Question

theodor adornos aesthetic theory posits that authentic art resists commodification by maintaining what he called \determinate negation\—a refusal to be assimilated into existing categories of meaning. in an essay analyzing adornos influence on contemporary criticism, a student claims that adornos framework paradoxically demands that arts political efficacy emerge precisely from its apparent autonomy from political discourse.
9
which quotation from a scholarly analysis of adornos work would most effectively support the students claim?
a \adornos concept of negative dialectics refuses synthesis, maintaining productive tensions that resist the totalizing logic of identity thinking.\
b \for adorno, the culture industry represents the total subsumption of aesthetic experience under exchange value, eliminating any space for genuine critical reflection.\
c \adorno insisted that artworks achieve social truth not by depicting political struggles directly but by embodying formal contradictions that mirror societys unresolved antagonisms.\
d \the frankfurt school theorist maintained that arts capacity for social critique depends upon its explicit engagement with contemporary political movements and their ideological struggles.\

Explanation:

The student's claim is that Adorno's framework says art's political efficacy comes from its apparent autonomy from political discourse. We analyze each option:

• Option A: Talks about negative dialectics and identity thinking, not directly about art's political efficacy from autonomy. Eliminate.
• Option B: Discusses the culture industry and exchange value, not art's political efficacy from autonomy. Eliminate.
• Option C: States art achieves social truth (political efficacy) not by direct political depiction (autonomy from political discourse) but by embodying formal contradictions. This matches the claim.
• Option D: Says art's social critique depends on explicit engagement with political movements, which is the opposite of autonomy from political discourse. Eliminate.

Answer:

C. "Adorno insisted that artworks achieve social truth not by depicting political struggles directly but by embodying formal contradictions that mirror society's unresolved antagonisms."