The Tension between"Idea"and"Ideal":On Benjamin's Early Concept of Art Criticism
The"idea"and the"ideal"are central concepts in classical German aesthetics.Benjamin both invoked the tradition of these two concepts and developed them creatively.They are in tension in Benjamin's early art criticism texts The Concept of Art Criticism in the German Romantics and A Comment on Goethe's"Elective Affinities".The Romantics focuses on the"Idea",while Goethe focuses on the"Ideal".The Roman-tics takes"reflection"as it method,while Goethe takes"intuition"as his method.The Romantics concerns with form,considering the work of art to be one of the manifestations of art itself.Criticism begins with a single work and starts a reflection on art itself,which leads to the idea of art.Goethe concerns with content,arguing that the pure content of art or the ideal of art,which is nature,cannot be fully represented in a single work,but can only be revealed in the interruptions of the representation.Therefore,criticism is possible for the Roman-tics,while impossible for Goethe.However,this falls into a form-content dichotomy.Benjamin develops a more sophisticated"allegorical criticism"in his subsequent art criticism.
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