Literature and the Reconstruction of the Aesthetic

Abstract

In this chapter I present the first results of my interpretation. Based on the principle of dissolution of the aesthetic, Adorno seems to align himself with the artistic theory according to which contemporary works of art have become mere objects among the others, or most radically mere commodities of the art market. What I intend to bring attention to is the peculiar position of Adorno within this context: Since society cannot be considered satisfied, there must be a human product able to express its unconscious dynamics, its apparently natural and oppressive tensions. This artistic product cannot however be a material, sensible and immediate at the same time; it cannot be made by the same material doomed to become part of the social capitalistic production. In this sense, in order to remain artistic, art must become immaterial, or in other words it must be understood according to a literary paradigm of the artwork.