Abstract
This paper analyzes Theodor Adorno's essay entitled "Aesthetic Theory" which is Adorno's critique of subjectivist aesthetic theory in light of the role art plays in society today. The reviewer perceives Adorno as seeking a higher truth for art. Adorno's essay is considered a criticism of the new, bourgeois view of art, in which art exists simply for the pleasure of the viewer. Additionally, the reviewer is surprised that Adorno attacks psychoanalytic and the Kantian approaches to art criticism, seeing that they attempt to understand art at a higher level. The paper further elaborates on Adorno's issue with these two academic approaches to art criticism.

From the Paper
"Given Adorno's disgust with the hungry, subjectivist view of art, it is unsurprising that within his essay Adorno lodges an attack against two subjectivist theories of aesthetics: the psychoanalytic and the Kantian. Adorno is especially disgusted with the Freudian notion that desire propels art, though he finds fault with the Kantian notion of disinterestedness as well."

Tags:Kant, Freud, art criticism

Abstract
This paper provides an insight into dolls, Theodor Adorno, pop culture and how they all tie together. The objective is to describe how Theodor Adorno's views on pop culture would apply to today's mass production of dolls, doll's images and the market for dolls in general. Through reviews of Adorno's work, it looks at how a correlation can be made that tie the many aspects of the doll making industry to the expectations of society.
Outline
Introduction
Adorno
Mass Production
Dolls
How Would Adorno Look at Dolls Made Today?
The Doll -- A Historical Function
Function in Recent Popular Culture
Conclusion

From the Paper
"To understand the modern doll industry, we must also understand the art or science of mass production. Adorno may tell us that the capitalist way of life was built on a foundation of mass marketing and mass production even though that can not provide culture. To have mass production, a system needs factories and places to sell the goods produced by those factories. Capitalism, however, is not easily satisfied with a few places, it requires an ever increasing number of plants and malls to satisfy its voracious appetite. Consider how today there is still a need for more places to build and sell the mass produced nothingness, dolls and doll houses are but one example. The current trends systematically erase resources and even history by building new shopping malls on historic battlefields or whatever land is available."

Tags:marketing, capitalism, critical, theory

Abstract
The paper looks at how Andre Bazin, in his discussion of how the cinematic and photographic media relate to the crisis of realism in Western art in the 19th and 20th centuries, argues that the popular belief that these media objectively reproduce reality gives these media a "credibility" among the general public that transcends that of the other arts. The paper explains the opposing views of Theodore Adorno, who argued that the origins of cinema in industrial production is of prime concern in analyzing the products and effects of this medium, Bazin contends that the "ideal" of the cinematic medium takes precedence over the incidental fact that it was developed by industrialists and business interests. The paper argues that while it is undeniable that film is created in the context of a cultural industry, Bazin's insights regarding the origins of its psychological power over the mass audience are critical to our appreciation of how film can function as a vehicle of both commercial and popular interests. The paper shows, however, how the theoretical perspectives of both Bazin and Adorno are flawed in not considering the complex relationship between cinema and "realism" in terms of style, aesthetics and the role of the author.

From the Paper
"This production by automatic means has radically affected our psychology of the image. The objective nature of photography confers on it a quality of credibility absent all other picture making. . . . (Bazin "Ontology" 13) Andre Bazin, in his discussion of how the cinematic and photographic media relate to the crisis of realism in Western art in the 19th and 20th centuries, argues that the popular belief that these media objectively..."

Tags:film, realism, theory

Abstract
The paper begins by introducing Adorno's theories on mass culture and commoditization, which were one of the fundamentals of post-modernism as it appeared in the 20th century. It then looks at how the tango dance is one of the most representative forms of manifestation of the Argentinean spirit and people. Born in the mid-1800s, tango was quickly exported to Europe and became a true success story, until its downfall in 1955. It was reborn in 1983 and has been a success ever since. This paper investigates Adorno's theories and applies them in the case of tango, and looks at whether this is the best example we may choose to argument the truth in Adorno's statements. It explains that, while on one hand, tango can be considered an element of mass culture because, in many ways, it has partly embraced the mercantile character of mass culture that Adorno insists upon, in many other ways, tango is still something in its own, a form of art, a form of expression.

Paper Outline:
Introduction
Adorno's Theory of Mass Culture
History of Tango
History of Tango
Adorno's Theories applied to Tango
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Tango is still too imaginative and too expressive to be assimilated as a product of mass culture and classified as a commodity. If we were to pursue on this theoretical path, we would tragically arrive to the conclusion that feelings, emotions and passion are all for sale. However, there were inspired people, like in any other forms of cultural manifestation, that were keen to partly transform tango into a form of entertainment. As any for of entertainment, it could be sold and profit could be obtained by promoting something that was well received in its audience and segment of consumers. Passion sells, many might say. While this argumentation may work in some occasions, passion isn't always understood and passion only addresses a certain category of people. Passion is not a mass culture product."

Tags:commoditization, expression

Abstract
This paper discusses how David Cook, an American rock singer and songwriter, and winner of the 7th American Idol competition, is a poetic new force in American rock music. In particular it analyzes his song, "Permanent" which was was written in 2008 as a tribute to his brother, but did not gain international airing or prominence until early 2009. The paper also introduces the theories of Theodor Adorno a German born sociologist, philosopher, musicologist and composer. In particular, it looks at how three major points within Adorno's "Social Critique of Radio Music" are directly applicable to David Cook.

From the Paper
"David was born in 1982, and raised in Blue Springs, Missouri. He currently resides in Kansas City, Missouri, not far from his parents. He was raised the middle child of three brothers, was an avid baseball player until an injury forced him to focus more on his music. David first began playing guitar at the age of 12, and, like many teens of his generation, toyed with the idea of becoming a professional musician. David graduated from college with a degree in Graphic Design, but moved to Oklahoma to pursue his dream of a music career. It was a fluke that David even auditioned for Idol, since his original reason for even attending the auditions was to support his brother, who unfortunately did not make it to the finals. After his win on Idol, David continued his success with top marks from an international audience, hungry for his heartfelt, yet homespun poetic songs and artistry. "

Tags:rock, music, composition, culture

Abstract
In their essay, "The Concept of Enlightenment," authors Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno chart the process of humanity's efforts to better understand their place within existence, a process that Horkeimer and Adorno refer to as efforts to become enlightened through exploring the influences and, to varying degrees, the abandonment of the practices of mythology, magic and theology. This paper explores these issues in contrast with the Holocaust.

From the Paper
"The current rise of science as a dominant world view and thus the method through which human beings are currently able to frame issues beyond their immediate range of experience and perception is, Horkeimer and Adorno believe, merely the latest dominant model through which human beings are seeking to explore the world and achieve a more enlightened state of mind."

Tags:enlightenment, culture, holocaust

Abstract
In 1950, Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswick, and Levinson and Sanford delved into the concept of the authoritarian personality (TAP). Some of their prime assumptions include that those with TAP are submissive to authority and look to them for the definitions of right and wrong; that they are prejudiced towards an out-group, which they consider weak and inferior. The present study is based on these assumptions. An opportune sample of 100 male students of "hard sciences" were given a questionnaire assessing their susceptibility to an authoritarian source of information over that of a non-authoritarian source, along with Rokeach's Dogmatism scale (measuring authoritarianism). No significant correlation was found between the two factors. Although the findings do not support Adorno, et. al.'s assumptions, they provide evidence for forthcoming theories.

From the Paper
"Hitler, Mussolini and many other political and national leaders of the 1930-1950 period adopted and pushed authoritarianism as a strong challenge to democracy. Followers flocked to their banners" (Whitten, 1976, p.622). In an attempt to explain this phenomenon, Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswick, Levinson and Sanford (1950, which will be referred to in the text as AFLS) carried out a search for possible roots and causes of the Authoritarian Personality (TAP) type. Starting at the roots of anti-Semitism, it became a psychological study of ethnocentrism based on Freudian Psychodynamic theory. A person with TAP was defined as "a potentially fascistic individual, one whose structure is such as to render him particularly susceptible to anti-democratic propaganda" and these individuals "exhibit numerous characteristics that go together to form a syndrome", Adorno et al (1950, p.1). These were conventionalism, authoritarian submission, authoritarian aggression, superstition and stereotypy, power and toughness, destructiveness and cynicism, projectivity, concern with sexual goings-on and dogmatism. Some argued that this definition was too limited and too concerned with political opinion, thus defining it as "the desire to impose one's will on others" Ray (1976 cited in Louw-Potgieter (2001), p.78)."

Tags:authoritarianism, sample, study

Abstract
This paper argues that, while rejecting the embodying of religious meaning in art and artwork in the institutionalized sense of churches or other organized religions, Adorno identified and insisted upon a revelatory role for art itself in terms of its engagement with the human condition and human values. The paper states that Adorno was, in many ways, a writer and thinker profoundly influenced by religion.

From the Paper
"For the social and cultural critic and theorist Theodor Adorno (1903-69), art is integrated into the society that produces it, and cannot be considered separately from the economic, political and ideological circumstances of its creation. This position reflects the continuing influence of Marxist theoretical approaches to art which can be found underlying even Adorno's most radical writings. However, Adorno tended to distance himself from a crude materialist or historical-contextual reading of art, focusing on a close reading of the work itself and claiming such thorough analysis from the inside would enable a reading of the work's social meanings without cumbersome references to external contexts. Those social meanings, however, remained central to any accurate and meaningful understanding of the work, whether literary, musical, or visual in nature."

Tags:paintings, ideology, god

Abstract
This paper outlines the opposing standpoints of Adorno and Benjamin on popular music, with specific reference to their view of the consumer. The value of these theories are then discussed with reference to the later theories of David Riesman and Henry Pleasants, Andrew Chester, Simon Frith, Richard Middleton and Max Paddison.

From the Paper
"Yet, even if the consumer's perceptive capacity is limited, there is still scope for individual choice, and thus for varying levels of the self-reflective in popular music. If consumers use their music to construct their identity, there will always be a market for these varying levels. As Frith suggests, 'the question should be 'how can popular music construct people?'' A reflection of the person behind the consumer in popular music rejects Adorno's claim that the industry invalidates the individual. Longhurst and Shuker explore this further in their analysis of the industry's sub-cultures, which allow mass identity to segregate and the potential for the individual to find their own route."

Tags:chester, frith, paddison, passivity, pleasants, pseudo, riesman

Abstract
In this paper, the author analyzes some aspects of the production and reception of the film, "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962), by situating it within the industry that Horkheimer and Adorno describe in order to further an understanding of what is meant by a "dialectical" critique of film as "culture industry". The paper goes on to briefly discuss the relevance of applying this type of analysis to a film like "The Sheik" (1921).

From the Paper
"In Dialectic of Enlightenment, Horkheimer and Adorno make the claim that film plays a key role in what they call the "culture industries" of the 20th century. Writing in 1944, they describe an "iron system", which is in large part a reference to the Hollywood system and its fascistic employment of the "genre film (Horkheimer 154)." Of the effects of mass culture, they write: "culture now impresses the same stamp on everything. Films, radio and magazines make up a system which is uniform as a whole and in every part (120)." This criticism has specific implications for the feature film: "They are so designed that quickness, powers of observation, and experience are undeniably needed to apprehend them at all? yet sustained thought is out of the question. Even though the effort required for his [the viewer] response is semi-automatic, no scope is left for the imagination (126,127)." The standardization of the spectator, as it were, via the genre film and through the standardization of the viewing experience, is, for Horkheimer and Adorno, the crux of the culture industry where film is concerned. "The culture industry as a whole," they write, "has molded men as a type unfailingly reproduced in every product (127).""

Tags:anthropology, caton, cinema, cultural, frankfurt, hansen, hegel, industry, iron, marx, miriam, movie, rudolf, school, spectator, spectatorship, steve, studies, system, transnationalism, valentino