Intellectual Transfer: Theodor W. Adorno's American Experience

Abstract

By the late 1960s Theodor W. had already become a kind of institution in Germany. himself, appalled, was among the first to realize this. But at that point no one gave much thought to the fact that had also become a transatlantic institution. In 1967, when I was attending my first advanced seminar in philosophy, Angela Davis presented a paper and Irving Wohlfarth and Sam Weber were among the participants. All three played important roles in translating, introducing, and mediating and Wal ter Benjamin's relation to a larger world. In 1969 Martin Jay came to Frank furt. His work in the 1970s kept alive a consciousness of the relation between the European critical theorists and Max Horkheimer?both of whom had passed away by the mid-1970s?and Herbert Marcuse and Leo L?wen thal, who lived longer lives in California. In Frankfurt students of observed these milestones, reached in the face of critical theory's often quite isolated and unhappy history, with a mixture of pleasure and distrust. For those who thought of themselves as inheriting a living tradition, it was disconcert ing to be told that critical theory was already a closed book?an object of intellectual history rather than a framework of contemporary social analy sis. In 1983 Jay became the first person to address the idea of Adorno in America. Unfortunately, despite Jay's warnings to be on guard against anec dotes and clich?s about either or the German ?migr? experience,