Life, Politics, and Aesthetics: Theodor W. Adorno’s and Walter Benjamin’s Reflections on the Historical Avantgarde
Life, Politics, and Aesthetics: Theodor W. Adorno’s and Walter Benjamin’s Reflections on the Historical Avantgarde

Summary/Abstract: This contribution will be concerned with Adorno’s and Benjamin’s philosophical reflections on avantgarde art (mainly surrealism). The first part of this paper will draw attention to the relations between popular culture and the historical avantgarde. Then the problem of the tensions in the avantgarde between artistic autonomy and political commitment in Adorno’s and Benjamin’s philosophy of art will be dealt with. Finally, referring to Jürgen Habermas and Peter Bürger, the general question will be treated how political commitment and art relate to one another in modernity.

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