[FRA:] recent reading in critical theory

[Ralph Dumain]

As I don't have time now to comment on all of these in detail, I'm listing 
my recent reading in this area.

I found the journal articles quite illuminating.  As for the books, 
Buck-Morss is terrific, very readable,a blessing considering the difficulty 
of the subject matter.

Except for one recommended article on music, I stuck to the essays on 
philosophical matters in the Adorno companion.

My reactions to the critical theory reader are mixed.  The first chapter, 
by Fred Rush, on the philosophical orientations of Horkheimer, Adorno, and 
Marcuse is terrific.  Other chapters--on pragmatism, Habermas, and Third 
Generation critical theorists--annoyed the crap out of me.  I wonder what 
the future of critical theory that some are concerned about could be, if 
this is the way things are going.  I think it is the last chapter that 
brings up a salient constant in the whole history of the F.S.--the emphasis 
on reason.  Interestingly, the essay on DIALECTIC OF ENLIGHTENMENT was very 
harsh, calling it essentially conservative.  Contrast this with 
Hullot-Kentor's essay (see below) for a very different picture.

ARTICLES:

Hohendahl, Peter Uwe.  "The Frozen Imagination: Adorno's Theory of Mass 
Culture Revisited," Thesis Eleven, no. 34, 1993, pp. 17-41.

Hullot-Kentor, Robert.  "Back to Adorno," Telos, no. 81, Fall 1989, pp. 5-29.

Jay, Martin. "Positive and Negative Totalities: Implicit Tensions in 
Critical Theory's Vision of Interdisciplinary Research," Thesis Eleven, no. 
3, 1981, pp. 72-87.

BOOKS:

The Cambridge Companion to Critical Theory, edited by Fred Rush. Cambridge; 
New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

The Cambridge Companion to Adorno, edited by Tom Huhn. Cambridge, UK; New 
York: Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Buck-Morss, Susan. The Origin of Negative Dialectics: Theodor W. Adorno, 
Walter Benjamin, and the Frankfurt Institute. New York: Free Press, 1977.