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More dialectical than the dialectic: Exemplarity in Theodor W. Adorno’s The Essay as Form.

Authors :
Kray, Thorn-R
Source :
Thesis Eleven; Feb2018, Vol. 144 Issue 1, p30-45, 16p
Publication Year :
2018

Abstract

This essay presents a careful interpretation of Adorno’s classical text The Essay as Form, published in 1958 as the introduction to his Notes on Literature. Since it thickly condenses many of Adorno’s general views, the Essay poses great hermeneutic challenges to readers. The paper, first, elaborates on the essay more broadly as a genre and identifies a spectrum between science and art each individual essay draws from to forge its particular hybridity. Second, the example is discussed as an epistemologically potent trope oscillating between subsumption and singularity. This internal tension renders the example particularly qualified to serve as the conceptual basis on which interpretative themes in the essay can be discovered. Three lines of interpretation are suggested: (a) poetological for the essay/Essay’s definition, goal, and method; (b) critical/dialectical for its treatment of concepts and in relation to content; and (c) epistemic for the modern separation of art and science. The conclusion comes back to the issue of exemplarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
07255136
Volume :
144
Issue :
1
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Thesis Eleven
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
127930609
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1177/0725513618755767