Of Mice and Men: Adorno on Art and the Suffering of Animals

• Authors: Flodin Camilla
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

Theodor W. Adorno's criticism of human beings' domination of nature is a familiar topic to Adorno scholars. Its connection to the central relationship between art and nature in his aesthetics has, however, been less analysed. In the following paper, I claim that Adorno's discussion of art's truth content (Wahrheitsgehalt) is to be understood as art's ability to give voice to nature (both human and non-human) since it has been subjugated by the growth of civilization. I focus on repressed non-human nature and examine Adorno's interpretation of Eduard Moerike's poem 'Mausfallen-Spruechlein' (Mousetrap rhyme). By giving voice to the repressed animal, Moerike's poem manages to point towards the possibility of a changed relationship between mice and men, between nature and humanity, which is necessary in order to achieve reconciliation amongst humans as well.

Keywords

EN

ADORNO T.; MOERIKE E.; NON-HUMAN NATURE; REPRESSED ANIMALS; TRUTH OF ART

Discipline

• PHILOSOPHY: PHILOSOPHY

• Publisher: Institute of Art History, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Estetika: The Central European Journal of Aesthetics
• Year: 2011
• Volume: 48
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 139-156
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Flodin Camilla

• Camilla Flodin, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

11CZAAAA09939