Adorno and the Language of the Intellectual in Exile

<p>Adorno’s experience as an exile influenced his two works <em>Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments </em>(1944)<em> </em>and <em>Minima Moralia: Reflections from a Damaged Life </em>(1951). These works embody the adversity Adorno wrestled with in his personal life and voice a quasi-indignant resignation to the notion of displacement as a natural yet mutilated human condition. I will analyze <em>Dialectic of Enlightenment </em>through the subjective, experiential lens of <em>Minima Moralia</em> thereby revealing the personal allusions to Adorno himself in his analysis of Odysseus as the prototypical bourgeois.</p> <p>This thesis explores a biographical approach of the man who was known for his viscero-critical voice. I propose that the cultural diversity apparent in his bourgeois upbringing in post-Weimarian Germany, ironically, equipped him to confront his exile in America as a part of the Frankfurt Institute of Social Research. This study zeroes in on Adorno’s background, how it affected his language, and how this enabled him to cunningly navigate his exile.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Master

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Liberal Studies

Grantor

The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York

Author dc:creator

• Baert, Ana

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Martin Elsky

• Arts and Humanities
• Comparative Literature
• Intellectual Biography
• Language of the Exile
• Frankfurt Institute
• Minima Moralia
• Dialectic of Enlightenment
• Odyssey
• Philosophical Fragments

Repository record dc:identifier

https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3079

OAI record oai:identifier

https://academicworks.cuny.edu/do/oai/?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_etdms&identifier=oai%3Aacademicworks.cuny.edu%3Agc_etds-4140