Page 12 - Critical Theories of Mass Media

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Chapter outlines

Introduction
The need for more critical engagement with the cultural conse-
quences of the mass media is asserted. It is suggested that contem-
porary theorists have been too willing to overlook the various
alienating and inauthentic aspects of mediated culture in their
enthusiasm to detect evidence of proactive interpretive activity within
mass audiences. Excessively optimistic faith in such interpretive
activities are discussed using the umbrella term cultural populism. A
brief critique of cultural populism is provided in preparation for this
book’s corrective presentation of an alternative perspective based
upon both a historical and a contemporary account of such central
critical theory tenets as the culture industry thesis – the argument that
mass media culture is disproportionately commodified and systema-
tized.

Part 1 Then

Chapter 1 Walter Benjamin’s ‘The work of art’ essay

Walter Benjamin’s essay, ‘The work of art in the age of mechanical
reproduction’ (henceforth referred to as the Essay), is presented as a
seminal piece from which to better understand the ‘hinge point’ in
the development of the mass media. Despite its generally optimistic
tenor, Benjamin’s examination of photography and early cinema is
shown to contain the roots of a much more pessimistic interpreta-
tion of the harmful cultural effects of mass media. We argue that
Benjamin’s Essay reveals how technological reproduction is intrinsi-
cally aligned with commodity values at the expense of non-
commodified culture.

Chapter 2 Siegfried Kracauer’s Mass Ornament

A contemporary of Benjamin, Siegfried Kracauer shared some of the
former’s optimism regarding the potentially emancipatory qualities
the mass media held for their audiences. However, there is a need to
reassess the more critical aspects of Kracauer that lie close to the

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