[Air-l] new media and shock

[Ken Hillis]

Hello all--a colleague of mine asked me if I could help him with the
following question.  I'm not an authority on the Frankfurt School or its
theorization of shock but hope that some of you out there might be.  Any
suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

Ken


His problem/question is as follows:

Much ink has been spilt over shock within Frankfurt School writings. A
concept clearly taken over from Simmel and Freud, shock runs to the heart
of Benjamin's media theory. But have Benjamin and Adorno appropriated the
term as face value without ever considering the implications of their
assertions? Adorno's thinking would seem to intimate that at some future
date nothing will ever shock us anymore, for the body will have developed
such a thick protective barrier that nothing harmful will ever get
through--an idea worth resisting in itself.

Are there any sustained studies of the question of shock particularly
within the domain of media Are there any articles within media theory that
address the matter of shock in a postmodern, digital world?