| This study is an attempt to fully expose the merits and problems of Adorno's culture industry theory, its interconnection to his overall social theory, and the significance of the culture industry in Adorno's understanding of the contemporary predicament, through an elaborate and critical analysis of his writings on the culture industry in terms of his overall Critical Theory which in turn can be systematically analyzed in accordance with Kenneth Burke's dramatistic pentad: Scene, Agent, Act, Agency, and Purpose. Thus, this study (1) systematically reconstructs Adorno's critical theory of society in terms of the dramatistic pentad; (2) demonstrates how his theory of the culture industry is related to each of the pentadic elements of his general critical theory; and (3) shows the shortcomings in the theory and proposes alternative ideas.; According to Adorno, the contemporary scene under monopoly capitalism is a totally "administered world"; in such a world, "negative thinking" is the only desirable act as an exit toward utopia; only the "autonomous individual" is capable of this act and thus a possible agent of social transformation; "autonomous art" is one of the few, if not the only, agency holding a utopian hope; and "utopia" as a state of reconciliation is the purpose of social change. Adorno claimed that the culture industry promoted reification and administration, thus contributing to the maintenance of capitalistic system as the administered world; that it hindered the development of individual autonomy; that it obstructed negative thinking and genuine communication of people; that, unlike autonomous art, it transmitted the values of the status quo, thus working as an instrument of domination; that it falsely reconciled individuals with society, giving them substitute gratification; and that, overall, it was symptomatic of the totalitarian society, integrating alienated people into the system through manipulation from above.; However, Adorno unduly dismissed the contradictions and bourgeois ideals embedded in the culture industry's operation, exaggerated the industry's manipulative effects, and ignored the possibilities of alternative emancipatory media of communication and of non-repressive collectivity composed of enlightened individuals communicating through such media and thus forming a counter public sphere. |
