Antisystematic essays resist summary because form is essential to their effect
Evidence
The antisystematic impulse of Critical Theory was extended to the cultural criticism it fostered. The result makes summary a difficult, if not impossible, project. In addition, the form in which the criticism appeared was an essential part of its total effect. The unique texture of an Adorno or a Benjamin essay and the studied intricacy of their prose styles defy translation,” not to mention reduction to their fundamentals. Their mode of reasoning was rarely inductive or deductive, a reflection of their insistence that every sentence must be mediated through the totality of the essay in order to be understood fully. Reading a piece by Adorno or Benjamin brings to mind a comment the filmmaker Jean- Luc Godard is once said to have made when asked if his films had a beginning, a middle, and an end. “Yes,” he replied, “but not necessarily in that order.” — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 541
Categorization
- DEFINE: Explains the antisystematic principle of Critical Theory’s cultural criticism and why its prose is deliberately resistant to paraphrase.
- XREF: connects to: Emphasis in theoretical exposition can itself shift or weaken an author’s argument — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism: A Critique of…, 346; Anti-classicism attacks form itself, not just particular forms — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 861; Negation-by-accumulation lets writing undo its own form yet still congeal — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 176 (+2 more)
Broader Connections
- Negation-by-accumulation lets writing undo its own form yet still congeal
#exemplifies(0.85) — Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late…, 176 - Emphasis in theoretical exposition can itself shift or weaken an author’s argument
#expands(0.78) — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 346 - Anti-classicism attacks form itself, not just particular forms
#complicates(0.72) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 861