“辩证意象”的起源逻辑——本雅明艺术批评观念探析

The Logic of Origin of “Dialectical Image” —— A Study on Walter Benjamin's Ideas of Art Criticism

"辩证意象"观念在本雅明的理论体系中占有重要位置。此观念与本雅明认识论模型中的"起源"观念异曲同工,都蕴含了他反对历史主义的线性进步史观、借助"弥赛亚"神学重新理解历史唯物主义的意图。在本雅明这里,"起源"是理念之起源,但它并非形而上学式的单一起点,而是复数的历史范畴。起源寄身于极端情况,是惯常中的例外状态。循"差异与重复的辩证法",极端情况确立了新事物的形态和特定传统的起源,并提示出此新事物蕴含的理念。在艺术领域,"典范"即艺术进程之例外情况。典范确立新的体裁,而每种体裁都蕴含一个理念。每个典范都是一种辩证意象。每个辩证意象都是一个单子,其内部各要素循"定格的辩证法"而并置互证,聚合成一种"星丛构型"。在历史唯物主义视角下,"辩证意象"是资本主义同质时间的断裂。本雅明认为,藉此断裂能够唤起无产者的觉醒,促成真正的危急状态,促进无产阶级革命的到来。

The concept of “dialectical image” occupies an important position in Walter Benjamin’s theoretical system. This concept is similar to the concept of “origin” in Benjamin’s epistemological model. It implies his opposition to the linear progress of history and the re-understanding of historical materialism with the help of the Messianic theology. In Benjamin’s theoretical system,“origin” is the origin of ideas, but it is not a single starting point for metaphysical, but a plural historical category. Origins are embedded in extreme situations and are exceptions to the norms. Following the dialectics of difference and repetition, the extreme situation establishes the form of new things and the origin of specific traditions, and suggests the ideas contained in this new thing. In the field of art, the “exemplar” is an exception in the art history. The paradigm establishes a new genre, and each genre contains an idea. Each exemplar is a dialectical image. Each dialectical image is a monad, and its internal elements are juxtaposed with each other according to “the dialectic of standstill” and crystallized into a “constellative configuration.” From the perspective of historical materialism,“dialectical image” is the break of capitalist homogenous time. Benjamin believes that this break can arouse the awakening of the proletariat, create a real crisis, and promote the arrival of the proletarian revolution.