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.
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