Elmo, Lyotard

As Dr. Rog said this reading was a little bit dense. However, I thought that the reading was very well organized and placed well among the other authors we have read thus far. I felt that Lyotard’s essay began very broad but then got more specific when talking about specific theorists such as Benjamin. The way that Lyotard incorporated Benjamin’s ideas into his own work aided in my understanding of him essay. I also enjoyed how after explaining a few different theories, Lyotard ended with, again, a more broad description; this time of postmodernism.

One part in Lyotard’s essay that I thought specifically related back to Benjamin and our class discussion on Tuesday was when he said, “photographic and cinematographic processes can accomplish better, faster, and with circulation a hundred thousand times larger than narrative or pictorial realism” (40). This quote related back to Benjamin’s theory about how we can only see part of something but still are able to understand the bigger picture. For example, in class we discussed the example of the Mona Lisa. This is a very popular image around the world yet very few people have actually seen the “real” picture in person. However, even though not all of us have seen it, we all still know that even a poster of the Mona Lisa still represents the real painting hanging in the Louvre. The copying of this image has made it possible for a vast array of people to gain knowledge about the Mona Lisa.

Another quote which seemed to relate back to our prior class discussion was when Lyotard discussed “the effects of reality, or if one prefers, the fantasies of realism, multiply” (41). This reminds me a lot of when I, or anyone else for that matter, take a photo. For example, someone may take a photo of a certain person doing a certain something. This photo can then be copied over and over or put on the internet to be viewed by anyone. Everyone seeing this picture portrays it as “reality” but at the same time everyone viewing this photo could have a different idea of what that person was actually doing; this, in turn, creates fantasies.

So, I guess this really does leave us curious about what actually is real and what is just a copy or a mis-communicated message. Hopefully with further discussions and reading we will hopefully more able to answer this ever-present question.