Aura, cult value, and the postmodern crowd: a Durkheimian reading of Walter Benjamin's artwork essay

This paper presents a reading of Walter Benjamin's much-read essay 'The artwork in the age of mechanical reproduction'. Drawing on a Durkheimian conception of the relationship between the cult and its cult objects, I seek to differentiate (better than Benjamin himself) the notions of 'aura' and of 'cult value'. Thereby, I hope to contour a theoretical model for dealing with mediated sociality suitable for a postmodern reality. In this reality, de-auraticized objects – mass-produced objects and visual reproductions – proliferate concomitantly with forms of 'cultic sociality'. First, I undertake a reading of Benjamin's essay. Second, I focus on the relation between aura and cult value. Third, I try to show the relevance of my Durkheimian approach through a critique of the Benjaminian literature and the standard readings of his essay.