Re-reading Adorno: The 'after-Auschwitz' Aporia

It is difficult to think of another area of literary discourse in which a critic has brought such a profound influence to bear, as Theodor W. Adorno has, in the area of literature concerning the Shoah. It is also difficult to think of another area of literary discourse in which a critic’s pronouncem...

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Autor principal:	Elaine Martin
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	University of Edinburgh 2006
Materias:	Fine Arts N Language and Literature P
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/23fe40d5dbe04a3983d2930e97132618
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:23fe40d5dbe04a3983d2930e971326182021-11-23T09:46:01ZRe-reading Adorno: The 'after-Auschwitz' Aporia1749-9771https://doaj.org/article/23fe40d5dbe04a3983d2930e971326182006-06-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.forumjournal.org/article/view/556https://doaj.org/toc/1749-9771It is difficult to think of another area of literary discourse in which a critic has brought such a profound influence to bear, as Theodor W. Adorno has, in the area of literature concerning the Shoah. It is also difficult to think of another area of literary discourse in which a critic’s pronouncements have been misinterpreted so often and to such a degree as have Adorno’s reflections concerning the status of art after the Shoah. Reference here is of course being made to Adorno’s (supposed) ‘dictum’ concerning the barbarity of poetry after Auschwitz. The principle aims of this paper are to restore his reflections to their argumentative context and to restore the dialectical tension conferred on them in the original text. I will examine what I have termed the “after-Auschwitz” aporia, so evident in Adorno’s reflections on post-Shoah art and yet overlooked all too frequently in the research literature. Defined as an irresolvable impasse as a result of equally plausible yet inconsistent premises the term “aporia” succinctly captures the essence of Adorno’s deliberations on post-Shoah art: the imperative to represent the egregious crimes and the impossibility of doing so. I will demonstrate that Adorno’s pronouncements were never meant as silence-inducing taboos, but rather as concrete theoretical reflections upon the moral status of art in the aftermath of the Shoah and as warnings of the moral peril involved in the artistic rendering of mass extermination.Elaine MartinUniversity of EdinburgharticleFine ArtsNLanguage and LiteraturePENForum, Iss 02 (2006)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Fine Arts N Language and Literature P
spellingShingle	Fine Arts N Language and Literature P Elaine Martin Re-reading Adorno: The 'after-Auschwitz' Aporia
description	It is difficult to think of another area of literary discourse in which a critic has brought such a profound influence to bear, as Theodor W. Adorno has, in the area of literature concerning the Shoah. It is also difficult to think of another area of literary discourse in which a critic’s pronouncements have been misinterpreted so often and to such a degree as have Adorno’s reflections concerning the status of art after the Shoah. Reference here is of course being made to Adorno’s (supposed) ‘dictum’ concerning the barbarity of poetry after Auschwitz. The principle aims of this paper are to restore his reflections to their argumentative context and to restore the dialectical tension conferred on them in the original text. I will examine what I have termed the “after-Auschwitz” aporia, so evident in Adorno’s reflections on post-Shoah art and yet overlooked all too frequently in the research literature. Defined as an irresolvable impasse as a result of equally plausible yet inconsistent premises the term “aporia” succinctly captures the essence of Adorno’s deliberations on post-Shoah art: the imperative to represent the egregious crimes and the impossibility of doing so. I will demonstrate that Adorno’s pronouncements were never meant as silence-inducing taboos, but rather as concrete theoretical reflections upon the moral status of art in the aftermath of the Shoah and as warnings of the moral peril involved in the artistic rendering of mass extermination.
format	article
author	Elaine Martin
author_facet	Elaine Martin
author_sort	Elaine Martin
title	Re-reading Adorno: The 'after-Auschwitz' Aporia
title_short	Re-reading Adorno: The 'after-Auschwitz' Aporia
title_full	Re-reading Adorno: The 'after-Auschwitz' Aporia
title_fullStr	Re-reading Adorno: The 'after-Auschwitz' Aporia
title_full_unstemmed	Re-reading Adorno: The 'after-Auschwitz' Aporia
title_sort	re-reading adorno: the 'after-auschwitz' aporia
publisher	University of Edinburgh
publishDate	2006
url	https://doaj.org/article/23fe40d5dbe04a3983d2930e97132618
work_keys_str_mv	AT elainemartin rereadingadornotheafterauschwitzaporia
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Re-reading Adorno: The 'after-Auschwitz' Aporia

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