Post Class 9/30 - Andrea Luongo

            During our class discussion on Habermas, the idea that struck me the most from what we talked about was the idea of “The culture of the new” (99), especially when thinking about it in connection with Kanye West’s song “Stronger.”  Our society these days, has taken on the idea that “faster, better, and stronger” is of primary importance.  Everything around us, especially technology is always changing and progressing, at the same time influencing society to progress with it.  As we said in class, we have a complete fixation with the “new.”  As Habermas states in his essay, “Since then, the distinguishing mark of works which count as modern is ‘the new’ which will be overcome and made obsolete through the novelty of the next style” (99).  This quote by Habermas is important, because it illustrates the fact that what is new now, will not be new tomorrow.

            What is interesting about Habermas’ Modernity – An Incomplete Project, is the fact that as Habermas states, “But while that which is merely ‘stylish’ will soon become outmoded, that which is modern preserves a secret tie to the classical.  Of course, whatever can survive time has always been considered to be a classic” (99).  This quote by Habermas brings about the idea of something being timeless—that which can outlast the “fad” because it represents and instills something in society, unlike something that we deem merely stylish.  This idea, to me, resonated a lot with Walter Benjamin’s work, specifically relating to reproduction, and reproduction value, in the sense that everything, especially technology, is always being reproduced to conform to an ever-evolving society.  Benjamin discusses the idea that sometimes the original loses value because of all of the reproduction based on the original.  The same could be said for what Habermas is arguing—that the “new” is never really new once the reproduction and evolution of it begins.