audience

response

is

somewhat

more

complex.

As

the

theater

stage

is

transformed

from

a

quasi-magical

Bannraum

into

an

Ausstellungsraum,

this

radically

alters

the

audience's mode of

reception:

[Brechts] B?hne bedeutet ihrPublikum nicht

mehr

eineMasse

hypnotisierter

Versuchspersonen

sondern

eine

Versammlung

von

Interessenten,

deren

Anforderungen

sie

zu

gen?gen

hat

(II.2,

520).10

The

alternative

to

a

quasi-hypnotic

state

of

absorption

is

thus

a

detached

yet

alert

state

of

entspannte

[s]

nteresse

(II.2,5

3

5).

Brecht's

viewers do

not

follow the

onstage

action mit

allen

Fibern,

angespannt ;

rather,

his

plays

both

require

and

produce

ein

entspanntes,

der

Handlung

gelockert

folgendes

Publikum

(II.2,

532).

These latter

comments

are

formulated

in

the

late

essay

Was ist

das

epische

Theater?

(1939).

Although

Der

Autor

als

Produzent

gestures

towards

this

model

of

audience

response,

it is

only through

his

engagement

with

another

phenomenon

ofmodern

culture

that

Benjamin

comes to

develop

amore

dia

lectical model

of audience

response

in

the

age

of distraction. The

underlying

paradigm

that

shapes

this

new

conception

is

alluded

to

in

the

1939

essay

on

Brecht:

Das

epische

Theater

r?ckt,

den

Bildern des Filmstreifens

vergleichbar,

in

St??en

vor.

Seine Grundform

ist die des

Chocks,

mit

dem die

einzelnen,

wohlabgehobenen

Situationen des

St?cks

aufeinandertreffen

(II.2,

537).

As

we

shall

see,

it is themedium

of

film,

explored

in

Benjamin's

famous

essay

Das

Kunstwerk

im

Zeitalter

seiner technischen

Reproduzierbarkeit

(1935-36),

which

provides

the

matrix for

a

radical

reassessment

of

attention

in

modern

culture and in itswider historical context.

In

the Kunstwerk

essay,

Benjamin

tones

down the

overtly

didactic

approach

of

Der

Autor

als

Produzent,

an

essay

which,

as

he remarks

to

himself,

vernach

l?ssigt

?ber

dem

Lehrwert

den

Konsumwert

(V1I.2, 678).

Most

importantly,

he re-evaluates

his

previous

dismissal

of

popular

entertainment

as

he

attempts

to

mobilize

mass

culture

for

his

political agenda.

On

the face

of

it,

this

essay

marks

something

of

a

U-turn

in

Benjamin's

writings,

in

particular through

its

emphatic

defense of

distraction,

which

jars

with the author's

previous rejection

of this

stance

as

anathema

to

active audience

response.

In

fact, however,

the

essay's argument ismore complex than itsprogrammatic' tone and presentation

might suggest.11

Not

only

does

its

advocacy

o?

Zerstreuung

build

on

previous

dialectical

approaches,

but this

argument

is

in

turn

embedded within

a

wider

historical

exploration.

The

theory

that human

perception

is

shaped by

socio

cultural

conditions,

and

is

hence

subject

to

historical

change

(1.2,478),

enables



10/23

Carolin

Duttlinger

41

Benjamin

to

reassess

both distraction and attention

and

to

bring

them

into

a

more

constructive

dialogue.

In

the first

part

of

the

essay,

Benjamin

focuses

on

the

issue

of

religious

contemplation,

thus

returning

to

the

subject

of

?ber

das Grauen

from

a

historical

perspective.

As

he

argues,

religion

and

art

are

closely

intertwined,

as

the earliest works of

artwere

objects

used

in

cults and rituals.

Sacred

images,

icons

or

statues

were

predominantly

viewed

in

a

state

of

solitary contempla

tion,

from

a

perspective

of

spatial,

as

well

as

mental,

distance from the

object

and its aura of presence and uniqueness. As Benjamin points out, thismode

of

contemplative

engagement

had

an

effect

far

beyond

the

Middle

Ages,

as

the

reception

of

art

remained

informed

by

its

religious origins

long

after

its

secularization. Within

galleries

and

museums,

works

of

art

continue

to

be

viewed

as

part

of

a

one-to-one

encounter

between

the

auratic

image

and

its

contemplative

observer.

This devotional model

of

reception

now

becomes

the focus

of

Benjamin's

criticism.

In

?ber

das

Grauen,


was

figured

as

the

basis

of

both

presence

of mind and

self-awareness.

Echoes of this

argument

can

be found

in

the Kunstwerk

essay,

where

Benjamin

concedes that

solitary

prayer

played

an

important

political

function in

previous

centuries

enabling

the believers'

emancipation

from the

mediating

authority

of the Church

(1.2,

502).

In

modern

secularized

society,

however,

contemplation

not

only

loses

its

liberating

potential

but

is in

fact

exemplary

of

a

pervasive

trend towards

social

fragmentation

and

isolation.

As

a

result,

he

argues,

the

residues

of

religious

practice

in

bourgeois

art

reception

do

not

lead

to

greater

(self-)awareness

but

are more

akin

to

the

secular

state

of

absorption

which

Benjamin

criticizes in

?ber

das

Grauen.

Unlike

in

his

earlier

text,

however,

Benjamin's

critique

is

not

primarily psychological

in

focus,

but

concerns

the social and

political

consequences

of such

contemplative reception.

The

inherently solitary

nature

of this

state

separates

the individual from

the

collective,

thus

preventing

com

munication,

solidarity,

and,

ultimately,

political

action.

In

the

Kunstwerk

es

say,

Benjamin

thus

rejects

religiously

inspired

forms

of

contemplation

as

both

historically

obsolete

and

politically

regressive.

As

a

counter-model,

he

turns to

the

opposite

stance

of

distraction,

reappropriating

it

as a

tool

of

emancipation.

The

primary

vehicle of

Benjamin's

reassessment

is

the

cinema,

whose

inven

tion

marks

a

sharp

break

with traditions of

contemplative reception.

Where the

auratic

appeal

of traditional

art

is

founded

on

a

distance

between artwork and

observer,

film

images

have

a

dynamic,

tactile

quality,

which undermines

any

scope for contemplative viewing, creating instead a simultan[e] Kollektivre

zeption

able

to

transcend

differences of

class,

gender

or

political

orientation

within

the audience

(1.2,497).

Benjamin's

advocacy

of

distraction

in

relation

to

the

cinema

is

at

odds

not

only

with his

own

previous

comments

on

mass

culture

but

also

with the

stance



11/23

42

German Studies

Review 30/1

(2007)

of

fellow

critics

such

as

Siegfried

Kracauer,

who

condemned distraction

as

a

vehicle of

docile

escapism.12

That

said,

Benjamin's

own

model of distraction

goes

far

beyond

the

goal

of

passive

exposure.

Although

constructed

in

op

position

to

contemplative

reflection,

distraction

nevertheless leaves

scope

for

a

critical

response

founded

on an

alternative mode of attentive

engagement.

Indeed,

in

Benjamin's

essay,

the

concept

of distraction

acts

as

an

umbrella

term

for

a

range

of

perceptual

responses;

the

cinema is

described

as

a

perceptual

Ubungsinstrument,

teaching

the

audience

to

take

in

the stimuli

of modern

life

in a casual, detached state of distraction. The key termhere is,once again, the

stance

of

Gewohnheit-,

habitual

perception

does

not

blind the

audience

to

the

encountered

sights

but enables

them

to

take

in

the

stream

of

impressions

in

a

detached

yet

alert

way,

resulting

viel

weniger

in

einem

gespannten

Aufmerken

als

in

einem

beil?ufigen

Bemerken.

In

a

statement

prefiguring

his

remarks

about Brecht's theater

audience,

Benjamin

concludes da?

die

begutachtende

Haltung

im Kino

Aufmerksamkeit nicht

einschlie?t.

Das

Publikum

ist ein

Examinator,

doch ein

zerstreuter

(1.2, 505).

These

latter remarks

introduce

a

term

that has

been

remarkably

absent

from

most

of the Kunstwerk

essay.

As

a

result

of

the

advocacy

of

distraction,

the

notion of

Aufmerksamkeit

seems to be dismissed

alongside

contemplation

as

an

obsolete and

regressive

stance.

Yet

while

Benjamin

here

rejects

the

kind

of

solipsistically

focused

attention,

which

is

a

feature

of

bourgeois

art

reception,

his

notion

of

the audience

as an

examiner

clearly

involves

an

(albeit

revised)

element

of

attention.

As he

points

out,

the

shock effect of

film,

the

perceptual

challenges

it

poses

through

montage

and

other visual and aural

effects,

must

be

countered

by

the

viewer

durch

gesteigerte

Geistesgegenwart

(1.2,

503).

Attention

thus

makes

a

covert

reappearance

in

the

guise

of

Geistesgegenwart,

a

stance

that

seems

diametrically

opposed

to

themodel of

reception

in

a

casual

state

of Gewohnheit.

While

the

opposition

between

Aufmerksamkeit

and

Gewohnheit

echoes

Benjamin's

piece

from

1932,

the

concept

of

Geistesgegenwart

points

back

to

his

much earlier

text

?ber

das

Grauen,

where

it

was

associated with

religious

contemplation?and

hence

with

the

very

cultural tradition which

Benjamin

now

hopes

to

overcome

through

the

medium

of film.At

the

same

time,

this

intertextual link testifies

to

the

complexity

of

Benjamin's

thought

that,

far

rom

progressing

in

a

linear

manner,

is

informed

by

unexpected

and

at

times

counter

intuitive

echoes and

associations.

Indeed,

the

recurrence

of

Geistesgegenwart

in

the

Kunstwerk

essay

is

more

than

a

regressive slip

of

the

pen.

Geistesgegenwart

ishere investedwith a new significance, underlining the continued significance

of

attention

in

a

culture

of

distraction,

where

it

enables

the

subject

to

respond

effectively

to

the

perceptual

challenges

ofmodern

life.

hile

presence

of

mind

seems at

odds

with the

model

of

Gewohnheit,

the

two

in

fact

complement

each

other;

by shielding

the

subject

from excessive

exposure

to

surrounding

stimuli,



12/23

Carolin

Duttlinger

43

habitual

perception

frees

up

mental

energy

for

the

perception

of

significant

details.

While

figuring

Gewohnheit^ the effect f

cinematic

distraction,

Benjamin

also reintroduces

attention,

in

the

guise

of

Geistesgegenwart,

into

his

theory

of

modern

experience.13

Unlike

a

more

contemplative

form

of

attention,

this flexible mental

stance

matches

the overall

dynamism

of

modern life.

hat

said,

in

a

footnote

accom

panying

this

argument,

Benjamin

invests

Geistesgegenwart

with

a

somewhat

more

serious dimension.

Commenting

on

cinematic

techniques

of

montage,

Benjamin states thatfilm is die der gesteigerten Lebensgefahr, der dieHeu

tigen

ins

Auge

zu

sehen

haben,

entsprechende

Kunstform.

Das

Bed?rfnis,

sich

Chockwirkungen

auszusetzen,

ist

eine

Anpassung

der

Menschen

an

die

sie

bedrohenden

Gefahren

(1.2,

503).

While the

precise

nature

of such threats

here

remains

unspecified,

the

implications

of

this

ominous

remarkwill become

clearer

in

Benjamin's

historical

writings,

where the

role of

Geistesgegenwart

in

the

face

of

danger

takes

on

a

central

methodological,

as

well

as

personal,

significance.

In

der

Passagenarbeit

mu? der

Kontemplation

der Proze?

gemacht

werden.

Sie soll sich aber

gl?nzend

verteidigen

und

behaupten

(V.2,103 6).

This

quota

tion

from

the so-called

Passagen-Werk

marks

yet

another

remarkable

change

of

direction

within

Benjamin's

discourse

on

attention.

In

the Kunstwerk

essay,

contemplation

had

not

only

been

put

on

trial

but,

indeed,

duly

sentenced

and

expelled

from the

domain ofmodern

culture.

In

Benjamin's

historical

writings,

however,

contemplation

makes

an

unexpected

comeback.

Although

again

put

under close critical

scrutiny,

contemplation

here

mounts

an

effective

defense

and

emerges

as one

of the

core

concepts

of

Benjamin's

engagement

with

the

past

which,

together

with

amore

dynamic

form of

attention,

shapes

his histori

cal

approach

on

both

a

thematic and

a

methodological

level.

Benjamin's

work

on

the

Passagen-

Werk,

his

materialist

history

of thenineteenth

century,

extends

from

1927

to

his death

in

1940.

This timescale

alone

testifies

to

the author's

impressive

attention

span

in

relation

to

this

project,

which

he

pursues

alongside

numerous

shorter

studies,

and

in

the

face of

mounting political

and

personal

crises.

Indeed,

the unfinished

state

of thismammoth

work reflects

such distractions

both external

and

internal,

yet

the

existing

body

of

text

also

suggests

that

Benjamin's

aim

was never

to

produce

a

coherent and

ideological

study

in

the classical

sense.

The material

is

divided

into 36 thematic

sections

in

which the

author's

reflections

are

interspersed

with

quotations

from

historical,

literary and philosophical sources. To read the Passagen-Werk cover to cover

makes for

a

peculiarly

distracted

reading

experience,

although

with

growing

immersion various

patterns

and

configurations begin

to

emerge,

illustrating

Benjamin's

at

once

dispersed

and focused mode

of reflection.

While

a

dialectics

of concentration and distraction

is

thus

integral

to

the

project

as a

whole,

such



13/23

44

German Studies

Review

30/1

(2007)

issues

are

also

explicitly

thematized within the

text.

As

if

to

underline his revaluation of

contemplation, Benjamin

comments

critically

on

the distraction induced

by

nineteenth-century

commodity

culture

as

exemplified

by

theworld exhibitions:

Die

Weltausstellungen

verkl?ren den Tauschwert derWaren. Sie

schaffen

einen

Rahmen,

in

dem

ihr

Gebrauchswert

zur?cktritt.

Sie

er?ffnen

eine

Phantasmagorie,

in

die derMensch

eintritt,

um

sich

zerstreuen zu

lassen.

Die

Vergn?gungsindustrie

erleichtert

ihm

das,

indem sie

ihn

auf die H?he

der

Ware

hebt.

Er

?berl??t sich ihren

Manipulationen,

indem

er

seine

Entfremdung

von

sich und andern

genie?t.

(VI,

50f.)

The

capitalist Inthronisierung

der

Ware

und der

sie

umgebende

Glanz der

Zerstreuung

(VI, 51)

preclude

any

moment

of reflection

on

the

part

of the

consumerist

masses

who?in

an

argument

echoing

Kracauer's Die

Angestellten

-derive

pleasure

from their

own

objectification.

Yet

while

distraction

is

here

dismissed

as an

incapacitating, mentally

numbing

response,

the

Passagen-Werk

also contains

numerous

examples

where distraction

gains

an

enabling,

produc

tive

capacity.

Three

figures

who

embody

this dialectical

process

are

the

fl?neur,

the

gam

bler,

and the

collector,

all ofwhom

are

at

home

in

themodern

world of stimuli

and

shocks,

taking

in

the

fast-changing spectacles

of

modernity

in

a

state

of

permanent

intoxication.

The anamnestische Rausch of

the

fl?neur wandering

the

streets

(VI, 525)

and

the

gambler's

Geistesgegenwart

at

the

gaming

table

(VI, 639)

are

two

alternative models of

attention

in

a

state

of

distraction.14

A

third,

more

contemplative

variation

on

this

stance

is

that of the collector

entranced

by

his

objects.

His

tiefste

Bezauberung

does

not,

however,

result

in

impassive

absorption;

while

losing

himself

in

his

collection,

he also maintains

enough alertness

an einem

Strohhalm sich

von neuem

aufzurichten [...]

aus

dem

Nebelmeer,

das

seinen Sinn

umf?ngt

(VI, 271).

Through

the

process

of

collecting,

he

nimmt

den

Kampf

gegen

die

Zerstreuung

auf,

yet

it

is

pre

cisely

this

state

of

dispersal

which

attracts

him

to

his task

in

the first

place.

The

collector

is

ganz

urspr?nglich

von

der

Verworrenheit,

von

der Zerstreutheit

anger?hrt,

in

dem

[sie]

die

Dinge

sich

in

derWelt

vorfinden

(VI, 279),

just

as

the

scatter

of thematerial world

in

which he revels is

only

accessible

to

an

intensively

scattered

perception

(Eiland

63).

While

all

three

of these

figures

play

a

prominent

role

in

the

Passagen-Werk,

the

collector takes

on

a

particular,

self-reflexive

significance.

He

emerges

as

an

alter ego for thematerialist historian,who needs to adopt a similarly distracted

attentiveness

towards

his

subject

matter.

Indeed,

the historian's

attention is

even

more

indiscriminate

and

dispersed

than that of the

traditional

collector,

making

him

more

akin

to

a

Lumpensammler

or

rag-and-bone

man.

As

Benjamin

notes:



14/23

Carolin

Duttlinger

45

Methode

dieser

Arbeit: literarische

Montage.

Ich habe

nichts

zu

sagen.

Nur

zu

zeigen.

Ich

werde nichtsWertvolles entwenden

und

mir

keine

geistvollen Formulierungen

aneignen.

Aber die

Lumpen,

den Abfall: die

will ich

nicht

inventarisieren

sondern

sie

auf die

einzig

m?gliche

Weise

zu

ihrem Recht kommen

lassen:

sie

verwenden.

(VI, 574)

The

fragmentary

character

of

the

Passagen-Werk

is

thus

not

merely

the

re

sult

of its

unfinished

status

but

stems

from

a

deliberate

montage

technique

which

displays,

rather than

conceals,

the eclectic

nature

of

historical evidence.

Benjamin's

attention is

directed

not at

the

obvious,

the

landmarks

of

cultural

achievement,

but

at

the debris of

history,

at

those

objects

and

phenomena

that

have been

excluded

from collective consciousness.

As

Irving

Wohlfarth

remarks,

Nur

dann,

wenn

sie

nicht mehr

zirkulieren,

wie

es

sich f?r

anst?ndige

Waren

geh?rt,

fangen

die

Dinge

als Ladenh?ter

an,

Zeichen

eines

anderen,

subver

siven

Potentials

von

sich

zu

geben

(74).

This

stance

requires

a

particular

form

of

attention

whose

alertness,

coupled

with

a

non-discriminatory

openness,

is

reminiscent

of Freud's

gleichschwebende

Aufmerksamkeit

(377).

In

a

similar

manner,

Benjamin

stresses

the

Notwendigkeit,

w?hrend vieler

Jahre

scharf auf

jedes zuf?llige Zitat, jede fl?chtige Erw?hnung eines Buchs hinzuh?ren (VI,

587)

as

the

bedrock of his critical

methodology.

The

crucial

significance

of this remark

is

underlined

not

only

by

the

Pas

sagen-Werk

but

also

by

the

late

text

?ber

den

Begriff

der Geschichte

(1940),

a

supplement

to

Benjamin's

large-scale

project

which

condenses

its

underly

ing

theory

of historical

enquiry.

In

a

set

of

18

theses,

Benjamin rejects

the

conception

of

history

as a

continuous,

ideological

narrative

connecting

past

to

present.

As

he

argues,

the

past

can never

be

reconstructed

as

it

really

was;

rather,

the

aim

of the

materialist historian

is

to

engage

with

the

past

as

it

appears

from the

present

perspective.

This dialectical

approach implies

an

awareness

of the inherentlymediated character of any historical exploration; more im

portantly,

however,

Benjamin

argues

that fruitful

istorical

engagement

should

always

have

repercussions

for

the

present.

Rather than

just

enabling

access

to

a

remote

period,

the

exploration

of the

past

should

provide

critical

insights

into

the

current

situation,

in

particular

into its

structures

of

power

and

oppression,

which

are

prefigured

in

previous

periods.

Part

of the

challenge

is

thus

to

write

a

history

not

from the

perspective

of the

victors,

of

rulers and

monarchs,

but

from the

perspective

of

the

defeated and

oppressed,

whose

experiences

are

commonly

absent

from official

records and

accounts

(1.2, 696).

Ultimately,

such

an

engagement

with

the

past

can

yield

the

realization

that the

present

isnot inevitable but can be

subject

to transformation

or,

as

Benjamin

puts

it,

salvation:

Die

Vergangenheit

fuhrt

einen

heimlichen Index

mit,

durch den

sie

auf

die

Erl?sung

verwiesen

wird

(1.2, 693).

To

realize this inherent

redemptive potential,

the

materialist historian needs



15/23

46

German

Studies

Review

30/1

(2007)

to

employ

a

combination

of different

approaches.

In

order

to

engage

produc

tively

with

the

past,

he

initially

needs

to

dissociate

himself from the

present

as

the

inevitable and

unchangeable

state

of affairs:

Die

Gegenst?nde,

die die

Klosterregel

den Br?dern

zur

Meditation

anwies,

hatten die

Aufgabe,

sie

der

Welt und

ihrem

Treiben abhold

zu

machen.

Der

Gedankengang,

den

wir

hier

verfolgen,

ist

aus

einer ?hnlichen

Bestimmung

hervorgegangen

(1.2,698).

Yet

this

return

to

a

form

of

contemplation,

here

figured

as

religious

meditation,

is

only

one

side of

a

dialectical

process.

In

order

to

bring

past

and

present

into

productive interplay,

the historian also needs to

adopt

a rather different state

of mind.

Counteracting

the

conception

of

history

as a

continuous

narrative,

Benjamin

stresses

that

any

truly insightful

image

of

the

past

as

it

presents

itself

to

the

present

observer

is

inherently

transient:

Das

wahre

Bild

der

Vergan

genheit

huscht orbei.

Nur als

Bild,

das

auf

Nimmerwiedersehen

im

Augenblick

seiner Erkennbarkeit

eben

aufblitzt,

ist

die

Vergangenheit

festzuhalten

(1.2,

695).

This

fleetingness

requires

a

perceptual

response

which

is

diametrically

opposed

to

the above

model of

contemplation;

as

Benjamin

writes,

Geistesge

genwart

als das

Rettende;

Geistesgegenwart

im

Erfassen der

fl?chtigen

Bilder;

Geistesgegenwart

und

Stillstellung (1.3,1244).15

Given

the

fleetingness

of the

past

as

it

emerges

in

the

process

of historical

enquiry,

presence

of

mind

is

the

historian's

most

essential

tool,

since

it

enables

him

to

seize

the

past

moment

and

to

arrest

it

for the sake of critical

analysis

and

reflection.

In

this late

text,

enjamin

thus

returns to

an

argument

made

almost

2

0

years

earlier;

as

in

?ber

das

Grauen,

Geistesgegenw?rtigem

arises from

(quasi-)

religious

contemplation,

thus

underlining

the dialectical relation

between

these

two states

of

mind.

At

the

same

time,

Benjamin's theory

of

history

is

also indebted

to

his

writings

on

modern

mass

culture;

while

the

historian's

Geistesgegenwart

arises

out

of

a

state

of

contemplative

meditation,

it

is

also

an implicit reflection ofmodern life,whose shocks and attractions require

a

state

of

perpetual

alertness.

In

their

fleetingness,

the

images

of

the

past

have

a

distinctly

filmic

character;

crucially,

however,

the task of

thematerialist

histo

rian?whom

Benjamin

elsewhere

compares

to

a

photographer

(1.3,1164f.)?is

to

seize these

transient

sights,

arresting

them for

the

purpose

of

contemplative

reflection

and

critique.

While

the historian's

Geistesgegenwart

thus reflects the

perceptual challenges

ofmodern

life,

his

stance

is also

a

reaction

against

amore

serious threat

con

tained

within

the

process

of

historical

enquiry

itself.

s

Benjamin

notes

in

the

Passagen-Werk:

Es

ist

die

Beziehung

zwischen

der

Geistesgegenwart

und

der

'Methode'

des

dialektischen

Materialismus

zu

etablieren.

Nicht

nur,

da?

man

in

der

Geistesgegenwart

als

einer der h?chsten

Formen

sachgem??en

Verhaltens

immer

einen dialektischen

Proze?

wird nachweisen

k?nnen. Entscheidend



16/23

Carolin

Duttlinger

47

ist

weiterhin,

da? der Dialektiker

die Geschichte

nicht anders denn als

eine

Gefahrenkonstellation betrachten

kann,

die

er,

denkend ihrer

Entwicklung

folgend,

abzuwenden

jederzeit

auf

dem

Sprunge

ist.

(VI,

586f.)

This

passage

makes

it

lear that

Geistesgegenwart

is

more

than

just

an

intellectual

tool of historical

enquiry.

Presence ofmind

is

here defined

in

quasi-behaviorist

terms

as an

instinctive

response

to

history

conceived

as

a

Gefahrenkonstella

tion.

In

?ber

den

Begriff

der

Geschichte,

Benjamin

specifies:

Dem histo

rischenMaterialismus geht es darum, ein Bild derVergangenheit festzuhalten,

wie

es

sich

im

Augenblick

der Gefahr

dem historischen

Subjekt

unversehens

einstellt

(1.2, 695).

These

comments

echo the Kunstwerk

essay,

where

the

Geistesgegenwart

triggered

by

film is associated with the

audience's

adaptation

an

die

sie

bedrohenden Gefahren

(1.2, 503).

Benjamin's

historical

explora

tions

lend these threats

amore

distinctive outline.

Because

of

his

alertness,

the

historian

can

recognize

not

only

past

structures

of

oppression

and domination

but

also,

more

importantly,

the

more

imminent

perils

of the

present?which

for

Benjamin

had

immediate,

even

existential

implications.

The personal significance of alertness in the face of danger ishighlighted by

Benjamin's

childhood

memoirs Berliner Kindheit

um

Neunzehnhundert

(1932

38).

Although

this

text

engages

with

a

far smaller

spatio-temporal

realm

than

the

Passagen-Werk,

it

displays

some

notable similarities

to

Benjamin's

historical

project,

complementing

it

rom

a

personal, literary

perspective.

In its

fragmen

tary,

pisodic

character,

Berliner Kindheit resists

the

conventional

teleology

of

the

Bildungsroman.

Its

underlying

focus

is

distinctly non-personal;

rather

than

exploring

the child's

psychological

development,

the

narrative is

centered

on

objects

and

places

which

act

both

as

sites

of

memory

and

as

a

Deponie

des

Unbewu?ten und

Vergessenen

(Lindner

29).

Correspondingly,

thenarrative

process

of recollection isnotwithout obstacles.

In

the

preface,

Benjamin

states

his

intention

der

Bilder

habhaft

zu

werden,

in

denen die

Erfahrung

der Gro?stadt

in

einem

Kinde der

B?rgerklasse

sich

niederschl?gt.

[...]

Ihrer

harren noch keine

gepr?gten

Formen,

wie sie

im

Naturgefuhl

seit

Jahrhunderten

den

Erinnerungen

an

eine

auf dem

Lande

verbrachte Kindheit

zu

Gebote stehen

(VII.

1,

385).

The

argument

that the

memory

of

an

urban childhood

requires

a

fundamentally

different

strategy

than that of

a

traditional rural

upbringing

reflects

Benjamin's

observations

on

modern

mass

culture.

Indeed,

the

perceptual

challenges

of urban life take

on a

particular significance

in

relation

to

the child.

Since

his

psychological

defense

mechanisms have

not

yet

been

fully

formed

through long-term

exposure,

the

child

takes

in

the

sights

of the

city

in

a more

immediate

manner,

and his

un

guarded

gaze

provides

an

alternative

perspective

on

urban

as

well

as

domestic

life.

In

this

respect,

the

childhood

scenes

recounted

in

Berliner Kindheit

offer



17/23

48

German

Studies Review

30/1

(2007)

a

unique

opportunity

for

a

poetics

of

attention unrestricted

by

the

habitual

limitations

of

adult

perception.

That

said,

the child's

particular

capacity

for

attention

is

not

without

inher

ent

tensions.

On

the

one

hand,

he

lacks die

Geistesgegenwart,

das

wache

Aufmerken

auf die

Forderungen

der

realen

Welt

(St?ssi 67)

which character

ize

the adult

experience

of themodern

city.

he child

experiences

the

world

in

a

semi-conscious

state

in

which

the encountered

impressions

flow

past

in

a

dream-like

manner:

Es

geht

ihm

wie

in r?umen:

es

kennt nichts

Bleibendes;

alles

geschieht

ihm,meint es,begegnet ihm,st??t ihmzu. SeineNomadenjahre

sind

Stunden

im

Traumwald

(IV1,

115).

This fluid

perception

is,

however,

coupled

with

a

heightened

capacity

for

attention.

As

Benjamin

critically

remarks,

pedagogy

since

the

Enlightenment

has

ignored

the fact that

die

Erde voll

von

den

unvergleichlichsten

Gegenst?nden

kindlicher Aufmerksamkeit

und

?bung

ist.

hile

previous generations

helped

children

to

make

sense

of

their

Trau

merfahrungen

through

religious

instruction,

modern educational

psychology

is

solely

aimed

at

the

Zerstreuung

der

Kinder

(V1,490),

conceiving play

as a

preparation

for adult

life.

or

children,

however,

the

most

valuable

educational

tools

are

not

Anschauungsmitteln,

Spielzeug

oder

B?chern but Abfall

[...],

der beim

Bauen,

beiGarten- oder

Hausarbeit,

beim Schneidern oderTischlern

entsteht

and

which

can

be

playfully

put

into

neue,

sprunghafte

Beziehung

(IV1,92f.).

On

account

of

his

interest

in

scraps

and

debris,

the child resembles

thematerialist

historian

who,

as

a

Lumpensammler,

presents

his finds

in

un

expected configurations.

More

importantly,

the child's

non-instrum

Between contemplation and distraction.pdf

Documents

Transcript of Between contemplation and distraction.pdf