DOCSLIB.ORG

Introduction: the Frankfurt School and the Problem of Religion

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Introduction: the Frankfurt School and the Problem of Religion Notes Introduction: The Frankfurt School and the Problem of Religion 1 Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History of the Frankfurt School and the Institute of Social Research (1973); Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History, Theories and Political Significance (1988). 2 Although early Critical Theorists frequently used the Left–Right opposition that dominated the political landscape during the first half of the twentieth century to position their work, it is important to note that to some extent they seem to have been aware of the fact that their work also undercut various of the distinctions related to that opposition. Indications of this are, for example, Benjamin’s esteem for thinkers such as Max Kommerell and Carl Schmitt or Max Horkheimer’s alignment of the ‘true’ revolutionary with the ‘true’ conservative in ‘Was wir “Sinn” nennen, wird verschwinden’ (‘What we call “meaning” will disappear’, MHGS VII, 354). 3 Cf. Willem van Reijen, ‘Konservative Rhetorik in der “Dialektik der Aufklärung” ’, pp. 204–6. 4 Cf. Raymond Geuss, ‘Liberalism and its discontents’, pp. 332–6. 5 Thomas Nipperdey, Religion im Umbruch: Deutschland 1870–1918, esp. pp. 124–57; Mitchell G. Ash, Gestalt Psychology in German Culture (1890–1967), pp. 1–322; Peter Berghoff, Der Tod des politischen Kollektivs; Manfred Gangl, Gérard Raulet (eds), Intellektuellendiskurse in der Weimarer Republik; Steve Giles, Maike Oerkel (eds), Counter–Cultures in Germany and Central Europe, pp. 87–169, 193–239; Anne Harrington, Reenchanted Science; Jeffrey Herf, Reactionary Modernism; Jacob Katz (ed.), The Role of Religion in Modern Jewish History; Hans G. Kippenberg, Brigitte Luchesi (eds), Religionswissenschaft und Kulturkritik; Thomas Rohkrämer, Eine andere Moderne?; Stefanie von Schnurbein, Justus H. Ulbricht (eds), Völkische Religion und Krisen der Moderne. 6 See the case made for this possibility in James Bohman, ‘Wahrheit, Ideologie, Religion’. 7 Benjamin, The Arcades Project, p. 471 (N8,1), cf. WBGS V.1, 588–9; Horkheimer, The Eclipse of Reason, p. 186; MHGS III, 247–8 (‘Zu Bergsons Metaphysik der Zeit’, ‘On Bergson’s metaphysics of time’). On this issue, see also Margarete Kohlenbach, Walter Benjamin: Self-Reference and Religiosity, pp. x–xii. 8 Cf. AB, 90 (Adorno, Letter to Walter Benjamin, 17 December 1934). 9 Geertz, ‘Religion as a Cultural System’, quotations, pp. 89–91, 94, 98, 109, 119. 10 For the problems involved in any definition of ‘religion’, see for instance Georg Simmel, ‘On the Sociology of Religion’, pp. 275–6, 286–7, or, more recently, Stephen J. Hunt, Religion in Western Society, pp. 1–13, or Volkhard Krech, Religionssoziologie, esp. pp. 75–8. 11 In his Weimar Culture, Peter Gay discusses ‘the hunger for wholeness’ as a characteristic feature of the period. See also Theodore Ziolkowski, ‘Der 190 Notes 191 Hunger nach dem Mythos’, Jost Hermand, Frank Trommler, Die Kultur der Weimarer Republik, pp. 151–61, and the contemporary discussion in Erich Unger, Wirklichkeit, Mythos, Erkenntnis (‘Reality, myth, knowledge’), pp. 3–39. 12 MHGS VII, 387–8 (‘Die Sehnsucht nach dem ganz Anderen’, ‘The longing for the totally Other’). 13 Isaac Breuer, Concepts of Judaism, p. 35. For the historical context of Breuer’s stance, see the editor’s introduction, esp. pp. 3–4, for the selection and the various translations and retranslations of the texts collected in this volume, the editor’s introduction, pp. 24–5. 14 Cf. Breuer, Concepts of Judaism, p. 35. 15 See for instance DE 9, 16, 27–8, 124, 139, and SW II, 216–17 (‘Surrealism’), SW I, 395 (‘Outline of the Psychophysical Problem’). Benjamin uses the one term ‘Einsamkeit’, translated in SW I and SW II by ‘solitariness’ and ‘solitude’ respectively, in both texts. 16 See Geertz, ‘Religion as a Cultural System’, p. 89, and the largely functionalist discussion of religious conceptions, pp. 98–108. 17 Geertz, ‘Religion as a Cultural System’, pp. 89–90. 18 As the context makes clear, the ritual aspect is represented in Geertz’s definition by the reference to an ‘aura’ of factuality. Geertz, ‘Religion as a Cultural System’, pp. 109–18. 19 Cf. for instance SW I, 295 (‘Announcement of the Journal Angelus Novus’), WBGS II.2, 680–1 (‘Franz Kafka: Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer’), SW I, 245, 252, note 4 (‘Critique of Violence’). 20 Cf. Geertz, ‘Religion as a Cultural System’, pp. 109–18. 21 MHGS VII, 351 (‘Was wir “Sinn” nennen’). 22 Cf. Geertz, ‘Religion as a Cultural System’, pp. 89–90, 94. 1 Max Horkheimer’s Supposed ‘Religious Conversion’: A Semantic Analysis 1 Michael R. Ott, Max Horkheimer’s Critical Theory of Religion, pp. 81–3; Gérard Raulet, ‘Kritik der Vernunft und kritischer Gebrauch des Pessimismus’, pp. 31–51; Hans Günter Holl, ‘Religion und Metaphysik im Spätwerk Max Horkheimers’; Gunzelin Schmid Noerr, Gesten aus Begriffen, pp. 153–97; Hans-Walter Nörtersheuser, Max Horkheimer, pp. 316–20; Juan José Sánchez, Wider die Logik der Geschichte, pp. 11–12, 124–5. 2 Cf. Raulet, ‘Kritik der Vernunft’, p. 36. 3 Cf. Schmid Noerr, Gesten, p. 9. 4 Fritz Kuhn, ‘ “Begriffe besetzen”: Anmerkungen zu einer Metapher aus der Welt der Machbarkeit’, pp. 96–105; Josef Klein, ‘Kann man “Begriffe beset- zen”?’, pp. 57–62; Josef Klein, ‘Wortschatz, Wortkampf, Wortfelder in der Politik’, pp. 3–50. 5 Horkheimer, ‘On the Problem of Truth’, p. 215. 6 Cf. Nörtersheuser, Max Horkheimer, pp. 318–19. 7 Horkheimer, ‘The Jews and Europe’, p. 78. 8 Cf. Horkheimer, Kritische Theorie: Eine Dokumentation, ed. Alfred Schmidt, vol. I, pp. 361–76 and Horkheimer, Kritische Theorie der Gesellschaft, ed. Marxismus-Kollektiv, vol. I. 192 Notes 9 Horkheimer, ‘Thoughts on Religion’, p. 129. 10 ‘Thoughts on Religion’, p. 131. See also Nörtersheuser, Max Horkheimer, p. 168. 11 MHGS I, 140 (‘Sehnsucht’). See also Nörtersheuser, Max Horkheimer, pp. 125–31. 12 Schmid Noerr, Gesten, pp. 153–73. See also Holl, ‘Religion und Metaphysik’, pp. 131, 141–2. 13 ‘Materialism and Metaphysics’, p. 44; ‘Materialism and Morality’, p. 36 (trans. modified), MHGS III, 136–7. 14 Schmidt, ‘Nachwort des Herausgebers’, p. 365. 15 Horkheimer, Dawn and Decline, p. 219. See also Matthias Lutz-Bachmann, ‘Humanität und Religion: Zu Max Horkheimers Deutung des Christentums’, p. 121. 16 Schmid Noerr, ‘Nachwort des Herausgebers’, p. 462. 17 Wolfgang Kraushaar, ‘Die Anti-Elite als Avantgarde’, p. 3. 18 Dawn and Decline, pp. 60, 91. See also Sánchez, Wider die Logik, pp. 33–7, 69–73; Nörtersheuser, Max Horkheimer, pp. 37–41, 172–3; and Holl, ‘Religion und Metaphysik’, pp. 129, 138. 19 Dawn and Decline, p. 84. 20 Lutz-Bachmann, ‘Humanität und Religion’, p. 108; Nörtersheuser, Max Horkheimer, pp. 318–19. 21 ‘Theism and Atheism’, p. 49 (trans. modified), MHGS VII, 185. See also Nörtersheuser, Max Horkheimer, pp. 318–19. 22 ‘Theism and Atheism’, pp. 48–9. Cf. MHGS VII, 194 (‘Religion und Philosophie’). 23 MHGS VII, 349–50 (‘Was wir “Sinn” nennen’). 24 MHGS VII, 194 (‘Religion und Philosophie’). See also Jürgen Habermas, ‘Remarks on the Development of Horkheimer’s Work’, pp. 60–1, and Holl, ‘Religion und Metaphysik’, p. 141. 25 ‘Materialism and Morality’, p. 33. 26 ‘Theism and Atheism’, p. 47. 27 MHGS VII, 140–1 (‘Die Aktualität Schopenhauers’, ‘Schopenhauer’s contem- porary relevance’). Cf. MHGS VII, 232 (‘Pessimismus heute’, ‘Pessimism today’). 28 MHGS VII, 251–2 (‘Schopenhauers Denken im Verhältnis zu Wissenschaft und Religion’, ‘Schopenhauer’s thought in relation to science and religion’). Cf. MHGS VII, 194 (‘Religion und Philosophie’). 29 MHGS VII, 350–1 (‘Was wir “Sinn” nennen’); MHGS VII, 393–5 (‘Die Sehnsucht nach dem ganz Anderen’, ‘The longing for the totally Other’); ‘Theism and Atheism’, p. 50. See also Nörtersheuser, Max Horkheimer, pp. 288–300. 30 MHGS VII, 238–9 (‘Bemerkungen zur Liberalisierung der Religion’, ‘Remarks on the liberalisation of religion’). 31 Dawn and Decline, p. 101. See also Ott, Max Horkheimer’s Critical Theory, pp. 75, 123–4 and Nörtersheuser, Max Horkheimer, pp. 257–66. 32 MHGS VII, 434 (‘Die Zukunft der Kritischen Theorie’, ‘The future of Critical Theory’); MHGS VII, 238–9 (‘Liberalisierung’); MHGS VII, 293–4 (‘ “Himmel, Ewigkeit und Schönheit” ’, ‘ “Heaven, eternity and beauty” ’); MHGS VII, 350–2 (‘Was wir “Sinn” nennen’). See also Nörtersheuser, Max Horkheimer, pp. 257–63. 33 MHGS VII, 293–4 (‘ “Himmel” ’). Notes 193 34 MHGS VII, 311–13, quotation, 312 (‘Die Funktion der Theologie in der Gesellschaft’, ‘The social function of theology’). 35 MHGS VII, 187, 194 (‘Religion und Philosophie’); MHGS VII, 386 (‘Die Sehnsucht nach dem ganz Anderen’). Cf. Lutz-Bachmann, ‘Humanität und Religion’, p. 114. 36 Cf. Nörtersheuser, Max Horkheimer, p. 294. In the worst case the distinction is completely ignored, cf. Ott, Max Horkheimer’s Critical Theory, pp. 13, 94, 103–5. 37 Nörtersheuser, Max Horkheimer, pp. 290–300, quotation, p. 298. 38 Cf. Bloch, The Principle of Hope and Moltmann, Theology of Hope. 39 MHGS VII, 433–4 (‘Die Zukunft der kritischen Theorie’). See also MHGS VII, 389 (‘Die Sehnsucht nach dem ganz Anderen’), MHGS VII, 352–3 (‘Was wir “Sinn” nennen’), as well as Annemarie Gethmann-Siefert, ‘Die Vermittlung von Gottesfrage und Offenbarung im gesellschaftlichen Handeln’, pp. 276–7. 40 Nörtersheuser, Max Horkheimer, pp. 267–71. 41 Dawn and Decline, p. 148. 42 MHGS VII, 380 (‘Verwaltete Welt’, ‘A world subjected to administration’); MHGS VII, 347–8 (‘Was wir “Sinn” nennen’); MHGS VII, 403 (‘Die Sehnsucht nach dem ganz Anderen’). See also Nörtersheuser, Max Horkheimer, pp. 237–8 and Holl, ‘Religion und Metaphysik’, p. 139. 43 MHGS VII, 340–1 (‘Dokumente – Stationen’); MHGS VII, 415–16 (‘Neues Denken über Revolution’, ‘New thoughts on revolution’); MHGS VII, 345–7 (‘Was wir “Sinn” nennen’). 44 MHGS VII, 352 (‘Was wir “Sinn” nennen’). See also Nörtersheuser, Max Horkheimer, pp. 255–62, and Ott, Max Horkheimer’s Critical Theory, p. 119. 45 MHGS VII, 387 (‘Die Sehnsucht nach dem ganz Anderen’).
Load more

Recommended publications
  • NATURE, SOCIOLOGY, and the FRANKFURT SCHOOL by Ryan
    NATURE, SOCIOLOGY, AND THE FRANKFURT SCHOOL By Ryan Gunderson A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Sociology – Doctor of Philosophy 2014 ABSTRACT NATURE, SOCIOLOGY, AND THE FRANKFURT SCHOOL By Ryan Gunderson Through a systematic analysis of the works of Max Horkheimer, Theodor W. Adorno, Herbert Marcuse, and Erich Fromm using historical methods, I document how early critical theory can conceptually and theoretically inform sociological examinations of human-nature relations. Currently, the first-generation Frankfurt School’s work is largely absent from and criticized in environmental sociology. I address this gap in the literature through a series of articles. One line of analysis establishes how the theories of Horkheimer, Adorno, and Marcuse are applicable to central topics and debates in environmental sociology. A second line of analysis examines how the Frankfurt School’s explanatory and normative theories of human- animal relations can inform sociological animal studies. The third line examines the place of nature in Fromm’s social psychology and sociology, focusing on his personality theory’s notion of “biophilia.” Dedicated to 바다. See you soon. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe my dissertation committee immense gratitude for offering persistent intellectual and emotional support. Linda Kalof overflows with kindness and her gentle presence continually put my mind at ease. It was an honor to be the mentee of a distinguished scholar foundational to the formation of animal studies. Tom Dietz is the most cheerful person I have ever met and, as the first environmental sociologist to integrate ideas from critical theory with a bottomless knowledge of the environmental social sciences, his insights have been invaluable.
    [Show full text]
  • Hansen, Cinema and Experience: Siegfried Kracauer, Walter
    Cinema and Experience WEIMAR AND NOW: GERMAN CULTURAL CRITICISM Edward Dimendberg, Martin Jay, and Anton Kaes, General Editors Cinema and Experience Siegfried Kracauer, Walter Benjamin, and Th eodor W. Adorno Miriam Bratu Hansen UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley Los Angeles London University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2012 by Th e Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hansen, Marian Bratu, 1949–2011. Cinema and experience : Siegfried Kracauer, Walter Benjamin, and Th eodor W. Adorno / Miriam Bratu Hansen. p. cm.—(Weimar and now: German cultural criticism ; 44) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-520-26559-2 (cloth : alk. paper) isbn 978-0-520-26560-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Motion pictures. 2. Kracauer, Siegfried, 1889–1966—Criticism and interpretation. 3. Benjamin, Walter, 1892–1940—Criticism and interpretation. 4. Adorno, Th eodor W., 1903–1969—Criticism and interpretation. I. Title. PN1994.H265 2012 791.4309—dc23 2011017754 Manufactured in the United States of America 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 In keeping with a commitment to support environmentally responsible and sustainable printing practices, UC Press has printed this book on Rolland Enviro100, a 100 percent postconsumer fi ber paper that is FSC certifi ed, deinked, processed chlorine-free, and manufactured with renewable biogas energy.
    [Show full text]
  • Emily Wardill NIGHT for DAY
    NIGHT FOR DAY EMILY WARDILL Emily Wardill NIGHT FOR DAY SECESSION, Vienna September—November 2020 3 THE SCOLD’S BRIDLE: SOME THOUGHTS ON POLITICAL LINGUISTICS, THE PENCHANT FOR CONSPIRACY, AND WITCHES By Marta Kuzma 16 THE LIFE OF PSEUDO PROBLEMS. “The I is unsalvageable.” By Kerstin Stakemeier 29 I WAS TRYING TO DESCRIBE WHO YOU ARE 49 NIGHT FOR DAY OR DAY FOR NIGHT 69 TRIANGLE IN THE ROUND 89 YOU LIKED THE BEACH BECAUSE IT WAS PUBLIC SPACE BUT I LIKED IT BECAUSE ON THE BEACH PEOPLE LOOK LIKE GRAPHICS 109 THAT WAS THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE HOUSE BUT REALLY IT WAS MY JOB TO MAKE SURE THAT THE HOUSE WAS HAUNTED 129 NEVER WORK WITH CHILDREN OR ANIMALS 149 THE LAST WOMAN THE SCOLD’S BRIDLE: SOME THOUGHTS ON POLITICAL LINGUISTICS, THE PENCHANT FOR CONSPIRACY, AND WITCHES By Marta Kuzma POLITICAL LINGUISTICS, 2011 I first met Emily Wardill atFilm as Critical Practice, a weekend symposium and screening program held in Oslo in May of 2011. The event had been organized by the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA), an institution I led for some eight years, during which time it served as a foundation, research institution, exhibition platform, and school of sorts. It was a state-funded experimental program that had been granted permission to run with things for a while and A WOMAN WEARING A SCOLD’S BRIDLE, 1655 just see where they could go. Things went to some FROM A FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT BY JOHN exciting places in those eight years, before eventually WILLIS IPSWICH OF ANN BIDLESTONE BEING congealing into a technobureaucratic realm of fixed DROVE BY ROBERT SHARP boundaries and clear rules, the institution’s previously nimble way of proceeding lost to approvals and corrections.
    [Show full text]
  • Erich Unger's "Der Universalismus Des Hebraertums"
    TheJournal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy, Vol. 4, pp. 271-314 © 1995 Reprints available directly from the publisher. Photocopying permitted by license only Erich Unger's "Der Universalismus des Hebraertums" Translated by Esther J. Ehrman Introduction Erich Unger, a leading intellectual in Berlin after World War I, can be seen as a European philosopher conscious of the Judaic dimension in Western thought. His writings show that he responded to many varied philosophical trends around him, to Nietzsche in Germany, to Levy-Bruhl and to Sartre in France, to the logical positivists in England. His own thinking, however, retained certain pivotal anchors, some of which he had developed together with his friend and one time mentor, Oskar Goldberg. Unger looked to philosophy to reach out into areas beyond the scope of reason, using the cognitive function called "imagination." Strictly disciplined and guided by reason, a "rational mysticism" might apprehend laws of the universe, principles, values and being in that universe. He thought it impor- tant to examine this sphere and to discover how it relates to the empirical world, the world of physics and, especially, to the biological forces of the world. It was equally vital to him to study the ethical significance of the relation of the empirical world to that other, the extended natural (not a supernal) world. At the same time, Unger was working on formulations of what he saw as the inclusiveness of philosophical truths. Thus, equal value cannot be accorded to every principle simply because it exists, though a principle cannot be denied existence simply because it does not fit into a particular vision.
    [Show full text]
  • The German-Jewish Experience Revisited Perspectives on Jewish Texts and Contexts
    The German-Jewish Experience Revisited Perspectives on Jewish Texts and Contexts Edited by Vivian Liska Editorial Board Robert Alter, Steven E. Aschheim, Richard I. Cohen, Mark H. Gelber, Moshe Halbertal, Geoffrey Hartman, Moshe Idel, Samuel Moyn, Ada Rapoport-Albert, Alvin Rosenfeld, David Ruderman, Bernd Witte Volume 3 The German-Jewish Experience Revisited Edited by Steven E. Aschheim Vivian Liska In cooperation with the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem In cooperation with the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem. An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libra- ries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access. More information about the initiative can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. ISBN 978-3-11-037293-9 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-036719-5 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-039332-3 ISSN 2199-6962 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2015 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Cover image: bpk / Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Typesetting: PTP-Berlin, Protago-TEX-Production GmbH, Berlin Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck ♾ Printed on acid-free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com Preface The essays in this volume derive partially from the Robert Liberles International Summer Research Workshop of the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem, 11–25 July 2013.
    [Show full text]
  • University of Oklahoma Graduate College
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by SHAREOK repository UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE THE LIFE AND WORK OF GRETEL KARPLUS/ADORNO: HER CONTRIBUTIONS TO FRANKFURT SCHOOL THEORY A Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of P hilosophy BY STACI LYNN VON BOECKMANN Norman, Oklahoma 2004 UMI Number: 3147180 UMI Microform 3147180 Copyright 2005 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 THE LIFE AND WORK OF GRETEL KARPLUS/ADORNO: HER CONTRIBUTIONS TO FRANKFURT SCHOOL THEORY A Dissertation APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH BY ____________________________ _ Prof. Catherine Hobbs (Chair) _____________________________ Prof. David Gross ____________________________ _ Assoc. Prof. Susan Kates _____________________________ Prof. Helga Madland _____________________________ Assoc. Prof. Henry McDonald © Copyright by Staci Lynn von Boeckmann 2004 All Rights Reserved To the memory of my grandmother, Norma Lee Von Boeckman iv Acknowledgements There a number of people and institutions whose contributions to my work I would like to acknowledge. For the encouragement that came from being made a Fulbright Alternative in 1996, I would like to thank t he Fulbright selection committee at the University of Oklahoma. I would like to thank the American Association of University Women for a grant in 1997 -98, which allowed me to extend my research stay in Frankfurt am Main.
    [Show full text]
  • BOOK REVIEWS Adorno's Aesthetic Theory Is
    ,~ BOOK REVIEWS T. W. ADORNO. Aest'/Jetic' Theory_ Adorno, Jurgen Habermas), this T,anslated by C. Lenhardt. Edited by book constitutes a summa aesthe- Gretel Adorno and Rolf Tiedemann. tit;a. An English translation has London: Routledg'e & KeganPaul, long been overdue First publishe~ 1984, Pp x + 526. in German in 1970 one year after Aesthetics has be,come a central Adorno's death the boo~ soori area for Marxistthought in twentieth- app'eared in French (1974) and Italian century Europe. Among prominent (1915). For years it has been dabated Western Marxist philosophers' the and used on the EurQpean conti~ent. names of Georg lukacs, ~Jean-Paul Until recently, however, Aesthetic Theory has receiv~d little attention Sartre, and Theodor W. Adorno imm- ~ ediately, come to mind. It is not clear, in the English speaking world. Th~ however, whether Marxist thought publication of Lenhardt's translation has entered the mainstre,am of conte- in 1984 makes a wider reception mporary Western aesthetics. In add,i- possible. tion to unavoidable pol itico-economic This reception will not be easy barriers, a blockade of ignorance and, or smooth. The book is complex and hostility has prevailed between provocative, just, as its author was Anglo-Arneri~n and Continental bri IIiant and, cont roversial. An H~ge- philosophy. Although less rigid in Iian Marxist critical of bot~ Hegel aes~hetics than' in philosophy of and Marxist-Leninism; an assimilated science, this blocl-ade has often pre- German Jew exiled for more than vented productive dialogue between fifteen years in England and the Westerr) Marxists and leading figures United States; a polished, modern in Anglo-American aesthetics.
    [Show full text]
  • Adorno, the Essay and the Gesture of Aesthetic Experience Estetika, 50(2): 149-168
    http://www.diva-portal.org This is the published version of a paper published in Estetika. Citation for the original published paper (version of record): Johansson, A S. (2013) The Necessity of Over-interpretation: Adorno, the Essay and the Gesture of Aesthetic Experience Estetika, 50(2): 149-168 Access to the published version may require subscription. N.B. When citing this work, cite the original published paper. Permanent link to this version: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:miun:diva-30068 Zlom2_2013_Sestava 1 1.10.13 13:28 Stránka 149 Anders Johansson THE NECESSITY OF OVER-INTERPRETATION: ADORNO, THE ESSAY AND THE GESTURE OF AESTHETIC EXPERIENCE ANDERS JOHANSSON This article is a discussion of Theodor W. Adorno’s comment, in the beginning of ‘The Essay as Form’, that interpretations of essays are over-interpretations. I argue that this statement is programmatic, and should be understood in the light of Adorno’s essayistic ideal of configuration, his notion of truth, and his idea of the enigmatic character of art. In order to reveal how this over-interpreting appears in practice, I turn to Adorno’s essay on Kafka. According to Adorno, the reader of Kafka is caught in an aporia: Kafka’s work cannot be interpreted, yet every single sentence calls for interpretation. This paradox is related to the gestures and images in Kafka’s work: like Walter Benjamin, Adorno means that they contain sedimented, forgotten experiences. Instead of interpreting these images, Adorno visualizes the experiences indirectly by presenting images of his own. His own essay becomes gestural.
    [Show full text]
  • The Divinity Library Vanderbilt University Nahum N. Glatzer Papers Revised 11/5/19
    The Divinity Library Vanderbilt University Nahum N. Glatzer Papers FINDING AID Revised 11/5/19 TABLE OF CONTENTS I. PASSOVER HAGGADAH ........................................................................................................................................... 1 II “GESPROCHE DER WEISEN” .................................................................................................................................... 2 III “PASSOVER HAGGADAH” ........................................................................................................................................ 2 IV CLASSICAL ZIONIST WRITINGS .............................................................................................................................. 3 V NNG MANUSCRIPT ................................................................................................................................................. 3 VI NNG – GODLBERG/SALANTER ............................................................................................................................... 4 VII MAJOR TRENDS IN JEWISH MYSTICISM .................................................................................................................. 4 VIII MOSHE SMELANSKY – FIRST LOVE PALESTINIAN STORIES .................................................................................... 5 IX NNG MANUSCRIPT “DAYS OF AWE” AND “LANGUAGE OF FAITH” ........................................................................ 5 X NNG – MANUSCRIPT (RE-TYPED) .........................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Absolute Relativity: Weimar Cinema and the Crisis of Historicism By
    Absolute Relativity: Weimar Cinema and the Crisis of Historicism by Nicholas Walter Baer A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Film and Media and the Designated Emphasis in Critical Theory in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Anton Kaes, Chair Professor Martin Jay Professor Linda Williams Fall 2015 Absolute Relativity: Weimar Cinema and the Crisis of Historicism © 2015 by Nicholas Walter Baer Abstract Absolute Relativity: Weimar Cinema and the Crisis of Historicism by Nicholas Walter Baer Doctor of Philosophy in Film and Media Designated Emphasis in Critical Theory University of California, Berkeley Professor Anton Kaes, Chair This dissertation intervenes in the extensive literature within Cinema and Media Studies on the relationship between film and history. Challenging apparatus theory of the 1970s, which had presumed a basic uniformity and historical continuity in cinematic style and spectatorship, the ‘historical turn’ of recent decades has prompted greater attention to transformations in technology and modes of sensory perception and experience. In my view, while film scholarship has subsequently emphasized the historicity of moving images, from their conditions of production to their contexts of reception, it has all too often left the very concept of history underexamined and insufficiently historicized. In my project, I propose a more reflexive model of historiography—one that acknowledges shifts in conceptions of time and history—as well as an approach to studying film in conjunction with historical-philosophical concerns. My project stages this intervention through a close examination of the ‘crisis of historicism,’ which was widely diagnosed by German-speaking intellectuals in the interwar period.
    [Show full text]
  • 10595.Ch01.Pdf
    © 2007 UC Regents Buy this book University of California Press, one of the most distin- guished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its ac- tivities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and in- stitutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2007 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bahr, Ehrhard. Weimar on the Pacific : German exile culture in Los Angeles and the crisis of modernism / Ehrhard Bahr. p. cm.—(Weimar and now : 41) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-0-520-25128-1 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Modern (Aesthetics)—California—Los Angeles. 2. German—California—Los Angeles—Intellectual life. 3. Jews. German—California—Los Angeles—Intellec- tual life. 4. Los Angeles (Calif.)—Intellectual life— 20th century. I. Title. bh301.m54b34 2007 700.89'31079494—dc22 200700207 Manufactured in the United States of America 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 10 987654321 The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper). Contents List of Illustrations vii List of Abbreviations ix Preface xiii Introduction 1 1. The Dialectic of Modernism 30 2. Art and Its Resistance to Society: Theodor W. Adorno’s Aesthetic Theory 56 3. Bertolt Brecht’s California Poetry: Mimesis or Modernism? 79 4. The Dialectic of Modern Science: Brecht’s Galileo 105 5.
    [Show full text]
  • From Martin Buber’S Iand Thou to Mikhail Bakhtin’Sconcept of ‘Polyphony’ 21
    Dialogue as a Trans-disciplinary Concept Studia Judaica Forschungen zur Wissenschaft des Judentums Begründet von Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich Herausgegeben von Günter Stemberger, Charlotte Fonrobert und Alexander Samely Band 83 Dialogue as a Trans-disciplinary Concept Martin Buber’s Philosophy of Dialogue and its Contemporary Reception Edited by Paul Mendes-Flohr DE GRUYTER An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libra- ries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access. More information about the initiative can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. ISBN 978-3-11-037915-0 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-040222-3 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-040237-7 ISSN 0585-5306 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2015 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Munich/Boston Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck ♾ Printed on acid-free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com TableofContents Paul Mendes-Flohr Introduction: Dialogue as aTrans-DisciplinaryConcept 1 Jürgen
    [Show full text]