Between aura and the unconscious: the persistence of memory

Abstract

Walter Benjamin was an interpreter of the transformation in human experience and perception caused by the advent of modernity. In this article, we turn to the ideas of decay of the aura and the erotic love, that correspond, according to him, to the loss of the contemplative look and the traditional community relations on behalf of the absent-minded look and the modern social relations. Given this background, that seems to be the rule of modernity, we argue, based on the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, that both the aura and the erotic love persist in our time, in spite of the frantic pace of our lives and the coldness of our relations. In each person and each work of art lurks the eternal sunshine of memory – be it cultural or unconscious.