The critique criticised

Adorno and popular music

Bibliographic Data

ID4305232
AuthorsMax Paddison (corresponding author)
Year1982
Volume2
Pages201-218
Publication date1982-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePopular Music (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0261-1430 • E-ISSN: 1474-0095
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s026114300000129x
OpenAlexW1993742256
LanguageEN
Citations received19
References cited4

Adorno's critique of popular music is generally considered the least convincing aspect of his otherwise impressive analysis of the predicament of Western music in the twentieth century. The immediate reasons as to why his views on popular music are difficult to accept are obvious enough, and it must be admitted that the usual criticisms - that Adorno is prejidiced, arrogant and uniformed in this field contain more than a grain of truth. However, my intention here is not to add anything new in the way of invective, nor is it to attack Adorno's basic thesis regarding the dilemma facing twentieth-century culture as a whole. Instead, I propose to offer some suggestions as to how Adorno's writings on popular music may be approached so that the end result is something more than outright dismissal of his extreme and often dogmatic value judgements. It is an attempt to rescue the baby from the bath water, so to speak, as it seems to me that hidden in his theory there remains a potential which was never properly recognised by Adorno

Aesthetics · Art · Dilemma · Dismissal · Epistemology · Field (mathematics · Invective · Literature · Political science · Politics · Popular culture · Popular music · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Computer Science · Law · Music History and Culture · Music Technology and Sound Studies · Musicology and Musical Analysis · Philosophy

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