Mimesis on the Move: Theodor W. Adorno's Concept of Imitation (New York University Ottendorfer Series)

The study traces a provocative, critical-utopian understanding of a term that has been central to Western aesthetics and is currently much debated. Conceived as an imitative, responsive move toward what is other, mimesis comes to life in Adorno's philosophy and permeates his critique of logo-centrism throughout. It does not concern the representation of objects but addresses an instinctive, frequently repressed relationship to them. Part defense mechanism, part erotic gesture, it is shaped by the Freudian notion of identification. The concept is delineated within the context of Dialectic of Enlightenment, several of Adorno's literary essays, and his Aesthetic Theory.