Page 110 - Darko Štrajn, From Walter Benjamin to the End of Cinema: Identities, Illusion and Signification. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute, 2017. Digital Library, Dissertationes, 29.
P. 110
from walter benjamin to the end of cinema
and mythological types of characters as well as literary historical patterns
of narration” (Sander, 2007: p. 122). Problems in a scope of readings within
this field arise, when the novel has to be classified. For instance: it is more or
less agreed that Döblin was involved in what is known as the German ex-
pressionism. But – as I mentioned above – it is debateable to what extent the
novel itself conforms to a particular “paradigm” of expressionism. Benja-
min took almost for granted this descriptive concept. Another point of dis-
cussion is how much the narration in the novel can be compared to Joyce‘s
“stream of consciousness”, no matter how much the author was actually
fond of Joyce. It is less controversial aspect that connections to Brecht had
some impact. However, we may say that literary theory did not really finish
the job of canonisation of the novel and its author. An explanation for this
is, to say the least, its complexity.
Sociological and historical reading of Berlin Alexanderplatz is invited
by the topic and by the polymorphous plot of the novel and its depiction of
urban environment in a conjunction with theory of culture and even some
strains of anthropology, what we should broadly call sociological reading
of this novel. The novel is taken as a representation of a functioning of mass
culture in its earlier modern “phase”. This is also a specific aspect, which
brings Döblin close to Benjamin as the author, who decisively changed fun-
damental concepts of art and aesthetics in a context of mass culture. It is
not unimportant that Benjamin took film as the ultimate form and ma-
chinery of and for this culture. Of course, also some more recent sociologi-
cal theories could make use of the novel. Bourdieu‘s concept of habitus and
its imprint in the formation of a social agency, as well as in the constitution
of an individual, seems utterly illustrated by the novel. The concept of so-
cial (and/or symbolic) space, which Bourdieu developed through his theo-
rising of complexities of urban society, enters the same framework. Further
on, an idea such as Danilo Martucceli’s (2002) exposition of the sociologi-
cal deciphering of a “grammar of an individual” in a field of such concepts
as subjectivity, reflexivity and identity, could be easily applied to the novel.
Political aspects, considering Döblin’s explicit political involvements, make
part of any sociological interpretation of the novel. The novel moves its nar-
ration between inside and outside of subjective field. The reader accepts
that the text mirrors reality, but it is obvious that due to the form of narra-
tion of Berlin Alexanderplatz even the most naïve reading is turned into a
reflexive activity of coming to terms with a rough and superficial psychol-
ogy of the characters, which includes taking positions on their morals. Ac-
108
and mythological types of characters as well as literary historical patterns
of narration” (Sander, 2007: p. 122). Problems in a scope of readings within
this field arise, when the novel has to be classified. For instance: it is more or
less agreed that Döblin was involved in what is known as the German ex-
pressionism. But – as I mentioned above – it is debateable to what extent the
novel itself conforms to a particular “paradigm” of expressionism. Benja-
min took almost for granted this descriptive concept. Another point of dis-
cussion is how much the narration in the novel can be compared to Joyce‘s
“stream of consciousness”, no matter how much the author was actually
fond of Joyce. It is less controversial aspect that connections to Brecht had
some impact. However, we may say that literary theory did not really finish
the job of canonisation of the novel and its author. An explanation for this
is, to say the least, its complexity.
Sociological and historical reading of Berlin Alexanderplatz is invited
by the topic and by the polymorphous plot of the novel and its depiction of
urban environment in a conjunction with theory of culture and even some
strains of anthropology, what we should broadly call sociological reading
of this novel. The novel is taken as a representation of a functioning of mass
culture in its earlier modern “phase”. This is also a specific aspect, which
brings Döblin close to Benjamin as the author, who decisively changed fun-
damental concepts of art and aesthetics in a context of mass culture. It is
not unimportant that Benjamin took film as the ultimate form and ma-
chinery of and for this culture. Of course, also some more recent sociologi-
cal theories could make use of the novel. Bourdieu‘s concept of habitus and
its imprint in the formation of a social agency, as well as in the constitution
of an individual, seems utterly illustrated by the novel. The concept of so-
cial (and/or symbolic) space, which Bourdieu developed through his theo-
rising of complexities of urban society, enters the same framework. Further
on, an idea such as Danilo Martucceli’s (2002) exposition of the sociologi-
cal deciphering of a “grammar of an individual” in a field of such concepts
as subjectivity, reflexivity and identity, could be easily applied to the novel.
Political aspects, considering Döblin’s explicit political involvements, make
part of any sociological interpretation of the novel. The novel moves its nar-
ration between inside and outside of subjective field. The reader accepts
that the text mirrors reality, but it is obvious that due to the form of narra-
tion of Berlin Alexanderplatz even the most naïve reading is turned into a
reflexive activity of coming to terms with a rough and superficial psychol-
ogy of the characters, which includes taking positions on their morals. Ac-
108
