Adorno judged both Benjamin and Brecht ignorant of core Marxian theory

Evidence

God knows I sing Brecht’s merits highly enough, but his ignorance of Marxism, even of notorious matters such as the theory of surplus-value, was simply beyond words. Neither studied Marx seriously, but rather, to modify Hobbes’s saying about religion, swallowed Marx like a pill; and this appeared dubious to me: heteronomous and irrational, in contrast to materialist dialectics as a theory. If Benjamin had really learned this theory, it would have been better for his own approach. — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 226

Categorization

• CANDY: The Hobbes adaptation — ‘swallowed Marx like a pill’ — is a quotable, memorable line with a witty cross-reference.
• XREF: Contradicts the popular image of Benjamin-plays-Brecht as engaged Marxists; the revisionist stance that Adorno alone held the orthodox line is the chapter’s core claim. — connects to: Heidegger deliberately writes obscurely to produce an estrangement akin to Brecht’s theatre — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 204; Adorno’s core concepts originate from Benjamin but his political economy developed against him — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 294; Adorno judged Benjamin’s Marxism an unwitting productive misreading, not orthodoxy — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 297 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Adorno’s reservations blocked publication of Benjamin’s Passagenarbeit section #corroborates (0.85) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 616
• Adorno rejected Benjamin’s equation of commodity with the archaic #complicates (0.80) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 617