Adorno, Dialectic of Enlightenment (fragment) http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosoph /index.

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"heodor Adorno and )ax *or(heimer (+,--) from Dialectic of Enlightenment "he .ulture /ndustr : Enlightenment as )ass Deception "*E sociological theor that the loss of the support of objecti0el established religion, the dissolution of the last remnants of pre1capitalism, together with technological and social differentiation or specialisation, ha0e led to cultural chaos is dispro0ed e0er da 2 for culture now impresses the same stamp on e0er thing. 3ilms, radio and maga'ines ma(e up a s stem which is uniform as a whole and in e0er part. E0en the aesthetic acti0ities of political opposites are one in their enthusiastic obedience to the rh thm of the iron s stem. "he decorati0e industrial management buildings and exhibition centers in authoritarian countries are much the same as an where else. "he huge gleaming towers that shoot up e0er where are outward signs of the ingenious planning of international concerns, toward which the unleashed entrepreneurial s stem (whose monuments are a mass of gloom houses and business premises in grim , spiritless cities) was alread hastening. E0en now the older houses just outside the concrete cit centres loo( li(e slums, and the new bungalows on the outs(irts are at one with the flims structures of world fairs in their praise of technical progress and their built1in demand to be discarded after a short while li(e empt food cans. 4et the cit housing projects designed to perpetuate the indi0idual as a supposedl independent unit in a small h gienic dwelling ma(e him all the more subser0ient to his ad0ersar 1 the absolute power of capitalism. #ecause the inhabitants, as producers and as consumers, are drawn into the center in search of wor( and pleasure, all the li0ing units cr stallise into well1organised complexes. "he stri(ing unit of microcosm and macrocosm presents men with a model of their culture: the false identit of the general and the particular. 5nder monopol all mass culture is identical, and the lines of its artificial framewor( begin to show through. "he people at the top are no longer so interested in concealing monopol : as its 0iolence becomes more open, so its power grows. )o0ies and radio need no longer pretend to be art. "he truth that the are just business is made into an ideolog in order to justif the rubbish the deliberatel produce. "he call themsel0es industries2 and when their directors6 incomes are published, an doubt about the social utilit of the finished products is remo0ed. /nterested parties explain the culture industr in technological terms. /t is alleged that because millions participate in it, certain reproduction processes are necessar that ine0itabl re7uire identical needs in innumerable places to be satisfied with identical goods. "he technical contrast between the few production centers and the large number of widel dispersed consumption points is said to demand organisation and planning b management. 3urthermore, it is claimed that standards were based in the first place on consumers6 needs, and for that reason were accepted with so little resistance. "he result is the circle of manipulation and retroacti0e need in which the

unit of the s stem grows e0er stronger. 8o mention is made of the fact that the basis on which technolog ac7uires power o0er societ is the power of those whose economic hold o0er societ is greatest. A technological rationale is the rationale of domination itself. /t is the coerci0e nature of societ alienated from itself. Automobiles, bombs, and mo0ies (eep the whole thing together until their le0eling element shows its strength in the 0er wrong which it furthered. /t has made the technolog of the culture industr no more than the achie0ement of standardisation and mass production, sacrificing whate0er in0ol0ed a distinction between the logic of the wor( and that of the social s stem. "his is the result not of a law of mo0ement in technolog as such but of its function in toda 6s econom . "he need which might resist central control has alread been suppressed b the control of the indi0idual consciousness. "he step from the telephone to the radio has clearl distinguished the roles. "he former still allowed the subscriber to pla the role of subject, and was liberal. "he latter is democratic: it turns all participants into listeners and authoritati0el subjects them to broadcast programs which are all exactl the same. 8o machiner of rejoinder has been de0ised, and pri0ate broadcasters are denied an freedom. "he are confined to the apocr phal field of the 9amateur,9 and also ha0e to accept organisation from abo0e. #ut an trace of spontaneit from the public in official broadcasting is controlled and absorbed b talent scouts, studio competitions and official programs of e0er (ind selected b professionals. "alented performers belong to the industr long before it displa s them2 otherwise the would not be so eager to fit in. "he attitude of the public, which ostensibl and actuall fa0ours the s stem of the culture industr , is a part of the s stem and not an excuse for it. /f one branch of art follows the same formula as one with a 0er different medium and content2 if the dramatic intrigue of broadcast soap operas becomes no more than useful material for showing how to master technical problems at both ends of the scale of musical experience 1 real ja'' or a cheap imitation2 or if a mo0ement from a #eetho0en s mphon is crudel 9adapted9 for a film sound1trac( in the same wa as a "olsto no0el is garbled in a film script: then the claim that this is done to satisf the spontaneous wishes of the public is no more than hot air. %e are closer to the facts if we explain these phenomena as inherent in the technical and personnel apparatus which, down to its last cog, itself forms part of the economic mechanism of selection. /n addition there is the agreement 1 or at least the determination 1 of all executi0e authorities not to produce or sanction an thing that in an wa differs from their own rules, their own ideas about consumers, or abo0e all themsel0es. /n our age the objecti0e social tendenc is incarnate in the hidden subjecti0e purposes of compan directors, the foremost among whom are in the most powerful sectors of industr 1 steel, petroleum, electricit , and chemicals. .ulture monopolies are wea( and dependent in comparison. "he cannot afford to neglect their appeasement of the real holders of power if their sphere of acti0it in mass societ (a sphere producing a specific t pe of commodit which an how is still too closel bound up with eas 1going liberalism and :ewish intellectuals) is not to undergo a series of purges. "he dependence of the most powerful broadcasting compan on the electrical industr , or of the motion picture industr on the ban(s, is characteristic of the whole sphere, whose indi0idual branches are themsel0es economicall interwo0en. All are in such close contact that the extreme concentration of mental forces allows demarcation lines between different firms and technical branches to be ignored. "he ruthless unit in the culture industr is e0idence of what will happen in politics. )ar(ed differentiations such as those of A and # films, or of stories in maga'ines in different price ranges, depend not so much on subject matter as on classif ing, organising, and labelling consumers. $omething is pro0ided for all so that none ma escape2 the distinctions are

emphasised and extended. "he public is catered for with a hierarchical range of mass1produced products of 0ar ing 7ualit , thus ad0ancing the rule of complete 7uantification. E0er bod must beha0e (as if spontaneousl ) in accordance with his pre0iousl determined and indexed le0el, and choose the categor of mass product turned out for his t pe. .onsumers appear as statistics on research organisation charts, and are di0ided b income groups into red, green, and blue areas2 the techni7ue is that used for an t pe of propaganda. *ow formalised the procedure is can be seen when the mechanicall differentiated products pro0e to be all ali(e in the end. "hat the difference between the .hr sler range and ;eneral )otors products is basicall illusor stri(es e0er child with a (een interest in 0arieties. %hat connoisseurs discuss as good or bad points ser0e onl to perpetuate the semblance of competition and range of choice. "he same applies to the %arner #rothers and )etro ;oldw n )a er productions. #ut e0en the differences between the more expensi0e and cheaper models put out b the same firm steadil diminish: for automobiles, there are such differences as the number of c linders, cubic capacit , details of patented gadgets2 and for films there are the number of stars, the extra0agant use of technolog , labor, and e7uipment, and the introduction of the latest ps chological formulas. "he uni0ersal criterion of merit is the amount of 9conspicuous production,9 of blatant cash in0estment. "he 0ar ing budgets in the culture industr do not bear the slightest relation to factual 0alues, to the meaning of the products themsel0es. E0en the technical media are relentlessl forced into uniformit . "ele0ision aims at a s nthesis of radio and film, and is held up onl because the interested parties ha0e not et reached agreement, but its conse7uences will be 7uite enormous and promise to intensif the impo0erishment of aesthetic matter so drasticall , that b tomorrow the thinl 0eiled identit of all industrial culture products can come triumphantl out into the open, derisi0el fulfilling the %agnerian dream of the ;esamt(unstwer( 1 the fusion of all the arts in one wor(. "he alliance of word, image, and music is all the more perfect than in "ristan because the sensuous elements which all appro0ingl reflect the surface of social realit are in principle embodied in the same technical process, the unit of which becomes its distincti0e content. "his process integrates all the elements of the production, from the no0el (shaped with an e e to the film) to the last sound effect. /t is the triumph of in0ested capital, whose title as absolute master is etched deep into the hearts of the dispossessed in the emplo ment line2 it is the meaningful content of e0er film, whate0er plot the production team ma ha0e selected. "he man with leisure has to accept what the culture manufacturers offer him. <ant6s formalism still expected a contribution from the indi0idual, who was thought to relate the 0aried experiences of the senses to fundamental concepts2 but industr robs the indi0idual of his function. /ts prime ser0ice to the customer is to do his schematising for him. <ant said that there was a secret mechanism in the soul which prepared direct intuitions in such a wa that the could be fitted into the s stem of pure reason. #ut toda that secret has been deciphered. %hile the mechanism is to all appearances planned b those who ser0e up the data of experience, that is, b the culture industr , it is in fact forced upon the latter b the power of societ , which remains irrational, howe0er we ma tr to rationalise it2 and this inescapable force is processed b commercial agencies so that the gi0e an artificial impression of being in command. "here is nothing left for the consumer to classif . =roducers ha0e done it for him. Art for the masses has destro ed the dream but still conforms to the tenets of that dreaming idealism which critical idealism baul(ed at. E0er thing deri0es from consciousness: for )alebranche and #er(ele , from the consciousness of ;od2 in mass art, from the consciousness of the production team. 8ot onl are the hit songs, stars, and soap operas c clicall recurrent and rigidl in0ariable

t pes, but the specific content of the entertainment itself is deri0ed from them and onl appears to change. "he details are interchangeable. "he short inter0al se7uence which was effecti0e in a hit song, the hero6s momentar fall from grace (which he accepts as good sport), the rough treatment which the belo0ed gets from the male star, the latter6s rugged defiance of the spoilt heiress, are, li(e all the other details, read 1made cliches to be slotted in an where2 the ne0er do an thing more than fulfil the purpose allotted them in the o0erall plan. "heir whole raison d6etre is to confirm it b being its constituent parts. As soon as the film begins, it is 7uite clear how it will end, and who will be rewarded, punished, or forgotten. /n light music, once the trained ear has heard the first notes of the hit song, it can guess what is coming and feel flattered when it does come. "he a0erage length of the short stor has to be rigidl adhered to. E0en gags, effects, and jo(es are calculated li(e the setting in which the are placed. "he are the responsibilit of special experts and their narrow range ma(es it eas for them to be apportioned in the office. "he de0elopment of the culture industr has led to the predominance of the effect, the ob0ious touch, and the technical detail o0er the wor( itself 1 which once expressed an idea, but was li7uidated together with the idea. %hen the detail won its freedom, it became rebellious and, in the period from >omanticism to Expressionism, asserted itself as free expression, as a 0ehicle of protest against the organisation. /n music the single harmonic effect obliterated the awareness of form as a whole2 in painting the indi0idual colour was stressed at the expense of pictorial composition2 and in the no0el ps cholog became more important than structure. "he totalit of the culture industr has put an end to this. "hough concerned exclusi0el with effects, it crushes their insubordination and ma(es them subser0e the formula, which replaces the wor(. "he same fate is inflicted on whole and parts ali(e. "he whole ine0itabl bears no relation to the details 1 just li(e the career of a successful man into which e0er thing is made to fit as an illustration or a proof, whereas it is nothing more than the sum of all those idiotic e0ents. "he so1called dominant idea is li(e a file which ensures order but not coherence. "he whole and the parts are ali(e2 there is no antithesis and no connection. "heir prearranged harmon is a moc(er of what had to be stri0en after in the great bourgeois wor(s of art. /n ;erman the gra0e ard stillness of the dictatorship alread hung o0er the ga est films of the democratic era. "he whole world is made to pass through the filter of the culture industr . "he old experience of the mo0ie1goer, who sees the world outside as an extension of the film he has just left (because the latter is intent upon reproducing the world of e0er da perceptions), is now the producer6s guideline. "he more intensel and flawlessl his techni7ues duplicate empirical objects, the easier it is toda for the illusion to pre0ail that the outside world is the straightforward continuation of that presented on the screen. "his purpose has been furthered b mechanical reproduction since the lightning ta(eo0er b the sound film. >eal life is becoming indistinguishable from the mo0ies. "he sound film, far surpassing the theatre of illusion, lea0es no room for imagination or reflection on the part of the audience, who is unable to respond within the structure of the film, et de0iate from its precise detail without losing the thread of the stor 2 hence the film forces its 0ictims to e7uate it directl with realit . "he stunting of the mass1media consumer6s powers of imagination and spontaneit does not ha0e to be traced bac( to an ps chological mechanisms2 he must ascribe the loss of those attributes to the objecti0e nature of the products themsel0es, especiall to the most characteristic of them, the sound film. "he are so designed that 7uic(ness, powers of obser0ation, and experience are undeniabl needed to apprehend them at all2 et sustained thought is out of the 7uestion if the spectator is not to miss the relentless rush of facts.

E0en though the effort re7uired for his response is semi1automatic, no scope is left for the imagination. "hose who are so absorbed b the world of the mo0ie 1 b its images, gestures, and words 1 that the are unable to suppl what reall ma(es it a world, do not ha0e to dwell on particular points of its mechanics during a screening. All the other films and products of the entertainment industr which the ha0e seen ha0e taught them what to expect2 the react automaticall . "he might of industrial societ is lodged in men6s minds. "he entertainments manufacturers (now that their products will be consumed with alertness e0en when the customer is distraught, for each of them is a model of the huge economic machiner which has alwa s sustained the masses, whether at wor( or at leisure 1 which is a(in to wor(. 3rom e0er sound film and e0er broadcast program the social effect can be inferred which is exclusi0e to none but is shared b all ali(e. "he culture industr as a whole has moulded men as a t pe unfailingl reproduced in e0er product. All the agents of this process, from the producer to the women6s clubs, ta(e good care that the simple reproduction of this mental state is not nuanced or extended in an wa . "he art historians and guardians of culture who complain of the extinction in the %est of a basic st le1determining power are wrong. "he stereot ped appropriation of e0er thing, e0en the inchoate, for the purposes of mechanical reproduction surpasses the rigour and general currenc of an 9real st le,9 in the sense in which cultural cognoscenti celebrate the organic pre1capitalist past. 8o =alestrina could be more of a purist in eliminating e0er unprepared and unresol0ed discord than the ja'' arranger in suppressing an de0elopment which does not conform to the jargon. %hen ja''ing up )o'art he changes him not onl when he is too serious or too difficult but when he harmonises the melod in a different wa , perhaps more simpl , than is customar now. 8o medie0al builder can ha0e scrutinised the subjects for church windows and sculptures more suspiciousl than the studio hierarch scrutinises a wor( b #al'ac or *ugo before finall appro0ing it. 8o medie0al theologian could ha0e determined the degree of the torment to be suffered b the damned in accordance with the ordo of di0ine lo0e more meticulousl than the producers of shodd epics calculate the torture to be undergone b the hero or the exact point to which the leading lad 6s hemline shall be raised. "he explicit and implicit, exoteric and esoteric catalogue of the forbidden and tolerated is so extensi0e that it not onl defines the area of freedom but is all1powerful inside it. E0er thing down to the last detail is shaped accordingl . ?i(e its counterpart, a0ant1garde art, the entertainment industr determines its own language, down to its 0er s ntax and 0ocabular , b the use of anathema. "he constant pressure to produce new effects (which must conform to the old pattern) ser0es merel as another rule to increase the power of the con0entions when an single effect threatens to slip through the net. E0er detail is so firml stamped with sameness that nothing can appear which is not mar(ed at birth, or does not meet with appro0al at first sight. And the star performers, whether the produce or reproduce, use this jargon as freel and fluentl and with as much gusto as if it were the 0er language which it silenced long ago. $uch is the ideal of what is natural in this field of acti0it , and its influence becomes all the more powerful, the more techni7ue is perfected and diminishes the tension between the finished product and e0er da life. "he paradox of this routine, which is essentiall tra0est , can be detected and is often predominant in e0er thing that the culture industr turns out. A ja'' musician who is pla ing a piece of serious music, one of #eetho0en6s simplest minuets, s ncopates it in0oluntaril and will smile superciliousl when as(ed to follow the normal di0isions of the beat. "his is the 9nature9 which, complicated b the e0er1present and extra0agant demands of the specific medium, constitutes the new st le and is a 9s stem of non1culture, to which one might e0en concede a certain 6unit of st le6 if it reall made an sense to spea( of st lised barbarit .9 @8iet'scheA

"he uni0ersal imposition of this st lised mode can e0en go be ond what is 7uasi1officiall sanctioned or forbidden2 toda a hit song is more readil forgi0en for not obser0ing the BC beats or the compass of the ninth than for containing e0en the most clandestine melodic or harmonic detail which does not conform to the idiom. %hene0er Drson %elles offends against the tric(s of the trade, he is forgi0en because his departures from the norm are regarded as calculated mutations which ser0e all the more strongl to confirm the 0alidit of the s stem. "he constraint of the technicall 1conditioned idiom which stars and directors ha0e to produce as 9nature9 so that the people can appropriate it, extends to such fine nuances that the almost attain the subtlet of the de0ices of an a0ant1garde wor( as against those of truth. "he rare capacit minutel to fulfil the obligations of the natural idiom in all branches of the culture industr becomes the criterion of efficienc . %hat and how the sa it must be measurable b e0er da language, as in logical positi0ism. "he producers are experts. "he idiom demands an astounding producti0e power, which it absorbs and s7uanders. /n a diabolical wa it has o0erreached the culturall conser0ati0e distinction between genuine and artificial st le. A st le might be called artificial which is imposed from without on the refractor impulses of a form. #ut in the culture industr e0er element of the subject matter has its origin in the same apparatus as that jargon whose stamp it bears. "he 7uarrels in which the artistic experts become in0ol0ed with sponsor and censor about a lie going be ond the bounds of credibilit are e0idence not so much of an inner aesthetic tension as of a di0ergence of interests. "he reputation of the specialist, in which a last remnant of objecti0e independence sometimes finds refuge, conflicts with the business politics of the .hurch, or the concern which is manufacturing the cultural commodit . #ut the thing itself has been essentiall objectified and made 0iable before the established authorities began to argue about it. E0en before Eanuc( ac7uired her, $aint #ernadette was regarded b her latter1da hagiographer as brilliant propaganda for all interested parties. "hat is what became of the emotions of the character. *ence the st le of the culture industr , which no longer has to test itself against an refractor material, is also the negation of st le. "he reconciliation of the general and particular, of the rule and the specific demands of the subject matter, the achie0ement of which alone gi0es essential, meaningful content to st le, is futile because there has ceased to be the slightest tension between opposite poles: these concordant extremes are dismall identical2 the general can replace the particular, and 0ice 0ersa. 8e0ertheless, this caricature of st le does not amount to something be ond the genuine st le of the past. /n the culture industr the notion of genuine st le is seen to be the aesthetic e7ui0alent of domination. $t le considered as mere aesthetic regularit is a romantic dream of the past. "he unit of st le not onl of the .hristian )iddle Ages but of the >enaissance expresses in each case the different structure of social power, and not the obscure experience of the oppressed in which the general was enclosed. "he great artists were ne0er those who embodied a wholl flawless and perfect st le, but those who used st le as a wa of hardening themsel0es against the chaotic expression of suffering, as a negati0e truth. "he st le of their wor(s ga0e what was expressed that force without which life flows awa unheard. "hose 0er art forms which are (nown as classical, such as )o'art6s music, contain objecti0e trends which represent something different to the st le which the incarnate. As late as $chFnberg and =icasso, the great artists ha0e retained a mistrust of st le, and at crucial points ha0e subordinated it to the logic of the matter. %hat Dadaists and Expressionists called the untruth of st le as such triumphs toda in the sung jargon of a crooner, in the carefull contri0ed elegance of a film star, and e0en in the admirable expertise of a photograph of a peasant6s s7ualid hut. $t le represents a promise in e0er wor( of art. "hat which is expressed is subsumed through

st le into the dominant forms of generalit , into the language of music, painting, or words, in the hope that it will be reconciled thus with the idea of true generalit . "his promise held out b the wor( of art that it will create truth b lending new shape to the con0entional social forms is as necessar as it is h pocritical. /t unconditionall posits the real forms of life as it is b suggesting that fulfilment lies in their aesthetic deri0ati0es. "o this extent the claim of art is alwa s ideolog too. *owe0er, onl in this confrontation with tradition of which st le is the record can art express suffering. "hat factor in a wor( of art which enables it to transcend realit certainl cannot be detached from st le2 but it does not consist of the harmon actuall realised, of an doubtful unit of form and content, within and without, of indi0idual and societ 2 it is to be found in those features in which discrepanc appears: in the necessar failure of the passionate stri0ing for identit . /nstead of exposing itself to this failure in which the st le of the great wor( of art has alwa s achie0ed self1negation, the inferior wor( has alwa s relied on its similarit with others 1 on a surrogate identit . /n the culture industr this imitation finall becomes absolute. *a0ing ceased to be an thing but st le, it re0eals the latter6s secret: obedience to the social hierarch . "oda aesthetic barbarit completes what has threatened the creations of the spirit since the were gathered together as culture and neutralised. "o spea( of culture was alwa s contrar to culture. .ulture as a common denominator alread contains in embr o that schematisation and process of cataloguing and classification which bring culture within the sphere of administration. And it is precisel the industrialised, the conse7uent, subsumption which entirel accords with this notion of culture. # subordinating in the same wa and to the same end all areas of intellectual creation, b occup ing men6s senses from the time the lea0e the factor in the e0ening to the time the cloc( in again the next morning with matter that bears the impress of the labor process the themsel0es ha0e to sustain throughout the da , this subsumption moc(ingl satisfies the concept of a unified culture which the philosophers of personalit contrasted with mass culture. And so the culture industr , the most rigid of all st les, pro0es to be the goal of liberalism, which is reproached for its lac( of st le. 8ot onl do its categories and contents deri0e from liberalism 1 domesticated naturalism as well as operetta and re0ue 1 but the modern culture monopolies form the economic area in which, together with the corresponding entrepreneurial t pes, for the time being some part of its sphere of operation sur0i0es, despite the process of disintegration elsewhere. /t is still possible to ma(e one6s wa in entertainment, if one is not too obstinate about one6s own concerns, and pro0es appropriatel pliable. An one who resists can onl sur0i0e b fitting in. Dnce his particular brand of de0iation from the norm has been noted b the industr , he belongs to it as does the land1reformer to capitalism. >ealistic dissidence is the trademar( of an one who has a new idea in business. /n the public 0oice of modern societ accusations are seldom audible2 if the are, the percepti0e can alread detect signs that the dissident will soon be reconciled. "he more immeasurable the gap between chorus and leaders, the more certainl there is room at the top for e0er bod who demonstrates his superiorit b well1planned originalit . *ence, in the culture industr , too, the liberal tendenc to gi0e full scope to its able men sur0i0es. "o do this for the efficient toda is still the function of the mar(et, which is otherwise proficientl controlled2 as for the mar(et6s freedom, in the high period of art as elsewhere, it was freedom for the stupid to star0e. $ignificantl , the s stem of the culture industr comes from the more liberal industrial nations, and all its characteristic media, such as mo0ies, radio, ja'', and maga'ines, flourish there. /ts progress, to be sure, had its origin in the general laws of capital. ;aumont and =athe, 5llstein and *ugenberg followed the international trend with some success2

Europe6s economic dependence on the 5nited $tates after war and inflation was a contributor factor. "he belief that the barbarit of the culture industr is a result of 9cultural lag,9 of the fact that the American consciousness did not (eep up with the growth of technolog , is 7uite wrong. /t was pre13ascist Europe which did not (eep up with the trend toward the culture monopol . #ut it was this 0er lag which left intellect and creati0it some degree of independence and enabled its last representati0es to exist 1 howe0er dismall . /n ;erman the failure of democratic control to permeate life had led to a paradoxical situation. )an things were exempt from the mar(et mechanism which had in0aded the %estern countries. "he ;erman educational s stem, uni0ersities, theatres with artistic standards, great orchestras, and museums enjo ed protection. "he political powers, state and municipalities, which had inherited such institutions from absolutism, had left them with a measure of the freedom from the forces of power which dominates the mar(et, just as princes and feudal lords had done up to the nineteenth centur . "his strengthened art in this late phase against the 0erdict of suppl and demand, and increased its resistance far be ond the actual degree of protection. /n the mar(et itself the tribute of a 7ualit for which no use had been found was turned into purchasing power2 in this wa , respectable literar and music publishers could help authors who ielded little more in the wa of profit than the respect of the connoisseur. #ut what completel fettered the artist was the pressure (and the accompan ing drastic threats), alwa s to fit into business life as an aesthetic expert. 3ormerl , li(e <ant and *ume, the signed their letters 94our most humble and obedient ser0ant,9 and undermined the foundations of throne and altar. "oda the address heads of go0ernment b their first names, et in e0er artistic acti0it the are subject to their illiterate masters. "he anal sis "oc7ue0ille offered a centur ago has in the meantime pro0ed wholl accurate. 5nder the pri0ate culture monopol it is a fact that 9t rann lea0es the bod free and directs its attac( at the soul. "he ruler no longer sa s: 4ou must thin( as / do or die. *e sa s: 4ou are free not to thin( as / do2 our life, our propert , e0er thing shall remain ours, but from this da on ou are a stranger among us.9 8ot to conform means to be rendered powerless, economicall and therefore spirituall 1 to be 9self1 emplo ed.9 %hen the outsider is excluded from the concern, he can onl too easil be accused of incompetence. %hereas toda in material production the mechanism of suppl and demand is disintegrating, in the superstructure it still operates as a chec( in the rulers6 fa0our. "he consumers are the wor(ers and emplo ees, the farmers and lower middle class. .apitalist production so confines them, bod and soul, that the fall helpless 0ictims to what is offered them. As naturall as the ruled alwa s too( the moralit imposed upon them more seriousl than did the rulers themsel0es, the decei0ed masses are toda capti0ated b the m th of success e0en more than the successful are. /mmo0abl , the insist on the 0er ideolog which ensla0es them. "he misplaced lo0e of the common people for the wrong which is done them is a greater force than the cunning of the authorities. /t is stronger e0en than the rigorism of the *a s Dffice, just as in certain great times in histor it has inflamed greater forces that were turned against it, namel , the terror of the tribunals. /t calls for )ic(e >oone in preference to the tragic ;arbo, for Donald Duc( instead of #ett #oop. "he industr submits to the 0ote which it has itself inspired. %hat is a loss for the firm which cannot full exploit a contract with a declining star is a legitimate expense for the s stem as a whole. # craftil sanctioning the demand for rubbish it inaugurates total harmon . "he connoisseur and the expert are despised for their pretentious claim to (now better than the others, e0en though culture is democratic and distributes its pri0ileges to all. /n 0iew of the ideological truce, the conformism of the bu ers and the effronter of the producers who suppl them pre0ail. "he result is a constant reproduction of the same thing.

A constant sameness go0erns the relationship to the past as well. %hat is new about the phase of mass culture compared with the late liberal stage is the exclusion of the new. "he machine rotates on the same spot. %hile determining consumption it excludes the untried as a ris(. "he mo0ie1ma(ers distrust an manuscript which is not reassuringl bac(ed b a bestseller. 4et for this 0er reason there is ne0er1ending tal( of ideas, no0elt , and surprise, of what is ta(en for granted but has ne0er existed. "empo and d namics ser0e this trend. 8othing remains as of old2 e0er thing has to run incessantl , to (eep mo0ing. 3or onl the uni0ersal triumph of the rh thm of mechanical production and reproduction promises that nothing changes, and nothing unsuitable will appear. An additions to the well1pro0en culture in0entor are too much of a speculation. "he ossified forms 1 such as the s(etch, short stor , problem film, or hit song 1 are the standardised a0erage of late liberal taste, dictated with threats from abo0e. "he people at the top in the culture agencies, who wor( in harmon as onl one manager can with another, whether he comes from the rag trade or from college, ha0e long since reorganised and rationalised the objecti0e spirit. Dne might thin( that an omnipresent authorit had sifted the material and drawn up an official catalogue of cultural commodities to pro0ide a smooth suppl of a0ailable mass1 produced lines. "he ideas are written in the cultural firmament where the had alread been numbered b =lato 1 and were indeed numbers, incapable of increase and immutable. Amusement and all the elements of the culture industr existed long before the latter came into existence. 8ow the are ta(en o0er from abo0e and brought up to date. "he culture industr can pride itself on ha0ing energeticall executed the pre0iousl clums transposition of art into the sphere of consumption, on ma(ing this a principle, on di0esting amusement of its obtrusi0e naG0etes and impro0ing the t pe of commodities. "he more absolute it became, the more ruthless it was in forcing e0er outsider either into ban(ruptc or into a s ndicate, and became more refined and ele0ated 1 until it ended up as a s nthesis of #eetho0en and the .asino de =aris. /t enjo s a double 0ictor : the truth it extinguishes without it can reproduce at will as a lie within. 9?ight9 art as such, distraction, is not a decadent form. An one who complains that it is a betra al of the ideal of pure expression is under an illusion about societ . "he purit of bourgeois art, which h postasised itself as a world of freedom in contrast to what was happening in the material world, was from the beginning bought with the exclusion of the lower classes 1 with whose cause, the real uni0ersalit , art (eeps faith precisel b its freedom from the ends of the false uni0ersalit . $erious art has been withheld from those for whom the hardship and oppression of life ma(e a moc(er of seriousness, and who must be glad if the can use time not spent at the production line just to (eep going. ?ight art has been the shadow of autonomous art. /t is the social bad conscience of serious art. "he truth which the latter necessaril lac(ed because of its social premises gi0es the other the semblance of legitimac . "he di0ision itself is the truth: it does at least express the negati0it of the culture which the different spheres constitute. ?east of all can the antithesis be reconciled b absorbing light into serious art, or 0ice 0ersa. #ut that is what the culture industr attempts. "he eccentricit of the circus, peepshow, and brothel is as embarrassing to it as that of $chFnberg and <arl <raus. And so the ja'' musician #enn ;oodman appears with the #udapest string 7uartet, more pedantic rh thmicall than an philharmonic clarinettist, while the st le of the #udapest pla ers is as uniform and sugar as that of ;u ?ombardo. #ut what is significant is not 0ulgarit , stupidit , and lac( of polish. "he culture industr did awa with esterda 6s rubbish b its own perfection, and b forbidding and domesticating the amateurish, although it constantl allows gross blunders without which the standard of the exalted st le cannot be percei0ed. #ut what is new is that the irreconcilable elements of culture, art and distraction, are subordinated to one end and subsumed under one

false formula: the totalit of the culture industr . /t consists of repetition. "hat its characteristic inno0ations are ne0er an thing more than impro0ements of mass reproduction is not external to the s stem. /t is with good reason that the interest of innumerable consumers is directed to the techni7ue, and not to the contents 1 which are stubbornl repeated, outworn, and b now half1discredited. "he social power which the spectators worship shows itself more effecti0el in the omnipresence of the stereot pe imposed b technical s(ill than in the stale ideologies for which the ephemeral contents stand in. 8e0ertheless the culture industr remains the entertainment business. /ts influence o0er the consumers is established b entertainment2 that will ultimatel be bro(en not b an outright decree, but b the hostilit inherent in the principle of entertainment to what is greater than itself. $ince all the trends of the culture industr are profoundl embedded in the public b the whole social process, the are encouraged b the sur0i0al of the mar(et in this area. Demand has not et been replaced b simple obedience. As is well (nown, the major reorganisation of the film industr shortl before %orld %ar /, the material prere7uisite of its expansion, was precisel its deliberate acceptance of the public6s needs as recorded at the box1office 1 a procedure which was hardl thought necessar in the pioneering da s of the screen. "he same opinion is held toda b the captains of the film industr , who ta(e as their criterion the more or less phenomenal song hits but wisel ne0er ha0e recourse to the judgment of truth, the opposite criterion. #usiness is their ideolog . /t is 7uite correct that the power of the culture industr resides in its identification with a manufactured need, and not in simple contrast to it, e0en if this contrast were one of complete power and complete powerlessness. Amusement under late capitalism is the prolongation of wor(. /t is sought after as an escape from the mechanised wor( process, and to recruit strength in order to be able to cope with it again. #ut at the same time mechanisation has such power o0er a man6s leisure and happiness, and so profoundl determines the manufacture of amusement goods, that his experiences are ine0itabl after1images of the wor( process itself. "he ostensible content is merel a faded foreground2 what sin(s in is the automatic succession of standardised operations. %hat happens at wor(, in the factor , or in the office can onl be escaped from b approximation to it in one6s leisure time. All amusement suffers from this incurable malad . =leasure hardens into boredom because, if it is to remain pleasure, it must not demand an effort and therefore mo0es rigorousl in the worn groo0es of association. 8o independent thin(ing must be expected from the audience: the product prescribes e0er reaction: not b its natural structure (which collapses under reflection), but b signals. An logical connection calling for mental effort is painsta(ingl a0oided. As far as possible, de0elopments must follow from the immediatel preceding situation and ne0er from the idea of the whole. 3or the attenti0e mo0ie1goer an indi0idual scene will gi0e him the whole thing. E0en the set pattern itself still seems dangerous, offering some meaning 1 wretched as it might be 1 where onl meaninglessness is acceptable. Dften the plot is maliciousl depri0ed of the de0elopment demanded b characters and matter according to the old pattern. /nstead, the next step is what the script writer ta(es to be the most stri(ing effect in the particular situation. #anal though elaborate surprise interrupts the stor 1line. "he tendenc mischie0ousl to fall bac( on pure nonsense, which was a legitimate part of popular art, farce and clowning, right up to .haplin and the )arx #rothers, is most ob0ious in the unpretentious (inds. "his tendenc has completel asserted itself in the text of the no0elt song, in the thriller mo0ie, and in cartoons, although in films starring ;reer ;arson and #ette Da0is the unit of the socio1 ps chological case stud pro0ides something approximating a claim to a consistent plot. "he idea itself, together with the objects of comed and terror, is massacred and fragmented. 8o0elt songs ha0e alwa s existed on a contempt for meaning which, as

predecessors and successors of ps choanal sis, the reduce to the monoton of sexual s mbolism. "oda , detecti0e and ad0enture films no longer gi0e the audience the opportunit to experience the resolution. /n the non1ironic 0arieties of the genre, it has also to rest content with the simple horror of situations which ha0e almost ceased to be lin(ed in an wa . .artoons were once exponents of fantas as opposed to rationalism. "he ensured that justice was done to the creatures and objects the electrified, b gi0ing the maimed specimens a second life. All the do toda is to confirm the 0ictor of technological reason o0er truth. A few ears ago the had a consistent plot which onl bro(e up in the final moments in a cra' chase, and thus resembled the old slapstic( comed . 8ow, howe0er, time relations ha0e shifted. /n the 0er first se7uence a moti0e is stated so that in the course of the action destruction can get to wor( on it: with the audience in pursuit, the protagonist becomes the worthless object of general 0iolence. "he 7uantit of organised amusement changes into the 7ualit of organised cruelt . "he self1elected censors of the film industr (with whom it enjo s a close relationship) watch o0er the unfolding of the crime, which is as drawn1out as a hunt. 3un replaces the pleasure which the sight of an embrace would allegedl afford, and postpones satisfaction till the da of the pogrom. /nsofar as cartoons do an more than accustom the senses to the new tempo, the hammer into e0er brain the old lesson that continuous friction, the brea(ing down of all indi0idual resistance, is the condition of life in this societ . Donald Duc( in the cartoons and the unfortunate in real life get their thrashing so that the audience can learn to ta(e their own punishment. "he enjo ment of the 0iolence suffered b the mo0ie character turns into 0iolence against the spectator, and distraction into exertion. 8othing that the experts ha0e de0ised as a stimulant must escape the wear e e2 no stupidit is allowed in the face of all the tric(er 2 one has to follow e0er thing and e0en displa the smart responses shown and recommended in the film. "his raises the 7uestion whether the culture industr fulfils the function of di0erting minds which it boasts about so loudl . /f most of the radio stations and mo0ie theatres were closed down, the consumers would probabl not lose so 0er much. "o wal( from the street into the mo0ie theatre is no longer to enter a world of dream2 as soon as the 0er existence of these institutions no longer made it obligator to use them, there would be no great urge to do so. $uch closures would not be reactionar machine wrec(ing. "he disappointment would be felt not so much b the enthusiasts as b the slow1witted, who are the ones who suffer for e0er thing an how. /n spite of the films which are intended to complete her integration, the housewife finds in the dar(ness of the mo0ie theatre a place of refuge where she can sit for a few hours with nobod watching, just as she used to loo( out of the window when there were still homes and rest in the e0ening. "he unemplo ed in the great cities find coolness in summer and warmth in winter in these temperature1controlled locations. Dtherwise, despite its si'e, this bloated pleasure apparatus adds no dignit to man6s li0es. "he idea of 9full exploiting9 a0ailable technical resources and the facilities for aesthetic mass consumption is part of the economic s stem which refuses to exploit resources to abolish hunger. "he culture industr perpetuall cheats its consumers of what it perpetuall promises. "he promissor note which, with its plots and staging, it draws on pleasure is endlessl prolonged2 the promise, which is actuall all the spectacle consists of, is illusor : all it actuall confirms is that the real point will ne0er be reached, that the diner must be satisfied with the menu. /n front of the appetite stimulated b all those brilliant names and images there is finall set no more than a commendation of the depressing e0er da world it sought to escape. Df course wor(s of art were not sexual exhibitions either. *owe0er, b representing depri0ation as negati0e, the retracted, as it were, the prostitution of the impulse and rescued b mediation what was denied.

"he secret of aesthetic sublimation is its representation of fulfilment as a bro(en promise. "he culture industr does not sublimate2 it represses. # repeatedl exposing the objects of desire, breasts in a clinging sweater or the na(ed torso of the athletic hero, it onl stimulates the unsublimated forepleasure which habitual depri0ation has long since reduced to a masochistic semblance. "here is no erotic situation which, while insinuating and exciting, does not fail to indicate unmista(abl that things can ne0er go that far. "he *a s Dffice merel confirms the ritual of "antalus that the culture industr has established an wa . %or(s of art are ascetic and unashamed2 the culture industr is pornographic and prudish. ?o0e is downgraded to romance. And, after the descent, much is permitted2 e0en license as a mar(etable specialit has its 7uota bearing the trade description 9daring.9 "he mass production of the sexual automaticall achie0es its repression. #ecause of his ubi7uit , the film star with whom one is meant to fall in lo0e is from the outset a cop of himself. E0er tenor 0oice comes to sound li(e a .aruso record, and the 9natural9 faces of "exas girls are li(e the successful models b whom *oll wood has t pecast them. "he mechanical reproduction of beaut , which reactionar cultural fanaticism wholeheartedl ser0es in its methodical idolisation of indi0idualit , lea0es no room for that unconscious idolatr which was once essential to beaut . "he triumph o0er beaut is celebrated b humour 1 the $chadenfreude that e0er successful depri0ation calls forth. "here is laughter because there is nothing to laugh at. ?aughter, whether conciliator or terrible, alwa s occurs when some fear passes. /t indicates liberation either from ph sical danger or from the grip of logic. .onciliator laughter is heard as the echo of an escape from power2 the wrong (ind o0ercomes fear b capitulating to the forces which are to be feared. /t is the echo of power as something inescapable. 3un is a medicinal bath. "he pleasure industr ne0er fails to prescribe it. /t ma(es laughter the instrument of the fraud practised on happiness. )oments of happiness are without laughter2 onl operettas and films portra sex to the accompaniment of resounding laughter. #ut #audelaire is as de0oid of humour as *olderlin. /n the false societ laughter is a disease which has attac(ed happiness and is drawing it into its worthless totalit . "o laugh at something is alwa s to deride it, and the life which, according to #ergson, in laughter brea(s through the barrier, is actuall an in0ading barbaric life, self1assertion prepared to parade its liberation from an scruple when the social occasion arises. $uch a laughing audience is a parod of humanit . /ts members are monads, all dedicated to the pleasure of being read for an thing at the expense of e0er one else. "heir harmon is a caricature of solidarit . %hat is fiendish about this false laughter is that it is a compelling parod of the best, which is conciliator . Delight is austere: res se0era 0erum gaudium. "he monastic theor that not asceticism but the sexual act denotes the renunciation of attainable bliss recei0es negati0e confirmation in the gra0it of the lo0er who with foreboding commits his life to the fleeting moment. /n the culture industr , jo0ial denial ta(es the place of the pain found in ecstas and in asceticism. "he supreme law is that the shall not satisf their desires at an price2 the must laugh and be content with laughter. /n e0er product of the culture industr , the permanent denial imposed b ci0ilisation is once again unmista(abl demonstrated and inflicted on its 0ictims. "o offer and to depri0e them of something is one and the same. "his is what happens in erotic films. =recisel because it must ne0er ta(e place, e0er thing centres upon copulation. /n films it is more strictl forbidden for an illegitimate relationship to be admitted without the parties being punished than for a millionaire6s future son1in1law to be acti0e in the labour mo0ement. /n contrast to the liberal era, industrialised as well as popular culture ma wax indignant at capitalism, but it cannot renounce the threat of castration. "his is fundamental. /t outlasts the organised acceptance of the uniformed seen in the films which are produced to that end, and in realit . %hat is decisi0e toda is no longer puritanism, although it still asserts itself in

the form of women6s organisations, but the necessit inherent in the s stem not to lea0e the customer alone, not for a moment to allow him an suspicion that resistance is possible. "he principle dictates that he should be shown all his needs as capable of1fulfilment, but that those needs should be so predetermined that he feels himself to be the eternal consumer, the object of the culture industr . 8ot onl does it ma(e him belie0e that the deception it practices is satisfaction, but it goes further and implies that, whate0er the state of affairs, he must put up with what is offered. "he escape from e0er da drudger which the whole culture industr promises ma be compared to the daughter6s abduction in the cartoon: the father is holding the ladder in the dar(. "he paradise offered b the culture industr is the same old drudger . #oth escape and elopement are pre1designed to lead bac( to the starting point. =leasure promotes the resignation which it ought to help to forget. ... E0en toda the culture industr dresses wor(s of art li(e political slogans and forces them upon a resistant public at reduced prices2 the are as accessible for public enjo ment as a par(. #ut the disappearance of their genuine commodit character does not mean that the ha0e been abolished in the life of a free societ , but that the last defence against their reduction to culture goods has fallen. "he abolition of educational pri0ilege b the de0ice of clearance sales does not open for the masses the spheres from which the were formerl excluded, but, gi0en existing social conditions, contributes directl to the deca of education and the progress of barbaric meaninglessness. "hose who spent their mone in the nineteenth or the earl twentieth centur to see a pla or to go to a concert respected the performance as much as the mone the spent. "he bourgeois who wanted to get something out of it tried occasionall to establish some rapport with the wor(. E0idence for this is to be found in the literar 9introductions9 to wor(s, or in the commentaries on 3aust. "hese were the first steps toward the biographical coating and other practices to which a wor( of art is subjected toda . E0en in the earl , prosperous da s of business, exchange10alue did carr use 0alue as a mere appendix but had de0eloped it as a prere7uisite for its own existence2 this was sociall helpful for wor(s of art. Art exercised some restraint on the bourgeois as long as it cost mone . "hat is now a thing of the past. 8ow that it has lost e0er restraint and there is no need to pa an mone , the proximit of art to those who are exposed to it completes the alienation and assimilates one to the other under the banner of triumphant objecti0it . .riticism and respect disappear in the culture industr 2 the former becomes a mechanical expertise, the latter is succeeded b a shallow cult of leading personalities. .onsumers now find nothing expensi0e. 8e0ertheless, the suspect that the less an thing costs, the less it is being gi0en them. "he double mistrust of traditional culture as ideolog is combined with mistrust of industrialised culture as a swindle. %hen thrown in free, the now debased wor(s of art, together with the rubbish to which the medium assimilates them, are secretl rejected b the fortunate recipients, who are supposed to be satisfied b the mere fact that there is so much to be seen and heard. E0er thing can be obtained. "he screenos and 0aude0illes in the mo0ie theatre, the competitions for guessing music, the free boo(s, rewards and gifts offered on certain radio programs, are not mere accidents but a continuation of the practice obtaining with culture products. "he s mphon becomes a reward for listening to the radio, and 1 if technolog had its wa 1 the film would be deli0ered to people6s homes as happens with the radio. /t is mo0ing toward the commercial s stem. "ele0ision points the wa to a de0elopment which might easil enough force the %arner #rothers into what would certainl be the unwelcome position of serious musicians and cultural conser0ati0es. #ut the gift s stem has alread ta(en hold among consumers. As culture is represented as a bonus with undoubted pri0ate and social ad0antages, the ha0e to sei'e the chance. "he rush in lest the miss

something. Exactl what, is not clear, but in an case the onl ones with a chance are the participants. 3ascism, howe0er, hopes to use the training the culture industr has gi0en these recipients of gifts, in order to organise them into its own forced battalions. .ulture is a paradoxical commodit . $o completel is it subject to the law of exchange that it is no longer exchanged2 it is so blindl consumed in use that it can no longer be used. "herefore it amalgamates with ad0ertising. "he more meaningless the latter seems to be under a monopol , the more omnipotent it becomes. "he moti0es are mar(edl economic. Dne could certainl li0e without the culture industr , therefore it necessaril creates too much satiation and apath . /n itself, it has few resources itself to correct this. Ad0ertising is its elixir of life. #ut as its product ne0er fails to reduce to a mere promise the enjo ment which it promises as a commodit , it e0entuall coincides with publicit , which it needs because it cannot be enjo ed. /n a competiti0e societ , ad0ertising performed the social ser0ice of informing the bu er about the mar(et2 it made choice easier and helped the un(nown but more efficient supplier to dispose of his goods. 3ar from costing time, it sa0ed it. "oda , when the free mar(et is coming to an end, those who control the s stem are entrenching themsel0es in it. /t strengthens the firm bond between the consumers and the big combines. Dnl those who can pa the exorbitant rates charged b the ad0ertising agencies, chief of which are the radio networ(s themsel0es2 that is, onl those who are alread in a position to do so, or are co1opted b the decision of the ban(s and industrial capital, can enter the pseudo1mar(et as sellers. "he costs of ad0ertising, which finall flow bac( into the poc(ets of the combines, ma(e it unnecessar to defeat unwelcome outsiders b laborious competition. "he guarantee that power will remain in the same hands 1 not unli(e those economic decisions b which the establishment and running of underta(ings is controlled in a totalitarian state. Ad0ertising toda is a negati0e principle, a bloc(ing de0ice: e0er thing that does not bear its stamp is economicall suspect. 5ni0ersal publicit is in no wa necessar for people to get to (now the (inds of goods 1 whose suppl is restricted an wa . /t helps sales onl indirectl . 3or a particular firm, to phase out a current ad0ertising practice constitutes a loss of prestige, and a breach of the discipline imposed b the influential cli7ue on its members. /n wartime, goods which are unobtainable are still ad0ertised, merel to (eep industrial power in 0iew. $ubsidising ideological media is more important than the repetition of the name. #ecause the s stem obliges e0er product to use ad0ertising, it has permeated the idiom 1 the 9st le9 1 of the culture industr . /ts 0ictor is so complete that it is no longer e0ident in the (e positions: the huge buildings of the top men, floodlit stone ad0ertisements, are free of ad0ertising2 at most the exhibit on the rooftops, in monumental brilliance and without an self1glorification, the firm6s initials. #ut, in contrast, the nineteenth1centur houses, whose architecture still shamefull indicates that the can be used as a consumption commodit and are intended to be li0ed in, are co0ered with posters and inscriptions from the ground right up to and be ond the roof: until the become no more than bac(grounds for bills and sign1boards. Ad0ertising becomes art and nothing else, just as ;oebbels 1 with foresight 1 combines them: l6art pour l6art, ad0ertising for its own sa(e, a pure representation of social power. /n the most influential American maga'ines, ?ife and 3ortune, a 7uic( glance can now scarcel distinguish ad0ertising from editorial picture and text. "he latter features an enthusiastic and gratuitous account of the great man (with illustrations of his life and grooming habits) which will bring him new fans, while the ad0ertisement pages use so man factual photographs and details that the represent the ideal of information which the editorial part has onl begun to tr to achie0e. "he assembl 1line character of the culture industr , the s nthetic, planned method of turning out its products (factor 1li(e not onl in the studio but, more or less, in the compilation of cheap

biographies, pseudo1documentar no0els, and hit songs) is 0er suited to ad0ertising: the important indi0idual points, b becoming detachable, interchangeable, and e0en technicall alienated from an connected meaning, lend themsel0es to ends external to the wor(. "he effect, the tric(, the isolated repeatable de0ice, ha0e alwa s been used to exhibit goods for ad0ertising purposes, and toda e0er monster close1up of a star is an ad0ertisement for her name, and e0er hit song a plug for its tune. Ad0ertising and the culture industr merge technicall as well as economicall . /n both cases the same thing can be seen in innumerable places, and the mechanical repetition of the same culture product has come to be the same as that of the propaganda slogan. /n both cases the insistent demand for effecti0eness ma(es technolog into ps cho1 technolog , into a procedure for manipulating men. /n both cases the standards are the stri(ing et familiar, the eas et catch , the s(ilful et simple2 the object is to o0erpower the customer, who is concei0ed as absent1minded or resistant. # the language he spea(s, he ma(es his own contribution to culture as publicit . "he more completel language is lost in the announcement, the more words are debased as substantial 0ehicles of meaning and become signs de0oid of 7ualit 2 the more purel and transparentl words communicate what is intended, the more impenetrable the become. "he dem thologisation of language, ta(en as an element of the whole process of enlightenment, is a relapse into magic. %ord and essential content were distinct et inseparable from one another. .oncepts li(e melanchol and histor , e0en life, were recognised in the word, which separated them out and preser0ed them. /ts form simultaneousl constituted and reflected them. "he absolute separation, which ma(es the mo0ing accidental and its relation to the object arbitrar , puts an end to the superstitious fusion of word and thing. An thing in a determined literal se7uence which goes be ond the correlation to the e0ent is rejected as unclear and as 0erbal metaph sics. #ut the result is that the word, which can now be onl a sign without an meaning, becomes so fixed to the thing that it is just a petrified formula. "his affects language and object ali(e. /nstead of ma(ing the object experiential, the purified word treats it as an abstract instance, and e0er thing else (now excluded b the demand for ruthless clarit from expression 1 itself now banished) fades awa in realit . A left1half at football, a blac(1shirt, a member of the *itler 4outh, and so on, are no more than names. /f before its rationalisation the word had gi0en rise to lies as well as to longing, now, after its rationalisation, it is a straitjac(et for longing more e0en than for lies. "he blindness and dumbness of the data to which positi0ism reduces the world pass o0er into language itself, which restricts itself to recording those data. "erms themsel0es become impenetrable2 the obtain a stri(ing force, a power of adhesion and repulsion which ma(es them li(e their extreme opposite, incantations. "he come to be a (ind of tric(, because the name of the prima donna is coo(ed up in the studio on a statistical basis, or because a welfare state is anathematised b using taboo terms such as 9bureaucrats9 or 9intellectuals,9 or because base practice uses the name of the countr as a charm. /n general, the name 1 to which magic most easil attaches 1 is undergoing a chemical change: a metamorphosis into capricious, manipulable designations, whose effect is admittedl now calculable, but which for that 0er reason is just as despotic as that of the archaic name. 3irst names, those archaic remnants, ha0e been brought up to date either b st lisation as ad0ertising trade1mar(s (film stars6 surnames ha0e become first names), or b collecti0e standardisation. /n comparison, the bourgeois famil name which, instead of being a trade1mar(, once indi0idualised its bearer b relating him to his own past histor , seems anti7uated. /t arouses a strange embarrassment in Americans. /n order to hide the aw(ward distance between indi0iduals, the call one another 9#ob9 and 9*arr ,9 as interchangeable team members. "his practice

reduces relations between human beings to the good fellowship of the sporting communit and is a defence against the true (ind of relationship. $ignification, which is the onl function of a word admitted b semantics, reaches perfection in the sign. %hether fol(1songs were rightl or wrongl called upper1class culture in deca , their elements ha0e onl ac7uired their popular form through a long process of repeated transmission. "he spread of popular songs, on the other hand, ta(es place at lightning speed. "he American expression 9fad,9 used for fashions which appear li(e epidemics 1 that is, inflamed b highl 1concentrated economic forces 1 designated this phenomenon long before totalitarian ad0ertising bosses enforced the general lines of culture. %hen the ;erman 3ascists decide one da to launch a word 1 sa , 9intolerable9 1 o0er the loudspea(ers the next da the whole nation is sa ing 9intolerable.9 # the same pattern, the nations against whom the weight of the ;erman blit'(rieg was thrown too( the word into their own jargon. "he general repetition of names for measures to be ta(en b the authorities ma(es them, so to spea(, familiar, just as the brand name on e0er bod 6s lips increased sales in the era of the free mar(et. "he blind and rapidl spreading repetition of words with special designations lin(s ad0ertising with the totalitarian watchword. "he la er of experience which created the words for their spea(ers has been remo0ed2 in this swift appropriation language ac7uires the coldness which until now it had onl on billboards and in the ad0ertisement columns of newspapers. /nnumerable people use words and expressions which the ha0e either ceased to understand or emplo onl because the trigger off conditioned reflexes2 in this sense, words are trade1mar(s which are finall all the more firml lin(ed to the things the denote, the less their linguistic sense is grasped. "he minister for mass education tal(s incomprehendingl of 9d namic forces,9 and the hit songs unceasingl celebrate 9re0erie9 and 9rhapsod ,9 et base their popularit precisel on the magic of the unintelligible as creating the thrill of a more exalted life. Dther stereot pes, such as memor , are still partl comprehended, but escape from the experience which might allow them content. "he appear li(e encla0es in the spo(en language. Dn the radio of 3lesch and *itler the ma be recognised from the affected pronunciation of the announcer when he sa s to the nation, 9;ood night, e0er bod H9 or 9"his is the *itler 4outh,9 and e0en intones 9the 3uehrer9 in a wa imitated b millions. /n such cliches the last bond between sedimentar experience and language is se0ered which still had a reconciling effect in dialect in the nineteenth centur . #ut in the prose of the journalist whose adaptable attitude led to his appointment as an all1;erman editor, the ;erman words become petrified, alien terms. E0er word shows how far it has been debased b the 3ascist pseudo1fol( communit . # now, of course, this (ind of language is alread uni0ersal, totalitarian. All the 0iolence done to words is so 0ile that one can hardl bear to hear them an longer. "he announcer does not need to spea( pompousl 2 he would indeed be impossible if his inflection were different from that of his particular audience. #ut, as against that, the language and gestures of the audience and spectators are coloured more strongl than e0er before b the culture industr , e0en in fine nuances which cannot et be explained experimentall . "oda the culture industr has ta(en o0er the ci0ilising inheritance of the entrepreneurial and frontier democrac 1 whose appreciation of intellectual de0iations was ne0er 0er finel attuned. All are free to dance and enjo themsel0es, just as the ha0e been free, since the historical neutralisation of religion, to join an of the innumerable sects. #ut freedom to choose an ideolog 1 since ideolog alwa s reflects economic coercion 1 e0er where pro0es to be freedom to choose what is alwa s the same. "he wa in which a girl accepts and (eeps the obligator date, the inflection on the telephone or in the most intimate situation, the choice of words in con0ersation, and the whole inner life as classified b the now somewhat de0alued depth ps cholog , bear

witness to man6s attempt to ma(e himself a proficient apparatus, similar (e0en in emotions) to the model ser0ed up b the culture industr . "he most intimate reactions of human beings ha0e been so thoroughl reified that the idea of an thing specific to themsel0es now persists onl as an utterl abstract notion: personalit scarcel signifies an thing more than shining white teeth and freedom from bod odour and emotions. "he triumph of ad0ertising in the culture industr is that consumers feel compelled to bu and use its products e0en though the see through them. 3urther >eading: "heodor Adorno Archi0e #iograph I "he supramundane character of the *egelian world spirit, from 8egati0e Dialectics, +,JJ I #arthes I 8iet'sche I ?u(acs I .omment b Da0ie )ac?ean =hilosoph Archi0e K marxists.org