Adorno's Theory of Popular Music Is Flawed but His Conclusions Are Valid
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- Date Submitted: 03/28/2016 08:39 AM
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MA POPULAR MUSIC
STUDYING POPULAR MUSIC "ADORNO'S THEORY OF POPULAR MUSIC IS FLAWED, BUT HIS CONCLUSIONS ARE VALID".
ADORNOS RAP
PUNK ROCK, BE-BOP,
BRITPOP, HIP-HOP,
RHYTHM'N BLUES, BLUE SUEDE SHOES,
FOLK SINGERS, WESTERN SWINGERS,
JOHAAN STRAUSS, ACID HOUSE,
STOCK AITKEN WATERMAN, THE GREAT DUKE ELLINGTON
STAVINSKY'S SYMPHONIES,
NORTHERN SOUL, ROCK AND ROLL
At first glance, it is difficult to perceive of anything whatsoever that Teador Adorno would accept as worthy in popular culture. The most objective approach to his writings is to state that he had no belief in the discipline whatsoever and therefore had no qualification to theorize on a subject he demonstrably loathed. For if one were to merely spectate upon an alien culture, be it African dance, Gaelic folk-song or Origami, how could one hope to discern between the intrinsic value of each nuance so readily recognizable to the aficionado, and the detritus deemed superfluous by the initiated. To any jazz fan Louis Armstrong's jubilant reveille call from the twenties has a clear resonance within Miles' cool response of the fifties. To the doo-wop fan the "Platters", are connected to the "Coasters", by nature of the genre but remain as disparate to their specific audience as ooh is to ah.
Adorno has to be viewed as much a product of his circumstance as how he attempted to package mass culture in one parcel. Born in 1903 his published works began to appear coincident with Hitler's rise to power in Germany. It is crucial in any study of Adorno's writing to reflect on the western world as viewed from a Jewish intellectual's perspective of his position in pre-war nazi Germany. The carnage of the first world war, the Russian revolution and subsequent failure of the Bolshevic experiment. Stalin's alliance with Hitler were all an influence in Adorno's make up. He was a member of scholars who subsequently have become termed the Frankfurt School. He witnessed at first hand the rise of the Third...
STUDYING POPULAR MUSIC "ADORNO'S THEORY OF POPULAR MUSIC IS FLAWED, BUT HIS CONCLUSIONS ARE VALID".
ADORNOS RAP
PUNK ROCK, BE-BOP,
BRITPOP, HIP-HOP,
RHYTHM'N BLUES, BLUE SUEDE SHOES,
FOLK SINGERS, WESTERN SWINGERS,
JOHAAN STRAUSS, ACID HOUSE,
STOCK AITKEN WATERMAN, THE GREAT DUKE ELLINGTON
STAVINSKY'S SYMPHONIES,
NORTHERN SOUL, ROCK AND ROLL
At first glance, it is difficult to perceive of anything whatsoever that Teador Adorno would accept as worthy in popular culture. The most objective approach to his writings is to state that he had no belief in the discipline whatsoever and therefore had no qualification to theorize on a subject he demonstrably loathed. For if one were to merely spectate upon an alien culture, be it African dance, Gaelic folk-song or Origami, how could one hope to discern between the intrinsic value of each nuance so readily recognizable to the aficionado, and the detritus deemed superfluous by the initiated. To any jazz fan Louis Armstrong's jubilant reveille call from the twenties has a clear resonance within Miles' cool response of the fifties. To the doo-wop fan the "Platters", are connected to the "Coasters", by nature of the genre but remain as disparate to their specific audience as ooh is to ah.
Adorno has to be viewed as much a product of his circumstance as how he attempted to package mass culture in one parcel. Born in 1903 his published works began to appear coincident with Hitler's rise to power in Germany. It is crucial in any study of Adorno's writing to reflect on the western world as viewed from a Jewish intellectual's perspective of his position in pre-war nazi Germany. The carnage of the first world war, the Russian revolution and subsequent failure of the Bolshevic experiment. Stalin's alliance with Hitler were all an influence in Adorno's make up. He was a member of scholars who subsequently have become termed the Frankfurt School. He witnessed at first hand the rise of the Third...