Walter Benjamin's theory and critical philosophy

¶ … Producer: A Goal-Oriented Review

In his article, the Author as Producer, Walter Benjamin argues the importance of writers in the Marxist struggle between capitalist and proletariat, urging intellectuals and writers to understand their position in the struggle. Through ties to ancient Greece, the newspaper, and reflection, amongst other connections, Benjamin argues that writers must think about what they are writing and take a significant sociopolitical stance in addition to achieving a certain literary quality or technique. A brief summary of Benjamin's main points and rhetorical analysis of the article's structure will allow readers to grasp Benjamin's goal in penning the piece -- to convince writer's to take a strong side for the proletariat in the Marxist struggle.

To begin his essay, Benjamin immediately establishes the Socialist Republic of the Soviet Union as the dominate and correct empire by comparing it to perhaps the most famous land of intellect and accomplishment in history -- ancient Greece. Specifically, Benjamin does this by asserting that "how Plato treats the poets in his projected state" might possibly be how the socialists should treat writers during the onset of the Marxist revolution -- Plato "does not allow [the poets] to live there," there being what Benjamin calls "perfect community" (Benjamin 1). Essentially, Benjamin suggests that Plato believes writers are "superfluous" rebel-rousers who refuse to take sides although their writing suggests that they do, indeed, take a side whether they are conscious of this or not (1). From this parallel, the author goes on to use the newspaper to suggest that "the portrayal of the author as producer" must be derived from the press" (Benjamin 1). Furthermore, Benjamin goes on to suggest that the press, and most especially the newspaper with its abundance of opinion articles and editorials, allow for the transcendence of traditional boundaries such as reader and writer, promoting interaction. Finally, the author suggests that his essay "presents the author with a single demand, the demand of reflecting, of thinking about his position in the process of production" (Benjamin 8). What Benjamin means by this summary is well exemplified in a quote by one writer, who admits that he is a part of the bourgeoisie simply because this is what he has always known, although he supports the proletariat (8).