Adorno

Adorno’s thought has always been discussed with a strong sense of ambivalence. On the one hand, his micro-level sensitivity and his ability to convey profound insights instantly through the subtlest nuances of phrasing have always been fascinating. In doing so, Adorno himself impressively fulfilled his own call to gain insights that transcend the academic divisions between the humanities, cultural studies, and the social sciences. On the other hand, he was also strongly criticized by admirers of his “brilliant genius,” such as Jürgen Habermas, for his lack of methodology and his refusal to articulate the foundational theoretical premises of his thought. This also includes discomfort with Adorno’s theoretical fixation on the German philosophical tradition. Most of all, however, he was attacked for his critique of the culture industry, as this seemed to be merely the flip side of his educational centrism.
The present study represents an attempt at a new interpretation of this thought. It takes the established image of Adorno as its starting point and develops ways to expand upon it, but also to critique it at crucial points, not least with regard to the conventional bashing of Adorno’s critique of the culture industry. This reinterpretation is based on a micro-level textual analysis spanning all areas of Adorno’s thought. At the same time, it attempts to reconstruct fundamental theoretical models within the diversity of his perspectives. Both Adorno’s aesthetics of music and his sociology of music play a strategically important role in this interpretive process, as both contain revealing internal tensions. For instance, there is the friction between a perspective dogmatic about progress and a formal-aesthetic perspective akin to Roland Barthes’ poststructuralism.
Ultimately, the study also aims to break through a crucial barrier: Adorno’s isolation from new developments in the theory of the mind, such as those found in the work of Noam Chomsky or Jean Piaget. It is precisely such positions that offer valuable opportunities to reformulate Adorno. Through its combination of immanent textual exegesis and the attempt to reconstruct the underlying structures of Adorno’s thought, the study can also serve as an introduction to his work.

contents

free shipping within Germany