Adorno judged modern art by its refusal to fully separate from what it abolishes

Evidence

By analogy with a central theme of his more narrowly philosophical worksthat an abstract element must never be allowed to become completely separate from the element from which it had been abstractedhe explained the secret of convincing modern works of art by the fact that they never totally emancipated themselves from the things they were abolishing. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2720

Categorization

• DEFINE: States Adorno’s core aesthetic principle: art cannot fully emancipate itself from what it abolishes.
• XREF: Connects to Adorno’s negative dialectics — non-identity, the non-identical surviving in the concept. Also parallels his writings on Beckett and late style. — connects to: Art reflects its historical situation precisely by refusing the social. — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 85; Adorno’s negative dialectics located emancipation’s hints in modern art’s distortion — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 380; Adorno located society’s crucial problems within autonomous art as a model of salvation — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 875 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Adorno’s negative dialectics located emancipation’s hints in modern art’s distortion #corroborates (0.85) — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism, 380
• Adorno located society’s crucial problems within autonomous art as a model of salvation #corroborates (0.78) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 875