Welcome to Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art,

Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art ›› 2017, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (4): 40-47.

• Issue in Focus: Studies of Frankfurt School • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Personal Experience About Frankfurt School: From "Non-Identity" to "Singularity" — An Interview with Professor Samuel Weber

Zhao Yong, Samuel Weber   

  1. School of Chinese Language and Literature at Beijing Normal University; Humanities in the Department of German at Northwestern University
  • Online:2017-09-25 Published:2017-11-26
  • About author:Yong Zhao is professor in School of Chinese Language and Literature at Beijing Normal University, Director of Center for Literary Theory, and a special researcher (Beijing 10086, China). Samuel Weber is Avalon Foundation Professor of Humanities in the Department of German at Northwestern University, and director of Northwestern Paris Program in Critical Theory (Evanston 60208, U.S.).
  • Supported by:
    This article is the current result of an Independent Research Funding Project of Beijing Normal University.

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Abstract: In this interview, Professor Samuel Weber vividly reviews his personal study experience with Adorno in the 1960s, reveling some features of Adorno's thoughts such as the teleological tendency and non-identity. Based on Adorno's current situation and the limits of his general concept, Professor Weber and the interviewer discuss the inevitable barrier between the social critical theory and the political action plans. He further develops "repetition" and "singularity" from Kierkegaard, Walter Benjamin and Derrida, which focus on the concrete things. The interview also reveals the question of foreign words and Adorno's half Jewish identity in the discussion of Adorno's controversial saying, "to write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric". Furthermore, Professor Weber gives suggestions on Chinese translation of Adorno's "Essay" considering its etymology and philosophical signification. He also gives witty remarks on Adorno's critique about Jazz, and comments on Bob Dylan receiving Nobel Prize in Literature.

Key words: Frankfurt School, Adorno, Social Critical Theory, Non-Identity, Singularity