The television criticism of Theodor W. Adorno is often described as the object is not adequate, outdated, or even cultural pessimism. But especially from a social criticism of Adorno "Prologue to Television" still relevant as a radical counter-position to the positivist and postmodernist mainstream television and media studies.
published in 1953, "Prologue to Television" is based on studies in which has worked Adorno 1952-1953 in the United States. It describes general trends of the television medium, both beyond the spatial context of North America and the temporal context of the 1950s.
Adorno stressed at the beginning of the text that is not technical, artistic and social aspects of television can be treated separately. They are interdependent and should therefore have in the criticism in their relationships and interactions.
What does the TV with the people?
Building on together with Max Horkheimer in the Dialectic of Enlightenment worded criticism of the culture industry, Adorno sits down with the mass appeal of his time in his relatively new medium of television apart. It closes the gap that the private existence was stopped in front of the culture industry. Leisure time is completely at their retreat. A reflection that shown by the culture industry is not the real world, is becoming less possible. Television suspected Adorno, makes people once again to what they actually are. They are fixed in their existence and made passive, rather than encouraged to change or even emancipatory action.
What is television, is determined by social conditions. A function of television in this society is the pacification of social conflicts. People would the social pressure that they are constantly exposed to endure no more, "if they are not the precarious achievements of the adjustment that they have once done, again and again shown us repeatedly and in themselves would" (p. 508). Television is helping them. "Grins the culture industry: what are you going, and her lie is precisely the repeated confirmation and consolidation of mere being-so, whose, what has the world's course made man." (P. 514) What do the people watching TV?
television opens the way to the cinema unnecessary. Another challenge to the world is cooled directly to the consumer / the consumer. But the specific circumstances of reception differ from the cinema, among other things, that black-absent. The situation is in the TV consumed may differ from everyday life as little as possible. TV becomes a piece of reality - obscured its artificial character. The lack of distance of the television parodies brotherhood and solidarity. The longing for the latter two warrants to the medium's popularity.
Adorno emphasizes the community-building effect, which results from the near distance without watching TV. The TV welded together friends and family members who gather in front of the stupid machine, even though they have nothing to say. He obscures real alienation. Not the content but the actual situation of the television viewing audience to be stupid.
distrust should be the critique of television, which is practiced by older sectors of the culture industry. Television acts mostly as a scapegoat. The claim it would reduce the level further distracts from the fact that many of the trends of television can also be found already in his previous media. The sound film is high in any way on the television. The latter is only cheaper than regular admissions.
"It's also different, but it is also" (Bertolt Brecht)
Thus, the critical assessment Adorno may be - it loads in no way a for resignation. He speaks only of television "as is" (p. 508). But it could very well be different, is changed, can be institutionally aware of his social position as well as the recipients of their position could be aware of. The further development of television is in principle open to Adorno's conclusion from 1953 still relevant today: "What can be seen on TV, allows not predict, what it is today does not depend on the invention, not even to the particular forms of commercial exploitation but on the whole, in which it is clamped. " (P. 516)
the key to their criticism, the culture industry itself provides, which is riddled with misunderstandings and contradictions, and thus "the illusion of doubling life" (p. 509) warned. But while Adorno stresses that from the contradictions of the culture industry is not necessarily an emancipatory development must result. Although the suspicion that the reality presented by television is not real, the audience will grow, it can also lead to a more stronger identification with the showing. Still doggedly clings the audience that actually knows that it is cheating, cheating to the medium.
Adorno, Theodor W., "Prologue to Television", in: Collected Literature, volume 10, Cultural Criticism and Society II , Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp 2003, p. 507-517.
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