Abstract
Walter Benjamin's and Jonathan Crary's respective understanding of the concept of "Zerstreuung" is in sharp contrast to each other. Benjamin detects not only a connection between "Zerstreuung" and the bourgeoisie in the capitalist entertainment industry, but also an unconscious collusion between "Zerstreuung" and the public in the early film technology. Such collusion has created a state of "Jetztzeit" for the audience by using the technique of montage in film, so that the audience could reconstruct their historical consciousness, which is transformed into a collective experience from that of the individual, thus assigning early cinema with the potential of politicizing aesthetics. In contrast, Crary's understanding of the concept of "Zerstreuung" falls into a type of judgment with presupposed values of linearity, which historicizes the concept of "attention", whereas refers to "Zerstreuung" as only a part of modern production integral to the concept of "attention".
First Page
96
Last Page
104
Recommended Citation
Zhang, Peng. 2020. "Reinterpreting the Aesthetics of "Zerstreuung": From Walter Benjamin to Jonathan Crary." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 40, (6): pp.96-104. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol40/iss6/11
