Industria cultural e expressão artística em Theodor Adorno

Abstract

This work constitutes an analysis of Theodor Adorno's criticism of the cultural industry and his proposals for resistance to it. Thus, we explore how art stops being an authentic expression of human desires and becomes just another salable product, that is, one more commodity in contemporary capitalist society. Initially, we address the influence of the Enlightenment project on modernity, also highlighting how instrumental reason is used in an insidious way – since, although it promotes significant scientific advances, it ultimately ends up becoming a tool of oppression. Next, exploring the differences between traditional theory and critical theory, with influence on social and political application, we demonstrate how the latter seeks human emancipation through questioning the ideological structures that support these social configurations. Furthermore, we will think about critical theory and its allegories of resistance to ideological seductions and its fight for human freedom. In the second moment, we approach the concept of cultural industry according to Adorno and his peers, highlighting the process of mystification and alienation that transforms art into a consumer product, devoid of its critical and emancipatory potential. For this reason, we also examine the case of jazz, which, although it appears authentic, in Adorn's reading emerges shaped by capitalist logic, offering experiences impoverished by consumption. Finally, we incorporate Anselm Jappe's contribution to the debate on screen, as he analyzes Guy Debord's concrete proposal, with emphasis on his film Hurlements en faveur de Sade (1952), as a materialization of Adorno's desires. Jappe highlights the relevance of Debord's critical approach, highlighting how his art aligns with the principles of resistance to oppressive structures and promotes a close emancipatory reflection. Roughly speaking, we conclude that art, when guided by critical theory, can play a positive role in resisting structures that conceal reality and in contemporary social criticism