International Journal of Indonesian Studies Volume 1, Issue 3 | Page 202

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN STUDIES SPRING 2016 The Influence of Walter Benjamin on Benedict Anderson Anthony Taylor Biodata: Anthony Taylor recently completed Honours in Indonesian studies at Monash University, Australia. He also holds a Bachelor of Laws degree. His research interests include Indonesian literature, law and politics. His contact email is [email protected] Abstract The influence of Walter Benjamin is clearest in the late Benedict Anderson’s often-cited theory of nationalism. Anderson argues that the combination of print-capitalism and the ‘fatality of linguistic diversity’ made the origin and spread of nationalism possible. He interprets nationalism as a cultural phenomenon, not an ideology. In Imagined Communities, Anderson attempts describe the real historical spread of nationalism without making the claim that any particular nationalism was original or authentic. The key texts from which these ideas are drawn are The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction and Theses on the Philosophy of History. From a reading of these texts, we can see that Benjamin has influenced Anderson’s understanding of the origin and spread of nationalism through: (1) the importance afforded to print-capitalism; (2) the linkage between ‘homogenous, empty time’, modernity and nationalism; (3) the image of the Angel of History. Following an explanation of these three points of influence, two criticisms of Anderson’s theory of nationalism that relate to his interpretation of Benjamin are then considered. The first is that Anderson overuses Benjamin’s concept of aura in explaining the spread of nationalism, most clearly when he seeks to establish a clear binary between authentic, “popular” nationalism and inauthentic, “official” State nationalism. The second is that the idea of nation and modernity should not be as strongly linked as Anderson proposes; there should be something more emancipatory awaiting us in modernity. I argue that the use of cosmology in Anderson’s last major work on nationalism, Under Three Flags, is a response to these criticisms. It demonstrates that Anderson has taken into account the simultaneous optimism and pessimism that characterises Benjamin (particularly in his attitude towards Communism). The two criticisms considered were, implicitly, a claim that Anderson had overemphasised the optimistic or pessimistic side of Benjamin in his treatment of nationalism. Rather, Anderson acknowledges the relationship of nationalism, politics, State and modernity to be highly ambiguous. Keywords: Benedict Anderson, Walter Benjamin, Indonesian Studies, nationalism. Introduction In Language and Power, the late Benedict Anderson acknowledged his scholarly debt to ‘three Good Germans: Karl Marx, Walter Benjamin and Eric Auerbach, who helped me think about the modern world’. 78 This essay will scrutinise Anderson’s reliance on the thought of Walter Benjamin, particularly his essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (herein ‘Mechanical Reproduction’) and 78 Benedict R. O'G Anderson, Language and Power : Exploring Political Cultures in Indonesia (Ithaca, N.Y.: Ithaca, N.Y. : Cornell University Press, 1990)., 14. 202 | P a g e