Dialectic of culture in Adorno's thoughts

Abstract

Culture, as an expression of spirit´s activity in opposition to material activity, has been generally understood as an expression of human progress which keeps us from barbarism. Adorno submits this concept to a rigorous dialectical analysis and discovers that barbarism itself can be embodied in culture. And culture, as it happens with cultural industry, may be servant to domination instead of emancipation. However, it doesn’t renounce its utopian spirit. This paper explores not only Adorno’s critique to the traditional concept of culture, and its complicity with barbarism, it also discusses the indications in Adorno’s thought to figure out emancipatory possibilities of culture.