Art preserves magic’s self-enclosed enclave even as it renounces magical influence

Evidence

I now find it somewhat disturbing – and here I can see a sublimated remnant of certain Brechtian themes – that you have now rather casually transferred the concept of the magical aura to the ‘autonomous work of art’ and flatly assigned a counter-revolutionary function to the latter. I do not need to assure you just how aware I am of the magical element that persists in the bourgeois work of art …. However, it seems to me that the heart of the autonomous work of art does not itself belong to the dimension of myth – forgive my topical manner of speaking – but is inherently dialectical, that is, compounds within itself the magical element with the sign of freedom. — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 260 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

In modernity, “[t] he first effect of disenchantment was not to do away with demons,” but actually, to cause “the demons to get concentrated.” — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 350 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Autonomous art is inherently dialectical, blending magic with freedom rather than being reactionary — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 260; Magic’s communal participation gave way to priestly class domination; Modern disenchantment concentrated rather than abolished demons — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 350

Broader Connections

• Autonomous art is inherently dialectical, blending magic with freedom rather than being reactionary #qualifies (0.82) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 260
• Magic’s communal participation gave way to priestly class domination #expands (0.75)
• Modern disenchantment concentrated rather than abolished demons #expands (0.72) — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 350