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    371 views11 pages

    Adorno On Lyric Poetry and Society PDF

    Uploaded by

    Ivan Sokolov

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 11
    | NOTES | TO [ LITERATURE Volume One European Perspectives 1A Sori in Soc Pp od Cabral Crisco Lawrence D. Ketan at coment | THEODOR W. ADORNO Eagan Popa ko mat se wr : serpy ery ng cope By renga so ong copy oh EDITED BY ROLP TIEDEMANN (Peis o te aerial creer "oeean Eile Win da Cn 4 Ca adr Pr Vai igwt tate eg Jeestetat Hoop aso Sheol Nie COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS ‘New York an} fal cuide the controversy over commited at and Pare pour Part, tse the choice betwen th pili of art with aise and the Philsinism of ar for enjoyment. Kal Kras oce formulate the idea that everthing tht spoke morally out of hin works inthe form of pigs, non esthetic rely Pd ben impart o him solely under the law of language, usin the name of are por Part, I in tedency inherent inform that demnde the abolton of aesthetic dace inthe contemporary novel ad it capitation thereby tothe supevioe owe of ‘eality—a rey that cannot be transgured in an image but only altered corey, in reali ae On Lyric Poetry and Society he auc of treo pe poy a cy oie iano yo mera, You il eet scl entn cPhe temo sy sje By yr ge pre oe wp vith ply sd hy ors ng wl poem of ing nc. ou wl apes mewn of theca Sow ne sh vor rent an he ea wl yo pe of operons fe oreo tytn hte fo of ‘Etyoing and elting wl pre ht te cho ty of Slept, You tl pet ll wil be gly of roger ig” ig sey tn “Rivne de esis brenda nat ng ‘Southey be a ne al bt nly Tie pct Stu eye davenag Juin the of ve poy Tie Dat de teow ing lng on ost ech a tod brn ny ces ih Lesa orton, when pt of the ast I ys toa a onde, om Cea end natn As of een es ey ‘Sen sashes nt tchngiihg te poe of clon Sroning I tugh te pe of echo, so Baa Niamcief ote roped tel iat he opt of wh ‘Stefi be thongh te wip caine Ca yee, ou SOULars un wots oth Mek se yo Gy our spins wil be alle nl ic work ae at ano by Sing moe Os winch we dense mga as theses but 3F insted the sca clement in th ie shown to eve something eset about the basi of their auiy. This relationship ‘ould lead not away roe the work of art bak deeper into ts Bt the ‘most elementiry reflection shows that thir isto be expected. For the substance ofa poem is aot merely an expresion of individual impulses and experiences, Those become a mater of art only when they come fo Facipat in something universal by virtue ofthe specie they scaute In being given seshee form. Not that what the Irie prem express rst be imediaely equivaleato wht eveyone experience. Its univer Sly so elm de er, ot the univerityof simply communieatng what eters ae unable wo communicate Rate, immersion in what hs {ken individual form elevates the Ire poem tothe suo something ‘nivel by making manifest something oot ditt, ot grasped nt yet subsumed. Te thereby anit, spray, x stanton sn which Do fae universal, tat iy nothing profoundly particu, coniues © feter what ithe than tel he aman. The rie werk haps to tia universality though unrestrained individastion, The danger peculiar fo the lic, however, Hes inthe fact tht ie principle of individuation inover gurantee tht something binding ad authentic wl be provuced, Te has no say over whether the pcm remains within the contingency of mere peat exitence “The university of the Ire’ subeance, however, is sci in ature. (Only ene who heats the voice of humankind in the poem oitade ca understand what the poem is sing; indend, even the sltarines of Tyrie Inguage itt prescribed by a individual and ultimately toms society, js as conversely its genera cgnery depends on th intensity of ts individ. For that reason, however, refletion on he work of ats justifed in inquiring, and obligated eguie concretely inc its soil content and not cone itself with + vague fling of something universal aod inclusive. This kid of speciation through thought snot vome extertal elton alien to at, onthe conta. all linguistic works of art demand i The material prope ta them, concepts, doesnt exhaust ite in mer contemplation In order to be susceptible of aesthetic contemplation, works oft mist ays be thought through well and once thought as een called into ply by the poem it does ce ise be topped atthe poems behest. ‘Such thought, however—the scl sterpretion of Irie otra of| all works ofa —may ao foes directly om the salle acl perp: ‘ive or the socal interest ofthe work thir authors Ines mas He RR 3” discover how the etry of airy, conceived mantra oat icstory unity, is nied inthe work oF atin what way the work of fare remains subject to sacey and in what way it tranncende it In Phiowphical terms, dhe approach must be an immanent one. Soci fonceps should nt be applied wo the works from without but rather ‘avn from ap entng eamination ofthe work themselves, Goethe's ‘stement in his Masi and Refit hat what you do ot understand You do ot poses olds ot el forthe aesthetic attude to works af at but for seshetc theory aswel ting tha is ot nthe works, at part OF their om form, can legitimate a determination of what tt ub- taoce, that which earl ino thelr poet, copes in soil tems, To determine that, of couse, requires both knowledge of the interior ofthe work fat and knowlege ofthe society ouside. Bu this owed ie binding ony if reine through compl subi son othe mater at hand. Speci vigilance required when comes to the concep of ienlogy, which then days is beabored tothe point of inuleabiliy. For ideology is untruth, fle consciousness, ect. It manifests in the faire of works ofa in heir inberent fitness, fd i is countered by erica, To repeat mechanically, however, that frst works of art, whose onence consis in giving for tthe eral fontraditions in el existence, and only in tat texte in 2 tendeney to reconcile them, are esogy, at only docs an injustice to their trith fontent bat ao micepretents the concep of ienogy. That concept does fot mca hall pst serves ony for sme human beings to sly Preset some pariular valu a geeral ones rather, ii intended Soma opr tht especialy fe and the sue ime o grap iin ft nceanty. The grates of works of ar, Boweve, cons sll in the fit tt they give vote to what Wecogy bide. Their very acest moves bejood false consciousness, whether atetionll Fo, ‘Let me tke your own misgivings as «starting point. You experience lyre pote a something opposed to sci, something wholly individ ul, Your Flings isi hat it remsin so, ta ye expresion, having ‘Scape from the meghtof material existence, evoke the image ofa life fre fom the coercion of reigning practices, of ily, of the releatless presre of lf preervstion. Ths demand, however, the demand tht he jie word be vigil, i elf socal in entre. Temples» protest guns «social situation that every inividual experiences 8 bosile, ‘lien, cold, oppressive, and this sition is imprinted in revere on che psesc work: the more heavy the situation weighs upon a the mare Sem the work resist iy efusing to sabmit to anything etronomoos| and constituting elf lly in accordance with own Iv. The work's stance frm mere exsence becomes the mesure of what efile and ba in the later Tt promt the poem expres the rea ofa world in which things would be diferent The lyri ptt Mayne oppo sion tothe superior power of material things a form of ection othe refeatin of the word othe domization of harman beings by comme ites that his developed since te begining ofthe modern ae since he industrial revolution became the dominant force in le. Rill’ el of the thing [ss in ix Dingdce or “hing poems] is pare of his itioocatic opposition; i atempes to atime even alien objets 0 pure subjective expression and to dinalve ther, to give thom metephys ial credit for their aliennes. The aehetic mens of ths cult of the thing, its obecurtse demeanor sod it blending of religion with as tnd cats, reveals the real power of eefaton, which can oo longer be gilded with a lyrical halo and brought back within the sphere of esi. “Toy tht the concept of Ire poetry thi is in some sense second tute to us i a completely modre one i ly to expres this insight into the soil natare ofthe lyri in diferent form, Analogous, land. scrpe pining aad it idx of “ature” have bad an autonomous develop. iment nly in he madera period. I know tht Lnaggerae ining that you could ace mazy coustererapls, The mos. compelling ‘would be Sappho. Twi not disse the Chinese, Japan, and Arab Agric sine T cannot read them in the orginal and I spe! that ran tin involves them ian adapeve mechanism that make adegute unde. sanding completely imposible. Bat the maaifetions in alee periods of the specify yi spre fia to ur are only lated ashes, us 3 the backgrounds in alder painting ocasnally anticipate the es of landscape ping. They do nt elisha a orm The gret poets of the distant pst—Pinde and Aleseus, for instance, but the greater pat of Walther von der Vogeweide' works well-whom erry history lass vic poew ar uncommonly fr frm cr primary conception ofthe pric. The ak the quay of immediacy, of immaterial, which eae accustomed, righty o nt o consider the criterion of he Itc ind which we waned only though rigorous eduction ‘Uns we have either broadened it hari or taraed it eritally int the sphere of individu, however, cur conception of Ise Petry has a moment of discontinuity inital he mores, the more pte it chime tobe. The “I” whote voces beard inthe yi in "I" that defies tad express inelf ar vomethingopponl tothe collective, bjestviy i not immediately atone wih the mature to which its feprenion refer. Te has low a8 were, and atemps © restore it ‘hrough animation, shrcugh immersion in the I” if. Iti only through hamnization tha ure is to be ratored the right tht hua domination tok rom i. Even ric works ia which no ace of eonven- ‘nal and concrete exizece, no erode mateiy resin, the greatest Tyre works in our language, owe ther quality to the fore with which the "I" create the isin of mature emerging frm aletion, Their pare subjeiity, the aspect of them tt appears seamles and harmon ‘hs, ears wits oi oppite, to fering in an exitece aes to the Subject and to lve for tan wel”indeod, thir rmoniousess is fctalyasthing bat the mutual accord ofthis suffering ad this love Even the lie from Goethe's “Wanderers Nach” ("Wanderers Nigh Song”), "Wart ur, bald rues auch” [*Ony wi, ona you too Shall rea”) hasan ae of conslition: te unfsthorale aay cant be Separated from something it make 0 reference, the potion ofa word Uist withholds pence, Only in rsonaing with adres about that ithe bling does the pom maa that there i peace nevertheless. One is tempted to use the line “Ac, ich bin des Trcbers ide” [Lam weary of reales activi”) from the companion poem of the same tle to Jnterpret the "Wanderers Nactil,"'To be sue, the grees of the later poet derives fom the fice at it dos ot spe about wht is tlicnte and dsturbing, from theft that within he poem the ress nes of he objets noe posed othe subject isteach subjects owe felesnese choc A second immediacy is promised: what is haan, Iangunge isl, scee fo bose erin agai, while everything exes- nal des any inthe eco ofthe sul. This breomes mor tha an ison, owevery i ecomes ful truth, beau through the expresion in ln gage ofa god kind of tiredness, the shadow of yenraing and even of ‘Seth continu to fill arors the reconiion, Inthe ine "Ware ur, Tale” the woe of lie, with an enigmatic aul of sorrow, cos ito the brit moment before ne fll alep. The nate of pescefnes atest to the fet that peace cane! be achieved without the dram disntegrat- ing. The shadow has no power over the image of life come back eto is ty but a a at reminder of Hf deformation t gives the dea its profiand depts beneath he serfce of he ong. Inthe face of mature at sym ature frm which ll races of anything resembling the human have been eradicate, the sje becomes ware of ts aig Inpercepibly,sileaty, irony tinge the pos comolaion: the seconde efor the lis of sleep ae the sme conde that separate our bret Iie from death. Afer Goche, this slime irony bee = debe and spitefal irony. Buti was always bougeis: the adow-ie af the leation of the liberated sabjec sis degradation to mmethiog ex shangeable, to something that exits merely for something ee the shdowside of pernnaity isthe "So who are you” The auteniy of the "Nachle," howevce fis nts moment in ime: the bacground of that desactve force removes it frm the sphere of pay, ae the destructive force has no power ovr the peaceable power of consolation. eis commonly sid tht «perfect Ire poe mst pes tality 0° universality, must provide th ole within he bounds of he poe ad the infite within the poem’ Site, If that isto be more than # ltitude of an sextet that sways ready tou the concep of the Symbolic asa paces, it inde that n every Ire por the Rise relationship of the subject to objectvin, ofthe individ ey, smut have Found is precipitate in the madim of abjetive ick thrown back upon ff. The le the work thats the rasonhip oT ed cy, there spt aya of wt accord in the pom, the more compete this proves of preciptason ced in the po plete this proces of pre ‘You may acise me of 0 subimating the relationship of lye and society inthis deni out of fear of «crude scclgam ta here really nothing et oft itis preily what mo scl the re pos that is cow to Became its sail anpet. You could ell ny stenton fo Gasav Dor’ earctre of the arc rectonrydepury whone pee of ‘he ann rgime culminated in he exclamation, “Aad o moms gate, ime, do we owe the eoltion of 1789 itt Lous XVI" You could ‘ply that omy view of lic poety and wc: in my view, you could Say society play the role ofthe exuding andthe Ise role at ‘ss opponent but ric poetry, you my, can 0 more be expuaed on the tas of sce than the revlsin can be made th tchcrement of he mmocach # depo and without whom inate i might no hee ‘red at tht time, We wil lave it an open questo whether Doss

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