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177

Commitment

8
terms
2
notes

talks a lot about Sartre's essay What is Literature

W. Adorno, T. (2007). Commitment. In Brecht, B. et al Aesthetics and Politics. Verso, pp. 177-195

a summary of the principles of Christian religion in the form of questions and answers, used for the instruction of Christians

178

known in Russian catechisms as formalism

weird use of the term

—p.178 by Theodor W. Adorno
notable
7 years ago

known in Russian catechisms as formalism

weird use of the term

—p.178 by Theodor W. Adorno
notable
7 years ago

the quality of a verb that shows that an action is incomplete

179

Cultural conservatives who demand that a work of art should say something, join forces with their political opponents against atelic, hermetic works of art.

—p.179 by Theodor W. Adorno
uncertain
7 years ago

Cultural conservatives who demand that a work of art should say something, join forces with their political opponents against atelic, hermetic works of art.

—p.179 by Theodor W. Adorno
uncertain
7 years ago
180

[...] Committed art in the proper sense is not intended to generate ameliorative measures, legislative acts or practical institutions--like earlier propagandist plays against syphilis, duels, abortion laws or borstals--but to work at the level of fundamental attitudes. For Sartre its task is to awaken the free choice of the agent which makes authentic existence possible at all, as opposed to the neutrality of the spectator. But what gives commitment its aesthetic advantage over tendentiousness also renders the content to which the artist commits himself inherently ambiguous. [...]

—p.180 by Theodor W. Adorno 7 years ago

[...] Committed art in the proper sense is not intended to generate ameliorative measures, legislative acts or practical institutions--like earlier propagandist plays against syphilis, duels, abortion laws or borstals--but to work at the level of fundamental attitudes. For Sartre its task is to awaken the free choice of the agent which makes authentic existence possible at all, as opposed to the neutrality of the spectator. But what gives commitment its aesthetic advantage over tendentiousness also renders the content to which the artist commits himself inherently ambiguous. [...]

—p.180 by Theodor W. Adorno 7 years ago
184

[...] This is why the buffoonery of fascism, evoked by Chaplin as well, was at the same time also its ultimate horror. If this is suppressed, and a few sorry exploiters of greengrocers are mocked, where key positions of economic power are actually at issue, the attack misfires. The Great Dictator loses all satirical force and becomes obscene when a Jewish girl can hit a line of storm-troopers on the head with a pan without being torn to pieces. For the sake of political commitment, political reality is trivialized: which then reduces the political effect.

—p.184 by Theodor W. Adorno 7 years ago

[...] This is why the buffoonery of fascism, evoked by Chaplin as well, was at the same time also its ultimate horror. If this is suppressed, and a few sorry exploiters of greengrocers are mocked, where key positions of economic power are actually at issue, the attack misfires. The Great Dictator loses all satirical force and becomes obscene when a Jewish girl can hit a line of storm-troopers on the head with a pan without being torn to pieces. For the sake of political commitment, political reality is trivialized: which then reduces the political effect.

—p.184 by Theodor W. Adorno 7 years ago

childishly silly and trivial

184

the economic transactions presented as the machinations rapacious traders are not merely puerile [...] they are also unintelligible by the criteria of even the most primitive economic logic

—p.184 by Theodor W. Adorno
notable
7 years ago

the economic transactions presented as the machinations rapacious traders are not merely puerile [...] they are also unintelligible by the criteria of even the most primitive economic logic

—p.184 by Theodor W. Adorno
notable
7 years ago

(noun) defense of God's goodness and omnipotence in view of the existence of evil

184

Tacit acceptance of the claim that one half of the world no longer contains antagonisms is supplemented by jests at everything that belies the official theodicy of the other half

—p.184 by Theodor W. Adorno
notable
7 years ago

Tacit acceptance of the claim that one half of the world no longer contains antagonisms is supplemented by jests at everything that belies the official theodicy of the other half

—p.184 by Theodor W. Adorno
notable
7 years ago

(noun) an expression of real or pretended doubt or uncertainty especially for rhetorical effect / (noun) a logical impasse or contradiction / (noun) a radical contradiction in the import of a text or theory that is seen in deconstruction as inevitable

187

Aporia of this sort multiply until they affect the Brechtian tone itself, the very fibre of his poetic art

—p.187 by Theodor W. Adorno
notable
7 years ago

Aporia of this sort multiply until they affect the Brechtian tone itself, the very fibre of his poetic art

—p.187 by Theodor W. Adorno
notable
7 years ago

(noun) a eulogistic oration or writing / (noun) formal or elaborate praise

187

When Brecht became a panegyrist of its harmony, his lyric voice had to swallow chalk, and it started to grate.

—p.187 by Theodor W. Adorno
notable
7 years ago

When Brecht became a panegyrist of its harmony, his lyric voice had to swallow chalk, and it started to grate.

—p.187 by Theodor W. Adorno
notable
7 years ago

(verb) to utter or send out with denunciation / (verb) to send forth censures or invectives / (verb) express vehement protest

189

the adherents of a philosophy which has since degenerated into a mere ideological sport, fulminate in pre-1933 fashion against artistic distortion

—p.189 by Theodor W. Adorno
notable
7 years ago

the adherents of a philosophy which has since degenerated into a mere ideological sport, fulminate in pre-1933 fashion against artistic distortion

—p.189 by Theodor W. Adorno
notable
7 years ago

(noun) curse execration

194

it converts its own malediction into a theodicy

—p.194 by Theodor W. Adorno
confirm
7 years ago

it converts its own malediction into a theodicy

—p.194 by Theodor W. Adorno
confirm
7 years ago