The Aesthetics of Politics: Walter Benjamin's "Theories of German Fascism"

Author(s): Ansgar Hillach, Jerold Wikoff and Ulf Zimmerman

Source: New German Critique, No. 17, Special Walter Benjamin Issue (Spring, 1979), pp. 99-119
Published by: New German Critique
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The Aestheticsof Politics:
WalterBenjamin's "Theoriesof German
Fascism"

byAnsgarHillach

"Theories of GermanFascism"* is the headingWalterBenjamingives

his reviewofa collectionofessayseditedbyErnstJiinger.In thiscollection,
eightauthors- includingJiingerhimself,withhis essay "Total Mobiliza-
tion" - presenta pictureof WorldWar I and of the "warrior"withinthe
ideological landscape around 1930.1Withthistitle,Benjamincapturesnot
merelythe theoreticalcontentof the individualcontributions but also the
fundamentalrole of the war experienceand itssubsequenttransformation
intomythbytheGermanfascistideologyofthe 1920s.At thesame time,he
findsin theessaysmaterialforan explanationofthephenomenonoffascism
as the "aestheticizationof politics"- artexplanationworked out more
preciselyin his laterworks.
In his forewordErnstJiinger writes:"The innerconnectionwhichlies at
thebasis oftheessayscollectedinthisvolumeis thatofGermannationalism.
ofthisnationalismthatithas lostitsconnectionto boththe
It is characteristic
idealism of our grandfathers and the rationalismof our fathers.Its stance
[Haltung] is ratherthat of an historicalrealism,and what it is wishes to
comprehendis thatsubstance, thatlayerofan absoluterealityofwhichideas
as well as rationaldeductions are mereexpressions.Thisstanceis thusalso a
symbolicone, in so far as it comprehendseveryact, everythoughtand
every feelingas the symbolof a unifiedand unchangeablebeing which
cannot escape itsown inherentlaws." (KuK, p. 5) If thisexcerptis read in
connection with the firstsentencesof Jiinger'sessay, one can begin to
recognizein outlineformtheprincipleof expression2hereclaimingpolitical
validitywhichwillsubsequentlybe used byfascismto dominatethemasses:
"The heroic spiritis opposed to seekingtheidea ofwar in a stratumwhich
can be determinedby humanaction. Yet themultifarious transformations
and disguises endured in changingtimes and places by the pure form

*Walter vol.
Benjamin, "Theoriendes deutschenFaschismus,"in hisGesammelteSchriften,
3. Subsequent citations,noted in textas TF, referto theEnglishtranslationwhichfollows.
'Ernst Jiinger,ed., Kriegund Krieger(Berlin, 1930). Subsequentcitations,notedin textas
KuK, referto thisedition.
2Benjamin planned a "Note on the Principleof Expressionand Its ReactionaryFunctions"
forhis essay "The Work of Artin theAge of MechanicalReproduction";see hisGesammelte
Schriften, vol. 1/3(Frankfurtam Main, 1974), p. 1050. It was neverwritten.

99

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100 Hillach

of war [!] do presentthe heroic spiritwithan engrossingdrama." (KuK,

p.11)
In orderto assess thedimensionsand historicalstagesoftheaestheticiza-
tion of politics (a phenomenon far fromnew at that time), Benjamin
includesin his dialecticalimageofthewarriormentality whatthecontribu-
torscan onlyconjure up mythically. For them,the relationship of past and
presentin theimage ofwar appears as a clouded confusionofthepainfully,
yet enthusiasticallyrememberedWorld War and "eternal" (i.e., meta-
warfare.Futureperspectivesare thusnarrowedto the
physical-vitalistic)
heroic "task" of reconcilingthe previouslydisjointednationalisticpowers
by means of renewedwarfare.Its inevitability is guaranteedas a destinyto
be affirmedby the "genius of war." (KuK, p. 11) Confrontedwith the
generalvaguenessofthisargumentation, Benjaminpointsto the"journalis-
tic haste to capitalize fromthe actual presentwithoutgraspingthe past."
(TF, p. 122) Whatglaresout all themoreclearlyfromtheimageof "warrior"
depictedbythesenationalisticauthorsis thefaceof thefascistclasswarrior.
This warriorderivesthefuture-oriented ideologicalfogwhichsurroundshis
acts of violencefromthemythicaland abstractbillowsofsmokerisingfrom
thatWorld War whichwas lost in a double sense.
I. The Originof theFascistClass Warriorin theProlongedFrontExperience
of theFirstWorldWar
This warwas lostnotonlyon thebattlefields but,evenmoreimportantly,
afterwardsas well, in relentlessly idealisticattemptsto come to termswith
what had happened. Yet theseattemptswerecompletelydivorcedfromthe
concrete experience of the actual battles. It had been, however, the
experience of the technicalwagingof war whichled to an upheaval in the
national consciousness- a consciousnesswhich,sincethefoundingof the
Reich in 1870, had formedits identityin voluntarysubjugationto the
feudalisticmilitary.The military became themodelforcivilians,the"school
of the nation."
In the actual battlesof the war, the advanced technologyused in the
service of imperialisticexpansion revealed itselfin an unexpectedway:
instead of confirming the idealisticbeliefin the dominationof natureby
supportingmilitary virtues, it exposed the weakness of all remaining
idealisticideologies,of all subjectiveefforts to make sense ofevents- this
despite the belief that decadence had been overcomein and throughthe
war. "If at the beginningof the war suppliesof idealismwere providedby
order of the state, the longerthe war lasted, the more the troopshad to
depend on requisitions.Theirheroismturnedmoreand moregloomy,fatal
and steel-gray;glory and ideals beckoned fromever more remote and
nebulous spheres." (TF, p. 125) The military virtuesand devoutpatriotism
withwhichthisgenerationhad marchedoffto warweretransformed intoa
specifictype of heroismin the later battles- "spectacleswhichwere as
grandiose as theywere frightful." (KuK, p. 15) This "stance" became an
emptyformula,devoid of all content.

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 Aesthetics
ofPolitics 101

In theface oftheincreasingnihilismcaused bythe"stormsofsteel," the

uniformwornas a formalizedvestigeof themilitarycould be spiritualized
as an heroic stance. Its notoriousrepresentational value underthe Kaiser
returnedin the extremeformof a heighteneddialecticof pure innerand
outer being. The fight,strippedof any remainingmoralmotivation,could
thusbe carriedon foritsown sake, as theexpressionand correlateof inner
experience. The monstrouslysenselessbattlesand theirtotalchallengeto
the subjective, boundless abilityto hold one's groundcould be grasped
irrationallyas a "volcanic process," a "well of life." (KuK, pp. 56f.) By
mysticalsubmissionone could achieve the most painful,yet most heroic
experience. Bourgeois subjectivitythus appeared to have arrivedat the
logical end of its degenerativeprocess- a processwhichreacheditsmost
advanced statein the 19thcenturywiththeaestheticist transformation ofthe
arts.
This is what Benjamin means when he writesof the "most rabidly
decadent origins"of the anthology's"new theoryofwar," its"uninhibited
translationof theprinciplesofI'artpout('artto waritself."(TF, p. 122) This
derivationmayat firstseem surprising, because theseare authorswho claim
to have cast aside theoutmoded"idealismoftheirgrandfathers" in favorof
"heroic realism," to have supplantedbourgeoisliberalismwithnational
collectivism.(KuK, p. 5) Afterall, the "elementaleruption"of the World
War (for which the authors found abundant volcanic metaphors) had
supposedly burned clean the dross of decadence. Yet it should not be
overlooked thattheircultofwar takespartin decadenceand l'artpour l'art
throughheroism. For the nihilismof these late bourgeois heroics was
declared an inner victory,be it on a spiritualor a mythicalbasis, over
victoriesof self-imposedformsof absolute beauty in l'artpour l'art, the
victoriesof the cultof subtlyextreme,oftensado-masochisticsensationin
theliteratureand formoflifeoftheDecadence. Theirsocialfoundationsare
the privilegesof an intelligentsiabound to thehaute bourgeoisie.
The aestheticismofJiinger'swarmetaphysicians is a worthysuccessorto
thistradition.For the heroismof purestanceis connectedwiththeconcept
of an elite inherentin the hierarchicalstructureof the military.This is
conservativelyopposed to "the inclusionofthemasses,ofbad blood, ofthe
practical,bourgeoisoutlook, in short,of the commonman," whichcould
only "destroy the eternallyaristocraticelementsof the soldier's trade."
(KuK, p. 42) The soldierlyethos was underminednot by the inclusionof
masses definedby class (a definitionrenderedsenseless by actual battle
conditionsin anycase) butratherbytheadvancedapplicationoftechnology
to warfare- a technologywhichitselffirstproducesa mass. This insight,
apparentlyunknownto the authorsof the collectedessays,is used byBen-
jamin to historically situatetheFirstWorldWar withintheframework ofan
historicallysituate the First World War withinthe framework of an
historical-philosophical of
illumination technology.Thepowers released are
those of productiveforces whose dammed-uppotentialcannot be ade-
quately utilizedby society.

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102 Hillach

Our firstobservation,then,is the idealismand subjectivismat workin

the genesis of fascismand theirconnectionto the crisissymptomsof late
bourgeois consciousness- symptomswhichnow also penetrateinto the
statefundamentof themilitary.ThroughthemiddleoftheWorldWar runs
the dividing line between soldierlycourage and nihilisticheroism, a
transitionalready apparent in another way in the arts and bourgeois
lifestylesof the 19thcentury.The elementof powerwhichadheredto that
heroismof formand lifestyle, and whichdespiteitsprivatenesstookpartin
thepower of therulinginstitutions, becomesmanifestinthe"stance"ofthe
frontsoldiersin theFirstWorldWar. Preciselythis"stance" preventedthe
subsequentlyinvoked [pacifistic]"transformation" of people and made
possible the continuation, even the of
glorification, the WorldWar, which
had become an absurdspectacleintheactualbattles.And evendefeatis now
turnedintoa victoryto be retrievedin themystically experiencedecstasyof
a projectedapocalypsebythosewho wouldhave likedto considerthewara
nationalgain. In thisform(and soon in a politicalone as well), thewarwas
continuedin thepost-warwar [Nachkrieg].
2. Benjamin graspseven morepreciselytheconfrontation oftraditional
militarymorale, which rested upon the intactnessof Prussian soldierly
virtues,and thedestructive powerofhighlydevelopedtechnology. Whereas
the inventoryof vitalisticconceptscomes to the forein the notionof war
developed bythetheoristsoffascism,and warthusdefinedhas nothingtodo
with "that economy exercised by rationalism"(KuK, p. 56), Benjamin
traces the motivatingforcesof war back preciselyto economicfactors-
althoughnot in theunmediatedsenseoftheeconomiccauses ofWorldWar
I. Benjamin's explanatorymodel insteadsketchesthehistoricalforcesthat
finallyeruptedin war. He presupposesRosa Luxemburg'scrisismodel of
imperialismand developstherelationofmechanicalforcesofproductionto
"social reality"and "the elementalforcesofsociety"ina waythatrecallsan
historical,dynamicmodel. The Marxistschemaofan increaseinproductive
forcesaccompanied by socio-economiclimitationsis takenas a basis: "the
perceptionof an increase in technicalartifacts,in power sources,and in
tempo generallythatthe privatesectorcan neitherabsorb completelynor
utilizeadequately but thatnonethelessdemandvindication."(TF, p. 120)
Two different thingsare expressedin thisformulation: theidea ofa surplus
of forcesproducedin respectto thematerialsat hand,and a certainnatural
determination oftechnologyas concernsitsutilizationinsociety.In hisessay
"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" (1935),
Benjamin formulatedthiseven moreconcisely:"If thenaturalutilizationof
productive forces is impeded by the propertysystem,the increase in
technicaldevices, in speed, and in the sourcesof energywill press foran
unnaturalutilization,and this is found in war." "Natural" would be "a
harmonious balance" of forces in the sense of a realized "rightof co-
determination[of technology]in the social order." (TF, p. 120) Co-
determinationdoes notmean theaccommodationofsocietyto theconcrete

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 Aesthetics
ofPolitics 103

technologyin the sense of a culturalachievement,whichwould mean the

"moral illumination"of technologyon thewaytowarditsuse forsocial life.
Yet this presupposed, according to Benjamin, that social realityis
"mature" enough "to make technology"into an "organ" for its own
purposes, and that technologyis "strong enough" (i.e., "developed"
enough) "to masterthe elementalforcesof society." (TF, p. 120) Wilhel-
minian societywas matureenough, in respectto its economybut not its
structuresof consciousness, for an upheaval which would have corre-
sponded to the level of theforcesofproductionand particularly thegrowth
of proletarianmasses. Yet because of the forciblymaintainedproperty
relations,this society- even its proletariansector- "was not ready to
make technologyitsown organ." And on theotherhand,technologyitself
was organized for productionin such a way that despite its immense
potential,itcould notofferthemassessufficient materialforthetransforma-
tion of theirneeds intosocial organizingactivity.The forcesof production
nonethelesspressto be assimilatedintothedifferentiated channelsofsocial
action, or "politics," but theyremainalienated fromeach other,like a
concentratedchargereadyto explode.
War is the "solution" to these tensions,in the mostenergisticsense: it
allows the regressiverelease of energiesunderconditionsthatsimultane-
ously providefortheircontinuedrepression.Technology'slatentpotential
for violence is as littleintrinsicto this solution as it is to the militarily
organized masses, who destructivelyact out the "elemental forces of
society" in war. In both cases thispotentialforviolence is the resultof a
blockage of these forcesby socio-economiclimitations.This potentialis
then unleashed accordingto plan in a compensatory,supposedlynatural
sphere, whichitselfis reduced to hostilematteroutsideof society.At the
same time,the"honorof thenation"functions as an ideologicallyprojected
goal. This release takes theformofdestructive violence,because theforces
producedin a lengthysocio-economicprocessofabstraction returnto nature
by the shortestpossible route - a route, so to speak, of pleasurable
eruptions.The nihilismof thisregressionarisesfromtheobviousloss of the
possibilityof ideologicalinterpretationin theface of mechanizationand its
compensationby a new creation,the even more abstractheroic"stance."
Nihilismthusappears as the ultimatehistoricalconsequence of Idealism's
self-declaredautonomousspirit,whichinitsdecadentformsis no morethan
the figureof advanced alienation.The economiccorrelateof thisIdealism
lies in debasing nature to abstractmatter,the mere object of arbitrarily
imposed productiveor destructiveimpulses."Etchingthe landscape with
flamingbanners and trenches,technologywanted to recreatethe heroic
featuresofGermanIdealism. It wentastray.Whatitconsideredheroicwere
the featuresof Hippocrates,the featuresof death." (TF, p. 126) Such an

Both are formallyelementsofallegoryas BenjamindevelopeditinGermanBaroque tragic

drama.

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104 Hillach

'idealized' naturetogetherwiththe idea of the nation- behindwhichis

hiddennothingbutthe"rulingclass," bearingthe"Sphinx-likecountenance
of the producer"- createa "parallelogramofforces"whose "diagonal" is
war (TF, p. 127). Produced with the idealismof the controlof nature,
technology now serves as the instrumentwhich will "mythicallyand
directly"cut throughalienation,not by "usingand illuminating thesecrets
of nature via technologymediatedforthe humanschemeof things,"but
ratherby remergingwithnature(TF, p. 126). Natureand technologythus
celebrate a mysticalunionof blood, whiletheheroicwarriorassistsfateby
actingas a go-between.
The physiognomyof the forcesof the World War is thus historically
determinedand determinable.It is, on the one hand, determinedby the
syndrome of 'energistic'relationshipsin society,which culminatein a
constellationthatcan only be resolvedby force.On the otherhand, it is
determinedby traditionalidealisticand nationalistic ideologiesof legitima-
tion, which are deprived of theirapparent basis by the experienceof
practical materialism- as became so destructivelyapparent in the
technologyof theWorldWar. Under theexpansivecontrolofmonopolistic
financecapital(accordingto Benjamin),a technology was refinedwhichwas
preprogrammed for violent use. It was thusalienatedin a specificwayfrom
its natural partner,whose "organ" it had the potentialto become. Its
destructivepowercould thusonlybe experiencedas a fatedfulfillment, as a
giganticand inhumanspectacle surpassingall rationalpowers of under-
standing.Whiletechnologyis beingled to itsorganizedreleaseas a spectacle
of natureinsteadofsociallyusefulapplication,theunaidedand undirected4
organizationalneed of the masses findsa substitutesatisfactionby being
acted out on a symboliclevel: war is notsocial action,noreven a perverted
formof social action,butratherthe"expression"oftherepressedneed forit
driven back into subjectivity.It is a goal-orientedaction whichremains
metaphoric,since the constructedimage of the enemycannotreplace the
real goal of self-determinedaction. Action is removed to a level of
representation,it becomes aestheticized.
Ludwig Klages, whom Benjamin had read and, at least for a time,
regardedhighly,5 calls thisexpressivemovementthe"metaphorofaction."6
Action voluntarilytends toward a given goal, whichalways applies to a

4Benjamin does not considera possible leadershiprole forthe Social Democrats. Cf. his
"Eduard Fuchs, Collectorand Historian,"New GermanCritique5 (Spring,1975),27-58, as
well as his "Theses on the PhilosophyofHistory,"inIlluminations,ed. Hannah Arendt(New
York, 1969), pp. 253-264.
5The relationshipof Benjamin's ideas to those of Klages requiresfurtherelucidation.Cf.
Gerhard Plumpe's commentsin "Die Entdeckungder Vorwelt.Erlauterungenzu Benjamins
Bachofen Lektuire,"in Text+ Kritik 31/32 (Walter Benjamin), ed. BurkhardtLindner
(Munich, 1971), pp. 19f.
6Ludwig Klages, Ausdrucksbewegung und Gestaltungskraft.Grundlegung der Wissenschaft
vom Ausdruck,ed. Hans EggertSchroder(Munich, 1968), pp. 72f.

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 Aestheticsof Politics 105

specificinstanceor object; the metaphorof action tendstowarda general

characteristic- e.g., opposition- whichis soughtas an impressionor an
experience.The objectswhichelicitthisimpressionare notmerely'grasped'
as such, theyare fundamentally interchangeable. The formofexpressionof
fightingis fulfilledby the breakingof opposition- more precisely,by
whateverevokes thisimpression.It realizes not the typeof successwhich
may in factbe achieved (destruction),but ratheran impulse(anger). In a
vitalisticsense, such an impulsecan be understoodas a generallifeforceor
as the will to destruction,whichreachesexpressionin individualas well as
historicalmovements.Yet thisimpulsecan be overlaid,and its "purity"
therebymitigated,byseparatiststrivings ofthewill.In theJiinger anthology
under review by Benjamin, thehistoricalWorldWar is repeatedlygrasped
as the "expresion" and "symbol" of a metaphysicallifebasis, whichhas
allegedly been falsifiedin its essentialformby ethicaland humanitarian
ideologies of progress.This allows the authorsto simultaneously distance
themselvesfromwaras a "spectacle" whileyieldingto thefascination ofthis
"colossal well of life."
In fact,theexperienceofwaras theregainingoftheimmediacyoflifeis a
ritual,whichmakes possible the innerstabilizationof societalrelationships
that have been endangeredby the overemphasison production.It is all-
importantthattheworkersemployed,so to speak, inwarserviceare denied
thepoliticaldimensionoftheiractivity - i.e., thathistoryis actuallymoved
forward by virtue of the movers becoming caught in the experiential
reflectionof their own movementsinstead of ascertainingthe goal. It
remainedforbourgeoisintellectuals to givemetaphysical sanctionretrospec-
tively to what the masses and theythemselves were experiencing.
3. The new,heroicnationalismwhichaccompaniestheriseoffascismis
a European phenomenon. Ernst Jiingerindicated in 1960 that it was
Maurice Barres who made hima nationalist.7Whateverone maythinkof
such biographicalself-portrayals, the two evince "astonishing"similarities
in ideas and in psychologyaccordingto one critic.8In his essay "On the
ContemporarySocial Standpointof the FrenchWriter"(1934), Benjamin
pointsout (withoutgoingintoJiinger)the"decisiveinfluence"ofBarreson
the intellectualsofthatgenerationwhoseformative experienceofyouthand
manhood had been the war. "The more deeply one goes into the man's
thought,the closer its relationshipappears to be to the tenetswhichthe
present is calling fortheverywhere.There is the same basic outlook of
nihilism,the same idealism of gestureand the same conformism, which
resultsfromthcombinationof nihilismand idealism."9 It is helpfulto recall

7Klaus-FriedrichBastian, Das Politischebei ErnstJiinger.Nonkonformismus und Kompro-

Diss. Heidelberg, 1963,p. 280.
miss der Innerlichkeit.
8lbid.
9W. Benjamin, "Zum gegenwartigen gesellschaftlichen Schrift-
Standortdes franz6sischen
stellers,"in AngelusNovus. AusgewiihlteSchriften, am Main, 1966), p. 265.
vol. 2 (Frankfurt

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106 Hillach

what Ernst Robert Curtiuswrote in 1921 in his Maurice Barres and the
IntellectualBasis of FrenchNationalism:"The spiritualworld of Barries
reveals itsinnerlogicmostclearlyin thefactthatitspoliticalwillis ruledby
the same law as its relationshipto art. In art . .. he does not seek formal
beauty, but expressionof spiritualvalues . . , summariesof emotional
turbulencerenderedimage . . . It is also thisneed whichleads him
to politics and determineshis politicalideology.He accordinglysees the
foundationofall politicalactionin a sumofspiritualrealities;thetaskofthe
politicianis to be theintellectualexpressionofthesespiritualgivens.This is
the ego cult [Ichkultus]transferred to politics.Politicsis emotionalenergy,
guided by the will to expression."' Barres also anticipatedthecontentof
nihilism'sarsenalof surrogateconstructs, whichcould fendoffthespiritual
isolation of the frontexperiencewiththe armorof an heroicworldview.
These constructsincludeaestheticisticself-preservation, blood mysticism,
the cult of the earth,of the folkishspirit[Volksgeist]and of the dead and,
finally,a romantic-religious nationalismwhichmanifestedan irrationalism
of the supposed politicaldeed.
For Juinger, who had been raised as a Prussianand had experienceda
crisisin his sense of nationalconsciousnessdue to theWorldWar and the
November Revolution, Barre's became the "example of an unbending
nationalismwhich draws strengthfromdefeat.""? It is characteristic of
Juinger's workbetweenthe wars thatthe subjectivistpresuppositionof his
heroic thought- the frontsoldier's experience of annihilation- is
transformedinto the objectivistaffirmation of a metaphysical-vitalistic
strengthshaped by fate - a strengthwhich in 1930 is grasped as total
mobilization.The soldierhad withstoodthe impendingcollapse by strate-
gies of depersonalization:mysticalsurrenderto the "spiritof war" (or the
"will to destruction," "life") and heroic distancingof oneself from
individuality.In these two forms,objectivityis actuallyonly an impene-
trable subjectivity,a subjectivity thatis actor,audience and stageat once.
For thatreason,thecorresponding metaphysics ofpoliticscan be described
as an aestheticconstruct.Everything exterioris onlythemanifestation and
expression of the essential of
interior, a center of life.Such actual historical
forces as fascism,Bolshevism, Americanism,Zionism and third-world
movementscan thusmake up only"a circleofthemostartificial dialectics"
of progress,whichinsteadshouldbe tracedback to its"elementallevel" -
i.e., the level where it is seen as a formof timelessimpulse.12 "Total
mobilization" occurs on both levels: externally,as the negative of an
individualisticbelief in advancinghistorical"progress";internally, as the

'"Ernst Robert Curtius,Maurice Barres und die geistigenGrundlagendes

franzosischen
Nationalismus(Bonn, 1921), p. 99.
" K.-F. Bastian, pp. 93f.
12JiUngerspeaks of "thatmixtureofwildand sublimepassions ... thatinhabitmanand that
make him receptiveto martialappeals at anytime." (KuK, p. 16.)

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 Aesthetics
of Politics 107

necessarymovementof lifewhichtransforms materialintoenergybymeans

of an inexhaustibleproductivity.The Germanic folkishspirit,as yet
untouchedbythedelusion ofprogress,standsnearerto thecenteroflifeand
thereforefacesthetaskof undertaking therenewalofthehistoricalworldas
total mobilizationin the metaphysical-political sense. In thismanner,the
culturally criticalmotif of the "illusions du progrbs"(Sorel) is joined in
Jiinger'sessay with the legitimation of bellicoseviolenceand a nationalwill
to power. The heroicstanceadopted undertheconditionsof war,theself-
experienceand self-liberation gainedbyaction,can thusbe projectedintoa
universal-folkish idea.
According to Benjamin, an aesthetictotalitarianism becomingpoliti-
cally aggressivecan be discernedin thisstance, whichhad already been
adopted by the 19thcenturyintelligentsia(whichstillenjoyed superficial
privileges)as a resultof internalizing the imperialistdialecticof monopoli-
zation and expansion. This internalizationmade "the position of the
intellectualsever more difficult.""3 As Europe moved intothe imperialist
crisis,the retention of idealisticpositionsby boththerulingand privileged
classes became synonymouswith violence, whichwas turnedinwardby
representatives ofthe'spirit'and tookon heroicfeatues.Theiraestheticism,
however, becomes politicallyactivated at the moment their privileges
(whichtheydefendas prerogatives)are put undermassivepressurefeltby
the entiresociety.This is the hourof the "aestheticizationof politicallife"
anticipatedby d'Annunzio,Marinettiand Barres.
The transitionfromthis aestheticismto National Socialist ideologyis
made by a mythical-metaphysical transformation of theoriginallycompen-
satory, nihilist-heroic approach to the World War-technology syndrome.
The actual historicalgenesisof thistransition goes unrecognized byJiinger,
because "economic explanations,no matterhow insightful,"treat only
"superficialaspectsofwarfare"and are therefore eliminatedfromconsider-
ation (KuK, p. 17). Anyexplanationforthefailureofhopesforactioninwar
and any sufficient motivationfortheirresumptionin thesense of national-
ism must, according to Jiinger,be made on the level of aestheticized
heroism,in termsof recurrent motifsof a late romanticmetaphysic:destiny
and the folkishspirit,alienatedfromone anotherin theWorldWar, are to
be reunitedin nationalcollectivism.
II. Symboland Action: The VitalisticSublationof Decadence
All this becomes possible in an 'organic' image of the world, which
'sublates' unresolvedantinomiesby symbolicmediationfavoringa form-
and norm-setting power elite. This themewas anticipatedby Nietzsche's
antinomy of nihilism and beliefinfateand itsaestheticistic solutioninheroic
affirmation, i.e., the precept of the vital necessityof the lie. The themeis
furtherenrichedby romantictropesof themostdiverseoriginsand certain

13W.Benjamin,AngelusNovus,p. 265.

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108 Hillach

setpieces of vitalisticphilosophy[Lebensphilosophie].Whatbecame politi-

cally virulentin thisphilosophywas not so muchitsManicheanantinomies
of death, rigidity,atomization,liberalismetc. versus life, movement,
community,war etc., but ratherthe directifstillundevelopedconnection
between theoriesof imageand action.14 This connection(as was to become
apparent) containedtwo aspects: the aestheticization of social action and
the legitimationof violence.
This can be shownwithOswald Spengler,who - apartfromBarres-
was perhaps the mostimportantfigurein ErnstJiinger'spoliticaldevelop-
ment in the post-waryears. Spengler'sessay "Prussianismand Socialism"
(1919), whichhe himselflaterdescribedas a startingpointof thepost-war
"national movement,"5 influencedJiinger'spoliticalprogramfora central
leadershipcouncil [Zentralfiihrerrat]withina coalitionof Biinde as well as
the conception of Jiunger'sThe Worker(1932), already apparentin his
"Total Mobilization."''6On thebasisofa rudimentary space-timemetaphy-
sic,'7 Spenglerhad arrivedin The Decline of theWest(1918) at the"idea of
an all-encompassingsymbolism." '8 Of particularinterestforourpurposesis
Spengler's vitalistic-metaphysicalfoundationof the morphologicaldistinc-
tivenessof culturalcircles.Usingbothpsychologicaland culturalanalogies,
Spengler attributesthe principleof individuationto a specific,individual-
historicalformof theexperienceofspace. This formofexperience,takenas
the "4original" symbolof a cultureor of an individual,becomesthebasis of
everykind of experienceand structurein the historicallifeprocesses.The
underlyingvitalisticantinomyrecurshere, superficially coordinatedas a
space-timerelationship.A metaphysicallifebasisis revealedbythemanner
in which individualand culturalmanifestations appear, a basis whichcan
only be graspedby means of intuitivevision.Everything thatexists,above
all man as temporalwill and as the subject of spatial conception,is the
nomad-like"figure"[Gestalt]of a comprehensivemovementof life,is its
"expression" and "metaphor,"in shortits "symbol."This relationshipis,
however,immediatelysubjectivizedbySpengler,for"here therecan be no
discussionofwhata worldis, butratherwhatitsignifies.... Reality- the
worldin relationto one soul - is foreveryindividualand everyculture...
an incarnationof innerbeingand essence, of theown [das Eigne] reflected
on the alien - it signifieshim himself."'9The meaningof all individual
happenings is thereby attributedto the symbolic relationshipto the

14Thisrelationshipis bestworkedout byGeorges Sorel and, in connectionwithhis"science

of expression,"by Ludwig Klages. See below.
'50swald Spengler,"Vorwort,"PolitischeSchriften(Munich, 1933), p. vii.
'6K.-F. Bastian, p. 94.
'7Manfred Schr6ter,Metaphysikdes Untergangs.Eine kulturkritische StudieiiberOswald
Spengler(Munich, 1949), pp. 171f.
180. Spengler,Der Untergangdes Abendlandes,vol. 1: Gestaltund Wirklichkeir (Munich,
1920), p. 223.
"Ibid., p. 227.

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 Aesthetics
ofPolitics 109

universalunderstoodas lifemovement."Life is the realizationof interior

possibilities." But "not 'I' realize the possible; rather'it' realizes itself
throughme as an empiricalperson."20 The irreversibility of a specifically
historicalmode of being (whichas Westernman's "Faustiancultureof the
will" manifestsitselfin the "primal symbol" of infinitespace) and its
inextricabilityfromtheentirety ofthemetaphysical lifeprocessis "destiny."
Obviously, such an outlook sharply contrasts with the ideology of
Western European liberalism.This liberalismwas seen as a symptomof
decline notonlyin Spengler'sorganic-morphological viewofhistory(which
had been expoundedin anticipationofa Germanvictoryin theWorldWar)
but also from the perspectiveof the war's defeat, purportedlyin the
bourgeoishinterland.Jiinger - an anti-liberalout ofpassionand innermost
experience - thus connected with -
Spengler an encyclopedicmetaphysi-
cian of decline who came to discover the politician in himselfwhen
confrontedby the November Revolutionand post-wardevelopments.In
numerouswritingsof the 1920s and early1930s,Spenglerdrewthe logical
consequences oftheconvictionshe had reachedintuitively and theoretically
in regard to national politics. The firstof his programmaticwritings,
"Prussianismand Socialism," immediatelytakesa standon revolutionand
the endeavors fromleftand rightto create a new formof statemolded by
socialism. In mass democracySpenglersees onlythe liberalistlegacy,the
individualistic"shopkeeper's mentality"taken to its civilizationalconclu-
sion - as embodied in the opposition of Prussianismto England in
particular.Althoughbothformsof lifeare "Germanic,"theyembody"two
contrasting moralimperatives whichdevelopedfromtheknightly spiritofthe
Teutonic Order and the spiritof the Vikings.'"21 At the presentstage of
decay, whichis "a spritualformof existencewithoutcontent,"22 socialism
is unavoidable - is the "Faustian" formof civilizationaldecline.23 Yet
because the German soul has scarcelyexhausteditsstrength, a "Prussian"
socialismcan stillformthefuture.Whatis noweruptingin themasses- the
"age-old barbarism, for centuries hidden and shackled by the strict
formalismof a high culture,. . . that militant,healthyjoy in one's own
strength"24- thismustnotbe allowed to succumbto a governmental form
of "Caesarism," whichwould be "completelyformlessagain" and wouldin
this respect resemblethe masses. This is the politicalperspectiveof The
Decline of the West. It requiresthe sense of dutyand responsibility of a
Prussianelite: "Only thewarlike 'Prussian'spiritremains as the form-giving

20Ibid., pp. 226f.

210. Spengler, "Preussentumund Sozialismus," in PolitischeSchriften(Munich, 1933), p.
32.
220. Spengler, Untergang, vol. 1, p. 510.
23"The originaloccidental passion for pressingonward is Faustian; the rest,mechanical
'progress,'is socialism." (Ibid., p. 507.)
240. Spengler, Jahre der Entscheidung,vol. 1: Deutschlandund die weltgeschichtliche
Entwicklung(Munich, 1933), p. 16.

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110 Hillach

power - everywhere,not just in Germany."25 Thus "the decision[shifts]

fromquestionsofform"(to whichtheculturehad goneoverat theheightof
its late flowering)"to the question of the presence and will of strong
personalities."26A "class of socialistmastertypes"mustnowcome forth.27
Particularlywell-suitedto thisend is "the Germanvirtueoftrainingoneself
as materialforgreatleaders" to use.28
We have cited Spenglerat some length,forthe clusterof nationalistic
motifswhicharose immediatelyafterthe war is developed by himwitha
certain logical consistency.These motifsderive fromthe perspectiveof
historical decline - the "metamorphosisof historyinto nature-like
forms''"29and their sublation in a symbolicPrussianism.We have also
examined Spenglernot just because he was so influential, but because he
firstadvanced theaestheticization ofpoliticswhichwas laterto appearinthe
war metaphysiciansaround Jiinger.The perspectiveof historicaldecline
firstpoliticizestherelationshipofsymboland action,developedin vitalistic
philosophy from the space-time relationship.According to Spengler,
historicaldeclineis characterizedbythelossofmetaphysical contents,i.e. of
fulfilledforms,the loss of the self-renewing processof individuationwithin
the space-timetransfer, whichalone putshistoryand naturein a productive
relationshipto each other. In the currentstage of civilization,only the
abstractidealismof formaldemandsposed withintheends-meansrelation-
ship - as manifestedin moderntechnology,3'forexample- remainson
theside of history.On theotherside is thesubstratum ofnature,themasses,
that"beast ofprey,man," the"strongrace."32 This naturalsubstratum is to
be given historicaland politicaldirectionby meansof mythicalimagesand
imaginedgoals preciselywithintheends-meansrelationship, as thehistori-
cally unavoidable formof the timerelationship.This is the taskof an elite
embodyingformaldemands. The uprooted masses are thus once again
placed in the dimensionof "destiny."

25Ibid., p. 165.
260. Spengler,Untergang, vol. 2, p. 523: "To thedegreethatnationscease to be politically
fit,the possibilitiesof theenergeticprivateindividualwho wantsto be politicallycreativeand
who wantspowerat anyprice,growand growsuchthattheimpactofhisappearancedetermines
the fate of whole peoples and cultures.There are no longerany formalpreconditionsthat
eventsmustfollow.In place ofsecuretraditions, whichcannotdo withoutthegeniusbecause it
is itselfcosmicenergyto thehighestpower,thereis now thecoincidenceofgreatmenoffact."
270. Spengler,"Preussentumund Sozialismus,"p. 105.
280. Spengler,"PolitischePflichten derdeutschenJugend,"in PolitischeSchriften, pp. 155f.
The emphasisis Spengler's.
290. Spengler,Untergang,vol. 1, p. 507.
30Prussia,whichalreadyplaysa similarrole in Nietzsche,was in the 19thcenturynotonlya
militarystatewitha highlyefficient government bureaucracy;itwas also unequalledas a school
fortechnicalleadership.Undertherubricofa senseofduty,itbecomesinSpenglera symbolof
the authoritarianstateof the heroic-aristocratic sort.
31Cf. O. Spengler,Der Mensch und die Technik.Beitragzu einerPhilosophiedes Lebens
(Munich, 1931).
320. Spengler,Jahreder Entscheidung, p. 161.

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 ofPolitics
Aesthetics 111

The antinomicconnectionof decadent-barbaric strength and theneces-

sary hardness of commandingand dominatingresultsin the violence of
action, whichcan onlybecome symbolicbyhavingmythicalobjectives,i.e.
by representing totality.The problemconfronted bythefrontgeneration-
loss of meaningin thefaceofwar (thatcivilizational"eventof nature")and
its heroic overcomingthroughan affirmation of destiny- mergeswiththe
general problematicof decadence in the post-waryears.A solutioncan be
found in the new nationalism.Mechanisticand soulless (i.e., nature-like)
technology,whichhas forcedmankindinto its service,can again become
"historical"throughthe idealizationof emptyoperationalism,i.e., mythi-
cal-nationalobjectives. In thehandsof goal-directedmasses,bothtechnol-
ogy and masses became carriersof the movementof destiny.There is a
directline fromthisand Spengler'sconceptof work33to Jiinger's"Total
Mobilization" and the "figure"of The Worker.
The paradox of sublating"barbaric" natureby strictlyreducingit to
pliant materialfor the "hardness" of the will indeed fulfillsan idealistic
program.(This paradoxfindsitseconomicresolutioninmaterializing nature
by the exercise of technologicalforce.) The immediateforerunnerand
model of thisparadox lies in Nietzsche'snotionof transcending decadence
throughthemythosofhistory.In themasterrace,nature, as thewillto live,
turnsintoa forceagainstitselfas an organicsubstratum; followingDarwin,a
naturallynecessarystate of war destroyseverything weak and diseased but
strengthens and enhances all thebasic healthydrives.Projected intohistory,
thisinstinctuallyguidedstruggleforexistence(whichis to be reinstatedinits
moral rightsas well) resultsin the demand fornaturalselection,and its
consistentapplicationis to lead to the breedingof supermen[Uebermen-
schen]. But the historicalpower of Christianity in the Westernworld,the
"herd morality"of liberalismand socialism,have distortedthis"telos" into
decadent primaciesof theintellect;to reestablishitvia a mythicgoal is what
the laterNietzschestrainsto do. As a Decadent and Naturalist,he takesas
his pointof departurethemanifestations ofdegeneracyhe sees inEuropean
national liberalismand buddingimperialismas well as in his own fateof
illness. To the barbarismbreakingout fromunder the veneer of liberal
overbreedinghe reactsboth withhorrorand withhope. For as a formless
mass phenomenon,it threatensto lead to the annihilationof any and all
cultureand to the demise of the humanrace; onlywhenreducedto a mere
substratum,underthe controlof an aristocraticruleof willthatfulfills the
naturallaw of the willto power,onlythencan thisbarbarismbe applied to
the immanentlaw of thespecies- thedevelopmentofthesuperman.Thus
the actual historical force of militarism- the "Prussian" leadership
principle,"the enmityand difference in rankbetweenstates"34- is utilized

330. Spengler, Untergang,vol. 1, pp. 508f.

34FriedrichNietzsche, The Will to Power, trans.Walter Kaufmannand R.J. Hollingdale
(New York, 1967), p. 386.

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112 Hillach

to functionas the naturalself-helpof social organismsin the serviceof the

species. This impliestheunhesitating use oflying,since"truth"(in itsmoral
claims) itselfis alwaysonlya functionof theintellect- and a degenerated
and detachedone at that.Withthistransvaluation oflyingintoan activeand
beneficenthistoricalforceforfulfilling thedestinyofmankind,Nietzsche's
aestheticism,whichhad begunwiththeconcernforan enduringcultureand
for its privilegedcharacter,comes fullcircle. What the militaryand the
aestheticistconcept of culturehave in commonin Nietzscheis this: The
historicallyhighestand strictestlevel of form,whichis "aristocratic"as an
achievementof breedingbut condemned'to decadence on its own (i.e.,
when removed fromthe struggle),is called upon to rule as a forceover
"barbaric" naturein fullaffirmation ofnihilismin orderto generateitto its
highest vital power and to bring about the superman.The image of the
superman, provisionally seen as a mythos,determinesa course of action
whose highestexpressionis war.
2. In Nietzsche'sconstruction, the groundingof culturein the master
race and in the stipulationof an exploitableslave race is openlyallegorical
and presentedin a social dimensionas well. But in theforefield of fascism,
the componentsof thisconstructionare pre-reconciledin a conservative-
revolutionarysymbolismand turnedintoa culturalutopiaof an organically
restorabletotality.Only withthisstep - and not withNietzsche- is the
way opened to the totalityof aestheticpoliticalaction. Its one side, the
manipulative,is the combinationof theoriesof symbolsand of action; the
other,whichprovidesthemasseswithexpressiveactionas compensationfor
theirpolitical inactivityand calls it politicalaction, is contributedby the
metaphysicalideologies of expression.These two elementsare closely
related. Among these ideologies especially Ludwig Klages' concept of
expressionhelpsus to explaina formofaestheticizing actionwhichattaches
expressivemovementsto manipulatively instatedsymbols- thoughitdoes
thisonlyunderthemostrigorousruleofthewill,notoutofthetotality oflife
desired by Klages. This "expressivemovementas a metaphorof action" in
its one-sidedness (which is not to be understoodas postulated) exactly
describes the factsof an emotive-symbolic relationto reality.Transposed
into the realm of politicalaction,thisemotive-symbolic relationto reality
leads to a loss ofrealityfortheactorsand therebydirectly exposesitselfto the
purposive will to power of demagogues. The assumptionof a personal
guidingconceptionor "guidingimage," formedby the individually antici-
pated success of themovement,therebyprovidesthebasis fortheprinciple
of self-representation.But it renders itself defenseless, in its purely
characterologicalmode ofassertion,againstthemechanismofidentification
with a leader personality.And this, accordingto Freud, leads to the
formationof masses.
As littleas Klages wished to see expressiveaction made absolute as a
manifestation ofhumanlife,he was blindto thecapacityformanipulation of
what he imaginedas the pure, unalienatedlife.The weaknessof Klages'

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 Aesthetics
ofPolitics 113

position is that he recognizeddominationand alienationsolely as conse-

quences of the allegoricaldevelopment(as Benjamin would say) towards
increasingnationalizationand dispositionalpower, and that he did not
recognize the complementarytendencytowardsregressionand towardsa
false mythosthatthisdevelopmentalso initiates.Since he did notreflecton
its historicalposition,his own theoryalso fellpreyto thistendencyin a
ironicallydeceptiveway. Thus his theoryof symbolsand expression,with
whichhe wantedto put thepotentialhealingforcesintowordsand implant
themintothedeafworldofhisday,could at thesame timebecome a keyfor
the speculations of those demagogues who made use of these dualistic
schematain orderto rehearsethefinalreturnofthemythoswiththemasses,
posing as theirsaviors.
Accordingto Benjamin, the "regressionfromsocial realityintonatural
and biological reality"began in arthistorywithartnouveau and has "since
increasinglybeen confirmed as a symptomofcrisis."35It was certainly
also a
reactionto thenew advancesin technologyand can be viewedas an attempt
to masterthemby a returnto the organic.Ludwig Klages' relationto the
Stefan George Circle and to the "Cosmics"* should be distinguishedin
thisregard.His anti-technological attitudehas littlein commonwiththatof
the restof the "Cosmics," who closed one eye to technology.Nevertheless,
here as in the George Circle, it was the totallack of perceptionforsocial
appropriationof naturebytechnologythatcompletedtheirsurrenderto the
economic-politicalrulinginterests(whomsuchaestheticizing oftechnologi-
cal productsand processes more than suited). Though today his chaotic-
irrationalphase among the "Cosmics" is stressed,36Klages was quite
consistentin his enmityto technologyand had enoughinsightnotto share
the enthusiasmforwar to whichalmostall George followers- themaster
himselfpartiallyexcepted- fellprey.In theircosmic-heroic-national hopes
forrenewal,therole oftechnologyin theactualwaritself- whichJiinger at
least triedto define- seems altogetherscreenedout; afterwards, however,
thisrole of technologywas reckonedas one of the powersof fatewhichan
unfathomablycreativeand destructivenatureexpelled fromitself.In the
mindsof hisfollowers,George's idealisticformalpathos,whichhe intended
differently, seemed to findits firstentryintolifein thewar (insofaras the
ideas of the war were supportedby the young) because of its supposed
"'military"("disciplined") nature. And it was only consistentfor a life
gained in thisway to be pushedonwardto thatdeathin beautythatwas the
secretleading image of Decadence.
This makes clear in what sense Benjamin speaks of George as the
"epitome of Decadence." Verlaine did not ascribe the "art de mouriren

* Intellectualcirclein MunichbeforetheFirstWorldWar.
Amongitsleadingmemberswere
Karl Wolfskehl,AlfredSchulerand Ludwig Klages. (Ed.)
3SW. Benjamin, "Riickblickauf StefanGeorge," in AngelusNovus, p. 476.
36Cf.Michael Winkler,George-Kreis(Stuttgart,1972).

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114 Hillach

beautd" directlyto hisownconsciousnessofdecadence; ratherhe identified

it as the essence of late antiquityto whichhe, as a late representative of a
culture, felt an affinity.37Dying as art appears historically distanced. For
Baudelaire, death was still an obsession that he tried to master in his
allegorical intent in the "destruction of the organic"38 and in the aesthetic
visualizationoftheemblemsofdeath. "Machinery,"and as suchmachinery,
the humanskeletonbecomes the "trace [Chiffre] of thedestructive forces"
for him;39 but at the same time this skeleton has a "place . . in the
erotologyof Baudelaire" whichBenjamin documentswiththe following
quotation: "L'616gancesans nomde l'humainearmature.'"40The allegorical
conceptionof the skeletontherebybecomes a historicalindexwhichmarks
the destructionof theorganicas conditionedbymoderntechnology.This is
done by singlingout elegance as thenew qualityof technologicalproducts,
whichincorporatesthemintothe universeof commodities,and byrelating
themback to mortifiednature:the "worldthathas enteredrigormortis"41
legitimatesitselfin thebeautyoftheskeletonmechanismwhichitseemingly
imitates. If therebythe only "radical novelty" for man today - the
"pereniallysame: death"42- is thusremovedintotheaestheticrealm,then
at least he still retains the inscribedimage of technologyin this way.
Nonetheless technology'scompletereversionto ornamentand applied art
(as Benjamin sees artnouveau) is alreadyanticipatedbyBaudelaire.
When Benjamin places George's work,especiallyitsweakerportions,
withinartnouveau43(the appropriatenessof thiscannotbe treatedhere44),
he apparentlymeans to put himwithinthecontextof the "comprehensive
and aggressivecriticismof technologythatlies hiddenin artnouveau." Art
nouveau "is basicallyconcernedwitharresting technologicaldevelopment."
George's relationto technologyis mostclearlyexpressedin thefactthathe
suffuses,as muchas possible, the reproductionstandardsof book produc-
tion with handicraftpracticeswhich aim to produce books as complete
worksof art. In an arrogantand lordlywaythispractice,ifitdoes notquite
ignorethe technologizationand industrialization of social reality,certainly
triesto representitselfas thewayoftruthand triesto directothersbackto it.
It is ratherstriking thatBenjamindoes notpursuethis;instead,to document
George's proximityto art nouveau internally,he establishesan analogy

37Rainer Hess, "Dekadenzdichtung," in Literaturwissenschaftliches

Worterbuchfiir Ro-
manisten,ed. R. Hess, M. Frauenrathand G. Siebenmann(Frankfurt am Main, 1972),p. 40.
38W. Benjamin, CharlesBaudelaire,Ein LyrikerimZeitalterdesHochkapitalismus,
ed. Rolf
Tiedemann (Frankfurtam Main, 1974), pp. 165f.
39Ibid., p. 180.
40Ibid., p. 159.
41Ibid., p. 178.
42Ibid., p. 164.
43W. Benjamin, "Riickblickauf StefanGeorge," p. 476.
44For a discussionof thiscriticalconcept see JostHermand,Jugendstil.
Ein Forschungs-
bericht1918-1964 (Stuttgart,1965).

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 Aesthetics
ofPolitics 115

between technology'sreversionto theornamentalthereand the"reversion

of the social contradictionsto those inevitabletragic convulsionsand
tensions. . . whichare characteristic ofthelifeoflittleconventicles."45 But
theiraestheticistgesturealso coversoverwhatcomes to lightas thepolitical
contentof aestheticismat the "turnof thetimes"- thedemandofdeath.46
George was the "epitomeofDecadence" because he consistently and justas
unwittingly showed its core, the of
aestheticizing death, to be bourgeois
culture'sdemand of life.
With that we returnto our point of departure,Benjamin's reviewof
Jiinger'sWarriorbook and itsworkingout of thegenesisof Germanfascist
ideology. At least in the outlines in which Benjamin presentsit, the
connectionof bourgeoissubjectivity,aestheticism,allegoricaldomination
over nature,technologicaldevelopment,and nationalheritagewouldseem
to be clear. "The pleasureand painofaestheticself-reflection," accordingto
Obenauer the speculativepotentialof Germanidealism,47can of coursebe
foundin all nationalculturesof the late bourgeoisnineteenthcentury,but
the theoreticalfoundationsof a formalartof aestheticself-reflection were
laid in German Romanticism.And even if its transpositioninto artistic
practiceand aestheticlifeformswas carriedout muchmoreradicallyamong
our neighbors,and iftheproclamationofaestheticizing politicsand warwas
not firstformulatedin Germany,itwas nonethelessleftto thefascistrulers
to let it become politicalrealityin themiddleof thetwentieth century.The
reason the forcesof resistancewere so weak lies, ifone pursuesBenjamin's
Obenauer quotationfurtherin itscontext,in the tendencyto confusethat
sort of consciousness with "sharpened understanding"and "lucidityof
reason," a confusionfromwhich it is but a step to the "defamationof
thinkingitself."The exampleofMax KommerellthatpromptsBenjaminto
this remark is particularlyilluminatinghere. Not that Kommerell had
completelyfallenintothisconfusion;buthisindecisivewaveringbetweenan
aestheticand a rationalpositionletshimseek "to overcomethisdoubtin the
heroicattitudeofmind."Benjaminsees a dialecticalimpetuspreciselyinthe
radicalismof the aestheticrelationshipto oneself. But in contrastto the
French avant-garde,the George Circle lacks thisinsofaras it derivesthe
form-and norm-giving principlefromthe individual'sresponsibility and
transforms itintoa personalmythosofgeneralvalidity,intoa leadercultand
hero worship.
The transformation of extremesubjectivistegocentrismintoan objec-
tive existentialbasis [Seinsgrund]is forBenjamin a historicalexperience
which he found verifiableas far as he could see in the present,and he

45W. Benjamin, "Riickblickauf StefanGeorge," p. 477.

46Ibid.,pp. 480f.
47Quoted fromW. Benjamin, "Der eingetunkteZauberstab. Zu Max Kommerells'Jean
Paul'," in Angelus Novus, p. 497. (From K.J. Obenauer, Die Problematikdes iisthetischen
Menschenin der deutschenLiteratur[Munich,1933].)

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116 Hillach

depictedthisprocesstimeand again in thehistory ofbourgeoissubjectivity,

fromthe Baroque allegoryto Romanticismon down to Surrealismand to
fascism.But the directionof thistransformation, usuallya collectivism,is
not always unequivocallyindicatedin the originalsubjectivistpostulate.
This is demonstratedbyGermanRomanticism, whichis largelytransformed
intoconservatismand restorationin itshistoricalrepresentatives; butat the
same time it also liberateda historicalundercurrent of free subjectivist
forcesthatbreaksout again in theavant-gardemovementsand thatGeorge
partakesofas well. It is thesame Romanticundercurrent thatmakesGeorge
intoan aestheticsubjectivistand that"risesup againstthisworktoday."For
thatreason, the originsof thathopelesslyundialecticalviewwhosehorizon
encompasses fascismlie in boththe recourseto a Greek heroismcontami-
nated witharch-Teutonicspiritas well as the late bourgeoisconceptionof
German Classicism and the Teutonic as "the inheritanceof the Greek
mission" as such- and not in Romanticism.
III. Aestheticismand Technology
But Benjamin would notbe thematerialist he alreadyconsidershimself
here ifhe stoppedshortat thisview. Instead,he now movestheproductive
force,technology,whichthe late bourgeoisieprovidesforitsaestheticself-
reflection,and the originsof which are also connectedwith bourgeois
subjectivity,intothecenterof hisdiagnosisoffascism.The developmentof
reproductiontechniquesin the nineteenthcenturyis notonlybased on the
level of technologyattainedand itslogicalcontinuation;it is also based on
the specific desires of the bourgeoisie which were translatedinto the
productive triflingof mostly private inventorsand utopists.With the
developmentof these reproductiontechniques,thebourgeoisiecreatesfor
itselfexpedientsthatsatisfytheincreaseddesireforartisticreflection ofthe
realitycreatedby itself,a reflectionunderstoodas an objectification of the
bourgeoisie's innerworld. The technicalprovisionsforthe surrogate-like
renderingof the sensuous surface realityincreased the perfectionand
precision of the reproductionto a degree that had seemed previously
inconceivable;at thesame timetheycreatedand made possibletotallynovel
sensations.But at bottomitis thesame technologythatcan be themeansof
productionina factory,be an instrument ofdestruction inwar,orcan satisfy
desiresforaestheticstimulationinprivatelifewhichis no longersuppliedby
conventionalarts. Thus Futurismdefinesthe sensuous surfaceeffectsof
modern warfareas ends in themselvesand as models for new artistic
productions.48 Detached fromitsmaterialrelationas a meansofproduction
or, in war as a pervertedmeans of consumption(whose experiencethe
bourgeoisie was spared), technologyis reduced forthe bourgeoisieto its
factorintheircalculations,as
functionas a production-and profit-increasing
a means of communicationor transportation, a practicalexpedientand

48Cf.W. Benjamin, The WorkofArtintheAge ofMechnicalReproduction,"pp. 241,242.

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 Aesthetics
ofPolitics 117

means of distractionin a wealthof new possibiilities.That does not mean

that their negative sides are not experienced,but theyare feltonly as
hindrances to privilegedleisure. The bourgeoisie,which is not directly
planning production,seeks to make technologyits organ as a means of
expression and a plaything.Bourgeois culturalcriticism,which usually
erects regressive utopias, simultaneouslyarticulates its shock at the
objective developmentof technologyand at thechangesencompassingthe
whole society.In thisway thebourgeoisierehearsesthemodes ofbehavior
which, under new political constellationsand in unison withGermanic-
national ideologies (such as the heroic receptionof Classicism and the
mythsof antiquity,arch-Teutons,and Prussia)and withtheprojectedideal
of surmountingdecadence and nihilismin the heroic postulateof form,
community[Gemeinschaft], and leader-following, togetherpaved the way
forthe fascistsolutionto the systemiccrisesof late capitalismand forthe
dispositionof the giganticallyincreasedproductiveforces(whilemaintain-
ing the propertyrelationsand privilegestructure of the society).
What significancedoes this have for us today, beyond the historical
insightand the understandinggained? Other myths,trivialand everyday
ones, have taken the place of those transmitted by education.Neitherthe
arch-Teutonicnor the metaphysicsof lifeor the will, neitherGreek hero
worshipnor a Germansense of mission,ideologizedClassicismor aestheti-
cist self-reflectionplay a role anymore.The bourgeoisie,whichdefendsits
privilegesas muchas ever,does thisunderthepretextofothervalueswhich
come largelyout of the arsenal of liberalismand an ethic derived from
Christianity(the destructionof which, since Nietzsche, undoubtedlya
predominantportionofGermanintellectualshas participatedinone wayor
another). In confrontingthe danger of communismor socialism- not
mucheffortis made to distinguish betweenthem- theold basic ideologies
of capitalism(whichalreadywere combatted byfascismin thetwentiesand
thirties)have been revived today. Meanwhile thereis a long way before
economic and technologicaldevelopment are well in hand,and organizedin
such a way thatsuch developmentis humanized.This is particularly so in
regard to the way natural resources are used and the way technologyis
developed and in
applied long-range terms. It is not necessaryto recallthe
of
spectral development weapons technology carried on in the name of
defendinghumanity. The word takes on a hollow in
ring thisveryprocess,
when remindedof Benjamin's delineationof the problem of an empty
heroism with its fetishizedvalue phrases ("soldierly stance") and its
mercilesspractice.Economic growthis no longerpursuedforitsown sake.
Ratherunderthepressureofimmanentcrises,itnowproducessurplusesthat
have to be made salable withtheaid ofcontrivedcommodity aesthetics;such
growth also increasesthe problems of waste and of theenvironment. It will
make dominationover naturethe last perversionof reasonand willfinally
make our planet an allegoryof a facies hippocraticaof humanhistory.On
the one hand the privileged,whose economicinterestsdictatecontinuing

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118 Hillach

thiscourseofhistoryinsteadofconsidering a transformation ofthecomplete

economic systemand positingtrulysocialgoals and priorities, couldwelluse
this monopoly of power more and more, like the governments and state
apparatuses that to
supportthem, uphold the conditions of the industrial
growtheconomy(whichdominatesnottheWestalone). On theotherhand,
organized force from below, which can only legitimateitself in its
preconceivedpostulatesand symbolsofbelief,has fascistically degenerated
intoa steel-grayheroismand intoan apotheosisofan abstractclass struggle
whichhas itsown aesthetic.
A new aestheticismhas takenshape based on thefurther development,
the technologyof reproductionand on media thathave createdtheirown
public. Like the Aestheticismof the nineteenthcentury,it is not directly
transmitted ideologically,but via technology.Not onlyhave thepractically
world-wide,infinitereproduction capacitiesofmediamade thereflection of
anykindofpoliticalactivity possible,butthetimebetweenpoliticalactsand
public presentationof themhas shrunkvirtually to nil.Withthenewmedia
technologiesit is no longernecessaryfirstto recordeventsbymeansoffilm
and thento reproduceand distribute themwithconsiderabledelay;nowitis
possible to project the political act directlyto the public and thus to
determineitscourse and outcomethroughthereactionof themediapublic
createdin thisway. Under statesupervisionor extortionary pressure,media
can be put intodirectservice.
The new qualityof thefilmas a mediumof reproduction was itsspecial
affinityto mass movements.On the one hand, such movementscould be
presentedin an alternationbetweencrowd-scenesand individualclose-ups;
thatway theindividual'spleasurablesensationofbeinga componentpartof
a collective,a particleofa mass,or an appendageofa leaderfigurefoundits
transpositionintotheaestheticnatureofa reproduction. On theotherhand,
the mass movementsreflectedin thisway also became accessibleto mass
receptionforthe firsttime.It was thisdouble media qualitythatmade the
filmsuitableforthemassesto experiencethemselvesand to enjoytheirown
mass movementsaesthetically.Withcamerasmountedin frontofthem,the
masses and thepoliticiansalike presentthemselves,withthedifference that
the masses can become intoxicatedwith their subjugationrituals,the
politicianswiththeirpower. Film reproduction thusbecomes a stimulusto
political acts thatare stagedforthe sake of theiraesthetics.Even the time
differencebetween recordingand reproduction,as well as the formal
differencebetween the actual course of events and the edited film
presentationenhanceditsaestheticeffectby increasingthe anticipation.
Radio and sound filmrepresenteda powerfulaccelerationand perfec-
tion of reproductiontechnologies.Today's media have accelerated the
process of reproductionin such a way thattheyhave become a partof the
politicalscene itself;theyare like spotlights,
withoutwhichthestageevents
would not seem existentand the actorwould notknowhow to move,since
the lighteffectsalone can producetheappearanceofobjectivity.Because of

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 ofPolitics
Aesthetics 119

theiractual presencethemedia's intervention changesand shapesthecourse

of eventsand, necessarily,theirplanningas well. The realmof publicself-
presentation is extended into the everydaypractice of the politician.
Politicalactionis no longerdefinedprimarily bytheobjectivedimensionofa
competency fordecisionsor a relationto thecommunity, butbythecapacity
of the individual charged with action to presenthimselfpubliclyas an
individual charged with political action. This and the organized mass
movementsseen as expressiveactionswhichare giventheiraestheticself-
gratificationin the media and are therebydispossessedof theirpotential
power to change the system,these are the distinguishing marks of an
of
aestheticizing politics which reached their highpointthusfar in fascism.
Benjamin has pointed out a relation between ideologies and applied
technologyhere thatin different formsappears as a problemagain today.

TranslatedbyJeroldWikoffand UlfZimmerman

Cha4A
lengl
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