Mechanical Reproduction’, in which he argued that mechanical reproduction destroys the aura of the formerly unique work of art and thus, for the first time in history, ‘emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on rit- ual’ (Benjamin, 1979: 224) It is precisely in the dissemination of mechanical- ly reproduced artworks that quantity leads to the quality of a modern society, thereby gaining a new politically relevant status. In contrast to the ‘pure’ art of former centuries, it affords modern artworks a social function for the masses
