The culture industry : selected essays on mass culture / Theodor W. Adorno ; edited and with an introduction by J.M. Bernstein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Adorno, Theodor W., 1903-1969.

Contributor:

Bernstein, J. M.

Series:

Routledge classics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Popular culture--History--20th century.

Popular culture.

History.

Mass society--History--20th century.

Mass society.

Mass media--Social aspects--History--20th century.

Mass media.

Civilization, Modern--1950-.

Civilization, Modern.

Postmodernism.

Mass media--Social aspects.

Physical Description:

viii, 210 pages ; 20 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2001.

Summary:

The creation of the Frankfurt School of critical theory in the 1920s saw the birth of some of the most exciting and challenging writings of the twentieth century. It is out of this background that the great critic Theodor Adorno emerged. His finest essays are collected here, offering the reader unparalleled insights into Adorno's thoughts on culture. He argued that the culture industry commodified and standardised all art. In turn this suffocated individuality and destroyed critical thinking. At the time, Adorno was accused by his many detractors of everything from overreaction to deranged hysteria. In today's world, where even the least cynical of consumers is aware of the influence of the media, Adorno's work takes on a more immediate significance. The Culture Industry is an unrivalled indictment of the banality of mass culture.

Contents:

On the fetish character in music and the regression of listening

The schema of mass culture

Culture industry reconsidered

Culture and administration

Freudian theory and the pattern of fascist propaganda

How to look at television

Transparencies on film

Free time

Resignation.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

0415253802

OCLC:

47915629