The writings of German philosophers and critics Theodor W. Adorno, Walter Benjamin, Siegfried Kracauer, and Herbert Marcuse questioned, not only the canon of traditional literature and art, but the entire existence of the aesthetic in modern society. Highly attuned to the formal registers of individual works, these critics at the same time were eager to explore the broader social, political, and psychological implications of literary and artistic practice. Their work has remained essential for any critical and theoretically informed engagement with the role of cultural expressions and aesthetic media through today. The task of this seminar is to review and discuss their seminal essays, untangle their not always user-friendly arguments, and compare their various positions and interventions. Special attention will be given to their respective contributions to the development of literary theory and criticism, but we will also focus on these theorists’ approach to music, film, exhibition practice, and aesthetic theory in general.
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