An-Aesthetic Theory: Adorno, Sexuality, and Memory

Feminist Interpretations of Theodor Adorno, 2005

24 Pages Posted: 20 Jan 2020

See all articles by Mary Anne Franks

Mary Anne Franks

George Washington University - Law School

Date Written: January 5, 2005

Abstract

Theodor Adorno's condemnation of the culture industry's attempt to erase the sensitivity to and memory of suffering is especially appropriate to contemporary cultural representations of sexual violence. The deadening (literally anaesthetic) effect of the compulsive and consumptive representation of female sexuality in popular culture depoliticizes and naturalizes sexual violence against women. Adorno's visionary aesthetic goal - of true aesthetic representation that decenters the viewer and compels him or her to resist the world as it is, including the importance of Betroffenheit (concern) - can serve as a powerful weapon against the hegemonic accommodation of sexual violence.

Keywords: Adorno, aesthetics, feminism, pornography, Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, sexual violence, Walter Benjamin, mechanical reproduction, aura, rape, Lisa Gier King, Deep Throat, Larry Flynt, Zizek

Suggested Citation

Franks, Mary Anne, An-Aesthetic Theory: Adorno, Sexuality, and Memory (January 5, 2005). Feminist Interpretations of Theodor Adorno, 2005, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2886644

Mary Anne Franks (Contact Author)

George Washington University - Law School ( email )

2000 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20052
United States

HOME PAGE: http://https://www.law.gwu.edu/mary-anne-franks

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