“It is claimed that standards were based in the first place on consumers’ needs and for that reason were accepted with so little resistance. The result is the circle of manipulation and retroactive need in which the unity of the system grows ever stronger. No mention is made of the fact that the basis on which technology acquires power over society is the power of those economic hold over society is great.” Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer (1944).
Adorno Theodor was born in 1903 in Frankfurt and was a German Jewish sociologist, philosopher and musicologist and is known for his critical theory of society. He obtained his degree in philosophy from University in Frankfurt in 1924. He taught two years in Frankfurt and immigrated to England in 1934 to escape from Nazi persecution of Jews. He has taught in University of Oxford, went to USA and worked at Princeton; was co-director of the Research Project on Social Discrimination at the University of California. Later, in 1949 he and his colleague, Max Horkheimer returned to the University of Frankfurt were they rebuilt the Institute of Social Research and revived the Frankfurt school of critical theory, which contributed to the German intellectual revival after Word War 2. He was married to Greter. Adorno died in August 6, 1969 because of heart attack.
Adorno Theodor’s early writings emphasize aesthetic development evolution and “one of his theme was civilization tendency to self destruction which indicated Fascism”
(Encyclopedia of Marxism). He believed that social control is maintained by the cultural industry. His famous books are Dialectic of Enlightenment (written by Adorno and Horkheimer) where “Adorno and Horkheimer located this impulse in the concept of reason itself, which the Enlightenment and modern scientific thought had transformed into an irrational force that had come to dominate not only nature but humanity itself. The rationalization of human society had ultimately led to Fascism and other totalitarian regimes that represented a complete negation of human freedom. Adorno concluded that rationalism offers little hope for human emancipation, which might come instead from art and the prospects it offers for preserving individual autonomy and happiness”(Encyclopedia Marxism).
The cultural values and ideas are set in a society with the help of communications and electronic media. In today’s context, people are blinded by the mass media which from outside claims that they are in favor of the public, but truth always remains hidden. The mass media is owned by very rich and conservative people who only think about their profit and according to that strategy the news and other programs are delivered towards the public. Everyday watching the same news and advertisement public believes on them and adapts it in their daily life. The news is manipulated, biased and one- sided favoring the richest and powerful people of the society which has made the public blind.
I do agree with this quotation because it tells the truth of our society and how the mass culture is being developed by the mass media which is making the public dull and giving only one sided aspects of the truth and making profit out of it.
References:
Theodor, Adorno and Horkheimer, Max. The Culture Industry: Enligtenment as Mass
Deception. “The Frankfurt School.” Marxists. Org. 1944. Web. 7 Oct.2012
Theodore, Adorno(1903-1965). “Glossary of People.” Ho. Marxists.org,n.d. Web.
7 Oct. 2012
Questions and Answers of “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”.
1. How does Dr. Caligari symbolize authority?
Dr. Caligari symbolizes authority as in the movie it shows that he is the master of the sleepwalker “Cesare” who is hypnotized by Dr. Caligari and he commits murder according to his master’s order. So, he is portrayed as the world of insane murderous authorities and universal conscription. Also, at the end being the head of the institute, a Psychiatrist shows him as a symbol of authority.
2. How does the profit motive affect cultural production in the modern age?
The profit motive thinks what is profitable and less controversy or does not want to criticize the traditional authority and changes the ending of the story of a film which completely transforms the message of the film. Also the creative tension is resolved due to profit motives. It reinforces traditional authority to assume that the audience receives the message in the intended way.
3. Why does Kracauer interpret the film as a choice between tyranny and chaos?
Kracauer interprets the film as a choice between tyranny and chaos because he believes that the film reveals the nihilistic core of German life in the 1920s and 1930s. He refers the circular movements of hte merry-go-round, and the organ grinder's arm as he plays his music box symbolizes chaos and Caligari refers to Hitler.
4. How does the film foreshadow the Nazi regime according to Kracauer ?
According to Kracauer, the character of Dr. Caligari as a combination of con-man and psychiatrist and can be interpreted as “Hitler” which indicates the Nazi regime.
5. What is praxis and how does it relate to cultural criticism?
Praxis is the fusion of theory and practice. The predominant tendency of all intellectuals is to study intellectual matters in isolation from the world and praxis is meant to shake them up into practical engagement in the world. It relates to cultural criticism as it is said that the new product develops the mass culture which destroys the dynamic interaction between culture and society.
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