Overview

Adorno and Performance offers the first comprehensive examination of the vital role of performance within the philosophy of Theodor W. Adorno. Capacious in its ramifications for contemporary life, the term 'performance' here unlocks Adorno's dialectical thought process, which aimed at overcoming the stultifying uniformity of instrumental reason.

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9781349491957

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Reviews

'Adorno and Performance pursues Adorno in lifelong performance. A richly evocative, heterodox body of his work as a philosopher, sociologist, musicologist, composer, aesthetician, and literary critic (and Adorno was all of these) is called on by scholar-critics who think (and think smartly) about theater in the broadest ways possible: all the world's a stage. This is a witty, highly informed, consistently thoughtful, indeed responsible investigation by young intellectuals as well as seasoned scholars, all of whom care about and with pretty much equal concern history, society, theater, performance, subjectivity, and human agency. Adorno speaks to them, but what they accomplish by way of Adorno is not a mirroring but a critical engagement for reasons that matter: the struggle for truths and the need for hope against whatever (usually considerable) odds.' - Professor Richard Leppert, University of Minnesota, USA 'The recently revived interest in the work of T.W. Adorno has made clear the need for new ways of understanding his relevance to a critical appraisal of contemporary culture. Adorno and Performance offers a wealth of perspectives on how Adorno's work can inform and be informed by reflection on performance, as something central both to the arts, particularly theatre and music, and to social and political life more generally.' - Professor Andrew Bowie, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

'Adorno and Performance pursues Adorno in lifelong performance. A richly evocative, heterodox body of his work as a philosopher, sociologist, musicologist, composer, aesthetician, and literary critic (and Adorno was all of these) is called on by scholar-critics who think (and think smartly) about theater in the broadest ways possible: all the world's a stage. This is a witty, highly informed, consistently thoughtful, indeed responsible investigation by young intellectuals as well as seasoned scholars, all of whom care about and with pretty much equal concern history, society, theater, performance, subjectivity, and human agency. Adorno speaks to them, but what they accomplish by way of Adorno is not a mirroring but a critical engagement for reasons that matter: the struggle for truths and the need for hope against whatever (usually considerable) odds.' - Professor Richard Leppert, University of Minnesota, USA 'The recently revived interest in the work of T.W. Adorno has made clear the need for new ways of understanding his relevance to a critical appraisal of contemporary culture. Adorno and Performance offers a wealth of perspectives on how Adorno's work can inform and be informed by reflection on performance, as something central both to the arts, particularly theatre and music, and to social and political life more generally.' - Professor Andrew Bowie, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK

Author Information

Martin Parker Dixon, University of Glasgow, UK Anthony Gritten, Royal Academy of Music, UK Birgit Hofstaetter, University of Brighton, UK Ioana Jucan, Brown University, USA Michal Kobialka, University of Minnesota, USA Julie Kuhlken, Independent Scholar, USA Mattias Martinson, Uppsala University, Sweden Anja Nowak, University of British Columbia, Canada Marcus Quent, University of Leipzig, Germany Stephen Robins, Independent Scholar, UK Andrea Sakoparnig, Free University Berlin, Germany Mischa Twitchin, Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK

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