Abstract

For Theodor W. Adorno, the relevance of art lies in its capacity to penetrate, through its formal construction, the semblance of a false reality, thereby participating in the self-transcendence of reason. This article argues that, despite the timeliness of this insight, Adorno’s negativism, his conceptualization of reconciliation, and his formalist understanding of art have made it difficult to see how this account can explain art’s relation to social change. Alexander Kluge’s work, it is then argued, can help transcend such limitations in Adorno’s aesthetics. Art, Kluge agrees with Adorno, should work toward social change through the construction of a critical consciousness. Yet, this is not to happen through their correct interpretation, as Adorno thought. Art’s emancipatory potential, instead, lies in the power to engage the spectators’ capacities, enabling them to have their own experiences. With this, Kluge contends, art participates in the reconfiguration of rationality and of the public sphere.