Adorno's Theory of Mimesis at the "End of Bourgeois Epoch"

Abstract

Adorn developed his theory of mimesis as one of the main pillars of his critical theory of society and its (lack of) progress. In order to show the origins and importance of Adorno's theory of mimesis, the authors proceeded in four steps. In the first part of the article they are establishing connections between Adorn's and Callois' theory of mimesis, as the starting point of Adorn's dealing with this topic; in second part they pay attention to Adorn's first application of theory of mimesis on the class relations in mass society of modern capitalism; third part brings insights in Adorno's critique of mimetic tendencies of modern science; and in fourth part the ambiguities of mimetic art in Adorn's sociology of music and aesthetic theory are revealed. Some of these mimetic manifestations Adorno interpreted as the signs of the "bourgeois epoch" approaching to its very end, while some of them he perceived as the bearers of hope in regeneration.