Analysis Of Adorno's 'Reproduction Of Sameness'

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Matt Sciarrino ARTH287E Assignment 1 Professor Kirkwood 2/22/16 The author of passage 1 is Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno. What they meant by “reproduction of sameness” is how consumers are constantly wronged by the culture industry by repeatedly releasing the same items. This is a constant cycle which has no end in sight. The main consequence of such actions by the culture industry is the abuse of the consumer, normally of the middle class or below, who become enraptured and fascinated by the material wealth which is constantly being offered to them. Culture has a very poor impact on society, even though it would appear to be democratic, due to the citizens actually having options that contain little to no variation from each other. Horkheimer and Adorno do support connoisseurship because connoisseurs promote competition and consumer …show more content…

The detachment of an object from its sphere of tradition, Benjamin states, causes a lack of the “here and now” of the work of art. Meaning that the only the true piece of art contains the true history (changes in ownership and changes in physical structure of the work). In many instances, with the spread through reproduction, art is designed to show evidence of specific events and get a rise of opinion from the masses. “This constitutes their hidden political significance. They demand a specific kind of reception.” (Benjamin 27). The technologies of reproduction is directly related to the way people perceive. In fact, Benjamin states that fascist leaders attempt to organize and control the proletarian masses through the use of such technologies. This is a huge change in the value and significance of art works because now politics is heavily involved in aesthetic expression. It has an end result of the restoring of the cultic and aura values within politics (which eventually leads to war) while simultaneously fooling the proletarian masses with the supposed rights of

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