Adorno and Performance

'Adorno and Performance pursues Adorno in lifelong performance. A richly evocative, heterodox body of his work as a philosopher, sociologist, musicologist, composer, aesthetician, and literary critic (and Adorno was all of these) is called on by scholar-critics who think (and think smartly) about theater in the broadest ways possible: all the world's a stage. This is a witty, highly informed, consistently thoughtful, indeed responsible investigation by young intellectuals as well as seasoned scholars, all of whom care about and with pretty much equal concern history, society, theater, performance, subjectivity, and human agency. Adorno speaks to them, but what they accomplish by way of Adorno is not a mirroring but a critical engagement for reasons that matter: the struggle for truths and the need for hope against whatever (usually considerable) odds.' - Professor Richard Leppert, University of Minnesota, USA

'The recently revived interest in the work of T.W. Adorno has made clear the need for new ways of understanding his relevance to a critical appraisal of contemporary culture. Adorno and Performance offers a wealth of perspectives on how Adorno's work can inform and be informed by reflection on performance, as something central both to the arts, particularly theatre and music, and to social and political life more generally.' - Professor Andrew Bowie, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK