hair products for the critical theorist....

 Look what I found at the pound shop! I honestly didn't tamper with it at all, it was exactly like that when i picked it up, really. It's clearly exactly what Adorno would have wanted...

incidentally, rumours of Being and Tim's death have been much exaggerated. plans are being made, things are in the pipe line, shadows are stirring in the east.

prepare thyself [and send me any ideas you might have, i am never to busy to steal jokes and claim them as my own ;-)]

becca x

'Promotes Maximum Hold & Control for the culture industry, Provides super long lasting hold without weighing down hair with human suffering, maximum control without build up of alienation... everything you would expect from Adorno''

Being & Tim's Holiday: Day 4

Chillin' at the Grand Hotel Abyss with Adorno

I've not read the Theory of the Novel, and my current favourite thing about Georg Lukacs is the inescapable link to another, more contemporary philosopher. So I can't comment much on the specific context of the following quotation:

'A considerable part of the leading German intelligentsia, including Adorno, have taken up residence in the ‘Grand Hotel Abyss’ which I described in connection with my critique of Schopenhauer as ‘a beautiful hotel, equipped with every comfort, on the edge of an abyss, of nothingness, of absurdity. And the daily contemplation of the abyss between excellent meals or artistic entertainments, can only heighten the enjoyment of the subtle comforts offered.’ (Die Zerstörung der Vernunft, Neuwied 1962, p. 219)'

----Georg Lukács 1962 : Preface to The Theory of the Novel at  http://www.marxists.org/archive/lukacs/works/theory-novel/preface.htm

 

Nevertheless, I think there might be something quite keen in his criticism of Adorno, whose philosophy, as compelling and formidable as it is, offers (by Adorno's own standards I think it should be added) very little in the way of 'bridge' over the abyss which is the inherent self-contradictions of capitalism. Rather the activity of Negative Dialectics seems to involve precisely dwelling on these contradictions: that in writing and attending to them we bear witness to a future in which these contradictions are no longer apparent: where the objects we speak of, and particularly the subjects, can exist as ends in themselves rather than as means towards profit.

If anything compels me to return to University for a phD it's the tension between thinkers like Adorno (and Simone Weil) on one side who seem to value contemplation, and perhaps more ACTION-BASED philosophers, like Nietzsche perhaps. Or Gillian Rose.  Something like this anyway.

Last holiday snap tomorrow, hope to see you then.

becca xo

ps. new cartoon here too!

New version of Marxist Musical Chairs!

Here's another new version of an old cartoon, that's also going to be in the 2011 diary. It's a very obvious pun on the last line of the Communist Manifesto: 'Workers of the world unite: you have nothing to lose but your chains!'

Mark Steel has a very funny lecture about Marx. Check out the first part here, if you have time. It's great!

becca xo

Nothing to lose but their....?

 This cartoon refers to the famous lines from The Communist Manifesto: 'the workers have nothing to lose but their chains. they have a world to win. workers of the world unite!' The idea that Marx might have been referring to a giant game of musical chairs seemed too humourous to resist, although I am beginning to realise how the humour of my comics is perhaps not quite so sophisticated as I once thought....!!!

You can read about the Communist Manifesto here, or better still read it in full here (it's not very long). That second site (www.Marxists.org) is a wonderful site with loads of texts by a range of different socialist and marxist theorists. Which reminds me, stay tuned for the next Being & Tim featuring Alvin, Simon and Theodor Adorno as the Chipmunks....!

beccaxo

Species Being