Nevyčerpat revoluci v jediném okamžiku: Benjaminův "Surrealismus"

Abstract

The study shows that Benjamin’s conception of revolution, put forth in his essay “Surrealism: The Last Snapshot of the European Intelligentsia,” can be understood as a way to bring about a long-term transformation of reality. To not exhaust revolution in a single moment is facilitated, above all, by the relationship of Benjamin’s revolution to evolving technology, which constantly enters (in the form of new objects) into the daily life of society. “Surrealism” offers an opportunity to look at new technological objects as images and to understand them in a specific way thanks to the method of profane illumination. Understanding new technology as an image – its “reading” – enables one to use its revolutionary potential towards an active transformation of society. Thanks to profane illumination, technology proves to be a part of the collective body. It thus becomes an organ of transformation rather than an instrument of control. Since Benjamin leaves the meaning of his concepts to a certain extent open, this study will try to present a concrete interpretation of the concepts of image and profane illumination and demonstrate how they establish the author’s conception of revolution.

Keywords

• walter benjamin
• revolution
• profane illumination
• image
• collective body
• technology
• surrealism