Reading Adorno: The Endless Road

260 Pages·2019·2.711 MB·English

by  Amirhosein Khandizaji

Reading Adorno
The Endless Road
Edited by
Amirhosein Khandizaji
Reading Adorno
Amirhosein Khandizaji
Editor
Reading Adorno
The Endless Road
Editor
Amirhosein Khandizaji
Berlin Journal of Critical Theory
Berlin, Germany
ISBN 978-3-030-19047-7 ISBN 978-3-030-19048-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19048-4
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature
Switzerland AG 2019
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse
of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and
transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by
similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt
from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained
herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with
regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface
Four decades after Theodor Adorno’s death, his ideas are still used and
discussed by scholars all around the world. Although Adorno’s theo-
ries mainly focus on modern Western countries and their issues, they
are also used and even lauded in non-Western countries. While many
people have criticized his theories, others developed them. Many young
scholars who never saw the time in which Adorno lived enthusiasti-
cally support his arguments. Adorno’s ideas cover a wide range of top-
ics and are not limited to the realms of philosophy and sociology. New
economic, social, cultural, and especially political changes in Western
countries in recent years again have brought Adorno’s theories to the
center of attention. The emergence of new far-right politics and the
embrace by growing numbers of people in some so-called democratic
countries have shocked many intellectuals all around the world. Many
scholars today have found similarities between new emerging types of
nationalism and the target of Adorno’s criticism many decades ago.
Besides, domination by new forms of the culture industry through new
digital technologies and virtual realities has caused scholars to refer to
Adorno to explain the situation they face today. The culture industry in
v
vi Preface
our era has further developed itself by using new and more sophisticated
techniques in order to expand its domination.
Without a doubt, Adorno was the most influential figure in the
Frankfurt School. His theories, especially those on popular culture
and the culture industry, played a major role in the recognition of
the School and built its theoretical foundation. Therefore, the more
we know about Adorno and the more we discuss different aspects of
his theories the better we understand the Frankfurt School and espe-
cially the theories of its second and third generation. However, some
of Adorno’s theories are neglected by the Frankfurt School’s new gen-
erations. For example, one of the main reasons for the creation of the
Frankfurt School was to understand and explain the failure of revolu-
tionary movements in Europe. One of its goals was to find out why the
masses in Europe couldn’t reach class consciousness and become revo-
lutionary while the material and economic conditions of revolution, at
least according to orthodox Marxists, seemed to be prepared. Following
the ideas of Lukács, theorists of the Frankfurt School argued that the
problem was not in material conditions but rather in cultural and intel-
lectual conditions. Therefore, many of the members of the Frankfurt
School started to investigate the ways the capitalist system used to dis-
tort the consciousness of the masses and to prevent them from reaching
class consciousness. One of the major theories that helped the Frankfurt
School reach its goals was the theory of the culture industry. Adorno
believed that the culture industry was a major source of distraction of
the masses and distortion of their consciousness. The culture industry
prevents the masses from understanding the reality of their society and
their positions and roles in it. However, despite the importance and
central position of the theory of the culture industry in the Frankfurt
School, later generations neglected this theory. This neglect led to two
major issues. First, it shifted the major focus of the Frankfurt School
from cultural domination to other topics, and second, it led to some
issues for the theories developed by Habermas and Honneth, the lead-
ing theorists of the second and third generation of the Frankfurt School.
Communicative action and recognition in society dominated by the
culture industry can easily be distorted. We live in a society in which
domination by the culture industry prevents a large number of people
Preface vii
from forming an interest in real communicative action in the real world;
even if they are, there is no guarantee that their communicative action
is not distorted. Besides, even the recognition which is at the center of
Honneth’s theory can be easily manipulated by the culture industry. For
example, in a society in which many concepts such as respect, freedom,
equality, and justice have already been distorted or in which the culture
industry has turned real relations into signs that signify those relations,
we cannot talk about real recognition.
In any case, we should keep in mind that in many respects, our time
is different from that in which Adorno lived and developed his theo-
ries. While the basic logics of his theories are still relevant today, some
aspects of them are no longer relevant. For example, new technologies
have changed some aspects of the culture industry. The culture indus-
try in our era has different mechanisms and uses more sophisticated
techniques from those described by Adorno. Adorno believed that
mass media like radio sends its messages to the masses unilaterally. He
couldn’t foresee a time in which the masses can have their own media
and produce their own massages. However, this change doesn’t mean
that the culture industry has stopped its domination. Rather, it uses
more sophisticated techniques. For example, we are living in the age of
virtual reality and augmented reality. One of the major factors for devel-
oping critical thinking is an unsatisfied need which leads us to criticize
the existing situation in which that need is not satisfied. But nowadays,
virtual realities satisfy many needs that otherwise would have remained
unfulfilled. Therefore, these techniques of the culture industry exhaust
the potential of the masses to develop critical thinking. This means that
the culture industry is still here, but it takes on new forms.
In any case, we also need to criticize Adorno’s theories in order to
develop them. This is what critical theory itself expects us to do. Despite
the importance of the theory of the culture industry, we should not hes-
itate to criticize it. One of the basic problems of the culture industry
theory is that it mainly considers the masses as if they are all similar
audiences and consumers of the culture industry’s products while in fact
they might have different social characters that can cause them to give
different responses. Adorno doesn’t pay enough attention to the role
that traditions, family, and peer group can play in confrontation of the
viii Preface
culture industry. As we know, traditions, family, and peer group don’t
always follow the culture industry and its messages. For example, peer
groups sometimes even go against the culture industry and its process of
standardization in order to create identity for itself.
All these discussions indicate that Adorno’s theories always need more
analyses and criticism. There is always more to discover about him and
his theories. This is why in this book I gathered ten articles written by
some of the well-known scholars of Adorno in order to shed light on
various aspects of Adorno’s theories. In the context of contemporary
events, it is hard to imagine that one day Adorno might be forgotten.
On the contrary, it seems that more and more people show interest in
reading and understanding Adorno. However, we should always keep
in mind that Adorno’s view, like all other theorists, was limited to his
own time and conditions. Thus, if we really believe in critical theory, we
must also criticize Adorno’s theories.
Berlin, Germany Amirhosein Khandizaji
2019
Contents
1 Two Critiques of Identity: Adorno and Castoriadis
on the Capitalist Imaginary 1
Craig Browne
2 Adorno, De Martino and the Adventures of the Self 37
Stefano Petrucciani
3 The Truth-Potential (Wahrheitsgehalt)
of the Culture Industry: On the Actuality
of Horkheimer and Adorno’s Diagnosis 53
Hauke Brunkhorst
4 Laughing at the Other: Toward an Understanding
of the Alt-Right with Adorno 75
Claudia Leeb
5 Bella Swan and Katniss Everdeen: The Expectation
of Motherhood in the Culture Industry 101
Laci Hubbard-Mattix
ix
x Contents
6 The Sensible and the Intelligible: Artistic Form
and Testimony in Adorno’s Reflections 123
Giuseppe Di Giacomo
7 Adorno and the Subversive Potential
of Popular Music 151
Hans-Herbert Kögler
8 Adorno and the Magic Square: Schönberg
and Stravinsky in Mann’s Doctor Faustus 183
Geoff Boucher
9 ‘Idiot with a Spoon’: Adorno, Petrini,
and the Oppositional Politics of Slow Food 213
Mary Caputi
10 Functionalism Yesterday, Functionalism
Tomorrow: Thoughts Inspired by Adorno’s Address
to the Deutscher Werkbund, “Funktionalismus Heute,”
Delivered in Berlin on October 3, 1965 233
Barry M. Katz
Index 247