With an introduction by Hans-Thies Lehmann, Königshausen & Neumann, 2012. [German]

Theodor W. Adorno never formulated a full-fledged theory of the theatrical. In fact, it often seems as if he did not fully appreciate the theatre as an art form in itself at all. Consequently, theatre does not play a central role in his aesthetic writings, including his central aesthetic work, the posthumously published Aesthetic Theory. And yet, many examples Adorno uses to explicate his aesthetic theory reference the theatre, and the logic of the theatrical situation turns out to be much closer to Adorno’s central aesthetic categories than its rare mention might suggest.

Elemente einer Ästhetik des Theatralen in Adornos Ästhetischer Theorie / Elements of an Aesthetics of the Theatrical in Adorno’s Aesthetic Theory is one of the first comprehensive studies to assemble and analyze the various instances in which theatre plays a formative role in Adorno’s aesthetics, despite its seemingly marginal thematization. This includes a critical re-reading of Adorno’s in-depth discussion of the two prominent dramatists, Samuel Beckett und Bertolt Brecht, but also an analysis of the many examples Adorno borrows from the field of dramaturgy, staging and actual performance. Lastly, specific qualities of the performing arts are discussed in their relation to Adorno’s central aesthetic categories, such as the artwork’s constitutive fleetingness, its processuality, and instantaneousness.

Assembling and analyzing these examples, connections and implicit and explicit references, Elemente einer Ästhetik des Theatralen in Adornos Ästhetischer Theorie carves out an „unwritten“ dialectical theory of the theatrical from Adorno’s aesthetic writings.

Reviews

Review by Dr. Jonas Tinius.

Praise

„This is a tremendously timely and convincing analysis of Adorno’s aesthetic theory with regard to theatre and the theatrical. Nowak provides a compelling reason to revisit this fragmented source for more thorough and conceptually guided scrutiny. It can be recommended to scholars, not just of theatre, at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Further, it also provides a clear, rigorous and extremely literature introduction into some of the interdisciplinary perspectives that link philosophy and performance. It is thus a confident contribution to what is already a productively contested scholarly space (Cull and Gritzner 2011). I believe that this book is a great scholarly contribution to debates on the intersection of aesthetics, philosophy, and theatre. It merits attention, however, from those venturing outside the literary bounds of such discourse, as it penetrates provokingly into debates on the processuality, the emergence, and the sociality of the work of performative art.“

~ Jonas Tinius, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

„Anja Nowak lotet die dialektische Spannung aus zwischen Adornos emphatischer Betonung von Prozesshaftigkeit, Augenblicklichkeit und ephemerer ‚Plötzlichkeit‘, die in seiner Sicht allen Kunstwerken eignen, und dem ebenso geforderten Moment der Objektivierung, Dingwerdung, Kristallisation. […] Mit subtiler Umsicht und jede vorschnelle Vereinseitigung meidend, trägt die Studie von Anja Nowak diese kontradiktorischen Momente mit einer beeindruckenden Fülle von Belegen zusammen, so dass dieses Buch zu einem förmlichen Adorno-Brevier für die Frage des Theaters wird, auf das künftige Untersuchungen mit Gewinn zurückgreifen werden.“

~ From the foreword by Hans-Thies Lehmann (†)

Related Papers

„Adorno – Realismus in der verwalteten Welt.“ Theater – Realität – Realismus. Kunst, Spektakel und Revolution, no. 6. Edited by Jakob Hayner, Lukas Holfeld and Max Köhler. Katzenberg Verlag, 2017, p. 42-45.

„On the Theatricality of Art.” Adorno and Performance. Edited by Karoline Gritzner and Will Daddario. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, p. 143-154.