Adorno judged Benjamin’s Marxism an unwitting productive misreading, not orthodoxy

Evidence

Adorno comments in a note from his final years that Benjamin’s ‘knowledge and understanding of Marx were extremely limited’. At the same time, however, Adorno’s critique of Benjamin takes a redemptive turn.This can be seen when he refers to Benjamin’s ‘form of Marxism, which he wanted to take over in orthodox form, as doctrine, without any inkling of the kind of productive misunderstanding he thereby set in motion’. ‘[I]t would be unfair to juxtapose’thisformof Marxism–whichishardlyorthodoxbutratherhadbeen ‘worked out’ by Benjamin himself – ‘to Marx’s own theory’. — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 297

Categorization

• QUESTION: What does Adorno mean by Benjamin’s ‘productive misunderstanding’ of Marx? The phrase merits chasing in the primary sources.
• XREF: connects to: Benjamin secularized Jewish messianism into his Marxist theory of revolutionary time — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 600; The Institute’s censorship of Benjamin reflected self-protection, not doctrinal rigidity — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 614; Adorno broke with Benjamin by denying even a weak messianic power to history — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 837 (+14 more)

Broader Connections

• Adorno’s criticisms of Benjamin’s Marxism reveal his own conception of Marxian critique #expands (0.90) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 221
• Adorno judged both Benjamin and Brecht ignorant of core Marxian theory #qualifies (0.85) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 226
• Adorno’s reservations blocked publication of Benjamin’s Passagenarbeit section #expands (0.75) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 616