Adorno quotes for William (this is from "Commitment" Notes to Literature, vol. 2). Also for Dennis because he was talking in other class about politics being too easy and predictable in some work.
this is all an attack on Brecht.
Literary realism of any provenance whatsoever, even if it calls itself critical or socialist, is more compatible with this antagonistic attitude toward everything strange or upsetting than are works that through their very approach, without swearing by political slogans, put the rigid coordination system of the authoritarian character out of action, a coordinate system which such people then hold to all the more stubbornly the less they are capable of spontaneousy experiencing something not already officially approved. The desire to take Brecht out of the repertory [in West Germany] should be attributed to a relatively superficial layer of political consciousness; and it was probably not very strong or it would have taken a much crasser form after August 12 [i.e., when the Berlin Wall was put up]. When, on the one hand, the social contract with reality is cancelled, in that literary works no longer speak as though they were talking about something real, one's hair stands on end. Not the least of the weaknesses in the debate about committed artis that the debate did not reflect on the effect exerted by works whose formal law disregards matters of effect. As long as what is communicated in the shock of the unintelligible is not understood, the whole debate resembles shadow boxing. Confusions in evaluating an issue do not, of course, change anything in the issue itself, but they do necessitate a rethinking of the alternatives. p. 79
and also...
The so-called artistic rendering of the naked physical pain of those who were beaten down with rifle butts contains, however distantly, the possibility that pleasure can be squeezed from it. The morality that forbids art to forget this for a second slides off into the abyss of its opposite. The aesthetic stylistic principle, and even the chorus' solemn prayer, make the unthinkable appear to have had some meaning; it becomes transfigured, something of its horror removed. By this alone an injustice is done to the victims, yet no art that avoided the victims could stand up to the demands of justice. Even the sound of desperation pays tribute to a heinous affirmation. Then works of lesser stature than the highest are also readily accepted, part of the process of "working through the past." When even genocide becomes cultural property in committed literature, it becomes easier to contiue complying with the culture that gave rise to the murder. p. 88
etc. lots of good stuff in here. i'll send a copy over to the library to put on e-reserves.
this is all an attack on Brecht.
Literary realism of any provenance whatsoever, even if it calls itself critical or socialist, is more compatible with this antagonistic attitude toward everything strange or upsetting than are works that through their very approach, without swearing by political slogans, put the rigid coordination system of the authoritarian character out of action, a coordinate system which such people then hold to all the more stubbornly the less they are capable of spontaneousy experiencing something not already officially approved. The desire to take Brecht out of the repertory [in West Germany] should be attributed to a relatively superficial layer of political consciousness; and it was probably not very strong or it would have taken a much crasser form after August 12 [i.e., when the Berlin Wall was put up]. When, on the one hand, the social contract with reality is cancelled, in that literary works no longer speak as though they were talking about something real, one's hair stands on end. Not the least of the weaknesses in the debate about committed artis that the debate did not reflect on the effect exerted by works whose formal law disregards matters of effect. As long as what is communicated in the shock of the unintelligible is not understood, the whole debate resembles shadow boxing. Confusions in evaluating an issue do not, of course, change anything in the issue itself, but they do necessitate a rethinking of the alternatives. p. 79
and also...
The so-called artistic rendering of the naked physical pain of those who were beaten down with rifle butts contains, however distantly, the possibility that pleasure can be squeezed from it. The morality that forbids art to forget this for a second slides off into the abyss of its opposite. The aesthetic stylistic principle, and even the chorus' solemn prayer, make the unthinkable appear to have had some meaning; it becomes transfigured, something of its horror removed. By this alone an injustice is done to the victims, yet no art that avoided the victims could stand up to the demands of justice. Even the sound of desperation pays tribute to a heinous affirmation. Then works of lesser stature than the highest are also readily accepted, part of the process of "working through the past." When even genocide becomes cultural property in committed literature, it becomes easier to contiue complying with the culture that gave rise to the murder. p. 88
etc. lots of good stuff in here. i'll send a copy over to the library to put on e-reserves.
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