Lazarsfeld accused Adorno of fetishistic Latin usage

Evidence

This retrospective account tends to read like the report of a productive encounter between two quite different theorists. However, the events surrounding the publication of ‘Fetish-Character’ in 1938 actually unfolded in a much more controversial and conflictual manner. This can be seen in a letter by Lazarsfeld in which, having received the aforementioned memorandum, he accuses Adorno himself of the very fetishism he claims to recognise in others: … Don’t you think that it is perfect fetishism the way you use Latin words all through your text? The pages are full of: ‘prima facie’; ‘e contrario’; ‘conditio sine qua non’; and so on. There is no doubt that the words ‘necessary condition’ express everything which the corresponding Latin word can express. But you evidently feel magically more secure if you use words which symbolize your education although they are a trouble for any stenographer and a hidden offence against any American colleague; just because American professionals are not brought up to use Latin words unnecessarily we are not yet better than they are. Isn’t your attitude exactly what you call fetishism? — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 401

Categorization

• CANDY: A genuinely funny historical exchange—Lazarsfeld turning Adorno’s own conceptual weapon against him over Latin words in a sociology of music draft.
• XREF: Connects to the general theme of Adorno’s difficult American exile and his clashes with the empirical-research tradition of Lazarsfeld’s Princeton Radio Project. — connects to: Adorno’s and Lazarsfeld’s collaboration broke down by 1939 — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 664; Adorno used fetishism to mediate Marx and Freud into synthesis — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 405; Adorno’s notion of fetishism derived from popular speech, not from Marx or Freud — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 413 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Adorno used fetishism to mediate Marx and Freud into synthesis #complicates (0.85) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 405
• Adorno’s notion of fetishism derived from popular speech, not from Marx or Freud #complicates (0.75) — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 413