Walter Benjamin and the Question of Image Media in the Middle Ages
Walter Benjamin a otázka obrazových médií v stredoveku

Summary/Abstract: The author illuminates some application possibilities of the early Benjamin’s observations on language and its mediatory abilities. He creates a connection between the theory of mediation, which follows from the late work, The Work of Art in the Age of its Technical Reproduction, and the examination of the Middle Ages fine art, and deals with questions, which are implied by the theme of mediation in the context of the Middle Ages visual art in general. The central thesis of the contribution is that also in the context of the later Benjamin’s media theory some theological motives subside (e.g. the effort to protect the theory of the work of art against misusing for profane – political – goals) that build the basis for his early considerations on language, but at the same time they are also the mental fundament of the Middle Ages fine arts expressions in general. The central category, which at the same time expresses an obstacle to a perfect mediation of contents, can be, in concord with Benjamin’s occasional formulation within his media theory, viewed as the so-called “looking away”, well-known also from the considerations on mediation in the art of the Middle Ages.

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