A successful artwork embodies contradictions without falsely resolving them

Evidence

For immanent criticism, a successful work ‘is not one which resolves objective contradictions in a spurious harmony, but one which expresses the idea of harmony negatively by embodying the contradictions, pure and uncompromised, in its inner-most structure. Confronted with this kind of work, the verdict “mere ideology” loses its meaning.’ — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry, 51

Categorization

• DEFINE: This is the operative test for what counts as a genuine (as opposed to false) artwork — the exact criterion the reader needs to apply to post-1969 culture.
• XREF: Connects directly to the ADDENDUM on sacrifice: the notion that a work ‘expresses harmony negatively by embodying contradictions’ parallels how ritual sacrifice enacts social contradictions rather than papering over them. — connects to: Art’s continued existence testifies to a paradox that grounds all beauty; Art expresses utopian harmony negatively by embodying contradictions unresolved — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 549; Art resolves real social contradictions through purely formal means — Fredric Jameson, The Political Unconscious, 1774 (+3 more)