Adorno's Siren Song
Author(s): Rebecca Comay
Reviewed work(s):
Source: New German Critique, No. 81, Dialectic of Enlightenment (Autumn, 2000), pp. 21-48
Published by: New German Critique
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Adorno'sSirenSong
Rebecca Comay
Excursuson an Excursus
In a lengthy
"excursus"or appendixto thefirst
chapterof theDialec-
- a detourin a book which constitutesitselfessentic of Enlightenment
of such appendages- Adornoreads
tiallyas an extendedpatchwork
Homer's Odysseyas an allegoryof the dialecticof enlightenment.
figureof homo oecoOdysseushimselfwould be the quintessential
an
his
extended
business
nomicus, voyage
trip,his passionstheusual
menfallintowhentheyhavea devotedwifeat home.So domesaffairs
his calculations,
that
so conventional
ticatedis Odysseus'swanderlust,
Adornoindeedreadstheancientepic as a modemnovel,thebourgeois
genreparexcellence.1
In his readingof theSirensepisodeAdornoreckonssharply
justwhat
If
be.
reason
can only
the costs of Odysseus'senlightenment
might
thisis in turninseparaofan aliennature,
assertitselfas thedomination
at itsextreme.
whichbecomesself-mutilation
ble froma self-domination
to
theattempt
Reasonbecomesunreasonwhenpushedto itsconclusion:
freeoneselffromexternal
bondageto theOtherunleashesan endlessritual of sado-masochistic
bondagegamesin whichthesubjecthas hima
selftiedup tight.In thefaceoftheSirens'singing- a voiceofnature,
voiceofpleasure,a voiceofthepast,and,yes,a voiceofwomen- both
The Sirensare notthe
thedangerand thesolutionwouldbe extreme.
Gesammelte
DialektikderAuJkliirung,
1. TheodorAdornoandMax Horkheimer,
80 ("Robinsonade").
3 (Frankfurt:
1981) 64 ("Abenteuerroman"),
Schriften
Suhrkamp,
trans.JohnCumming
Herafter
citedas GS. In Englishas DialecticofEnlightenment,
(New
thispaperI willbe citcitedas DE. Throughout
York:Continuum,
1969)46, 61. Hereafter
as indicated.
ofAdornowithsomemodifications
ingthestandard
Englishtranslations
21
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22
Adorno's SirenSong
or lastwomento tryto seduceOdysseus.Calypso,Circe,evenNaufirst
the"otherwoman"in all theessensicaa, in herownfashion,
represent
to succumb,
to the
tialways.ButifOdysseuscouldafford
provisionally,
the
other
this
time
he
to
a
charms
of
has
keep grip.
temptresses,
druglike
Alwaysone to cuthis losses,he wantsto haveit bothways:famously,
whilehe
he plugsup his sailors'ears so theycan rowon undistracted
has himselftied to the mast so as to listenin solitarysafety.By
sucha strategy
wouldinstitutionalize
theupright
Adomo'sreading,
posin
the
tureas the postureof domination.
physicaldistance
Expressed
betweenOdysseusabove (inertbut "sensitive")and thesailorsbelow
and
(deaf but active) is the founding
oppositionbetweenintellectual
manuallaboron whichclass societyas suchdepends.The sailorswith
workersof themodemage:
theirpluggedup ears are like thefactory
boredomof
busyhands,strongarms,sensesdulledby thebrutalizing
to
in
would
the
mast
delectation
labor.
Odysseus
solitary
strapped
wage
cautious
be the bourgeoisas modemconcertgoer,
taking
pleasurein
tobe enjoyedatsaferemove.
"art"as an idleluxury
Settingaside the questionof just whatit meansforAdomo to be
thatis (thoughthisis
readingtheOdysseyas an allegory- suspending,
between"philosquestion)thepreciserelationship
perhapstheultimate
- I'd like to considerwhatmighthave gone
ophy"and "literature"
unreadhere.Let me proposethatwhatis foreclosedin thisreading
at crucialjunctures.What if the
Adomo's thinking
may determine
withinthelarger
far
from
an
being episodecontained
Odysseychapter,
it seems most
in
fact
where
of
the
resurfaces
work,
economy
just
If
or
in
absorbsthe
aside?
the
"excursus"
fact
safelyset
"appendage"
withintheOdysseyratherthantheother
book? If Adomo is inscribed
as a provisional
excursusor diverway around?If whatis presented
sion - an excursionwith a fixed return- ends up being a sea voyage
withoutan end in sight?If Adomo's own Odysseyremainsunfinished?Andif,then,theSirens'songstillhaunts?
If I speakof "Adorno"here,I'm usingthenamepartlyas a metonymy (for the overlycumbersome"Adorno-and-Horkheimer"
pair);
partlybecausethereis reasonto thinkthattheOdysseusexcursusis in
factlargelyAdorno'sownwork2;butmostlybecausetherepercussions
2. Although
RobertHullot-Kentor
influence
is evidentin
arguesthatHorkheimner's
thischapteras elsewherein theDialecticofEnlightenment.
See RobertHullot-Kentor,
"BacktoAdorno,"Telos81 (1989): 5-29.
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RebeccaComay
23
of thisreadingare perhapsmostvisiblein thediscussionof the"cultureindustry"
(music,technological
reproduction,
propaganda)which
of
But
Adorno.
as
we'll see, Horkhebears the unmistakeable
stamp
onthefamily
arenotirrelevant
tothisdiscussion.
imer'swritings
Posture
Antinomies
oftheUpright
thismoderate
Thiscowardly
andtranquil
pleapleasure,
to a Greekoftheperiodofdecadence
sure,appropriate
deserved
tobetheherooftheIliad;thishappy
whonever
ina privilege
whichset
rooted
andconfident
cowardice,
himapartfrom
thecommon
condition...
- Blanchot
is just how precarileave understated
WhatAdornoand Horkheimer
is.
ous Odysseus'sprophylactic
remedyultimately But perhapsthey
It was notsimplythelureof
real
theSirens'
underestimate
temptation.
"nature"whichseducedOdysseus.Andthusitwas notjustdominationNor was it just the
whichhad to be reasserted.
over-nature-in-general
to
the
workof civilizacounter
a
of
running
past
temptation primordial
minor
and
its
discontents
with
its
Perhapsthat
triumphs.
tion,
major
tooka morespecificform.Andperhapstherealtemptation
domination
unthinkable.
remained
It was notsimplytheeroticpromisewhichwas so alluring.And it
was notjust thatpeculiarblendof sex and knowledgewhichwas for
Nor was it simplysexOdysseus,as forso manyothers,irresistible.
the greatestdanger.Perhapseven
whichrepresented
ual difference
was thepossibilmoredangerousforOdysseusthansexualdifference
a possibility
Such
be
subverted.
difference
this
that
might
very
ity
- openof suchdifference
thestandardorganization
wouldundermine
the
ing theplay of sexualitybeyond oppositionaleconomygoverning
the conceptualspace of workand power,to the pointthat"differAnd by
ence" itselfmightcome to receivethe name "indifference."
thisI don'tmeanneutrality.
Whatthe Sirensthreatened,
perhapsabove all, was thesexual idenwas all that
Not
thattheirown identity
who
listened.
those
of
tity
and
sensuous
was
sweet
If
secure.3 theirsong
"female,"accordingto
of theSirensshowthemas sexuallyambiguous,
3. EarlyGreekrepresentations
See JohnPollard,Seers,Shrinesand Sirens:TheGreekrelibeardedfigures.
frequently
inthe6thcentury
(London:AllenandUnwin,1963) 140.
giousrevolution
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24
Adorno's SirenSong
thetermsof Homer'sday (and ours)- whatprovedmostirresistible
to
in
was
the
a
fact
of
so
absolute
Odysseus
("male")promise
knowledge
itwouldrupture
thebondsof finitesubjectivity
byassumingtheimpossiblestandpoint
ofthewhole.
The promiseof historyis at stakehere- historyin its totality,
as
in totalrecollection.
The Sirensclaimto "knowall thepainthe
totality,
Greeksand Trojansonce enduredon thespreading
plainof Troy."To
in
"all
to
on
the
comes
that
know, fact,
generousearth."4In offerpass
let
him
to
"his"
to
hearthewholeepic story
song
ingOdysseus sing
himthetotalperoffered
of his heroicexploits5
- theyhad effectively
speaking,only possiblepost-morspectiveon life whichis, strictly
tem.6 How could Odysseus, living, hear his own song? If all
is, at itslimits,allothanatography
(to hearyourowntrue
autobiography
story- the whole story- you mustbe someone otherthanyourselfand
to disturbthe
you mustbe dead),7theSirens'promisewouldthreaten
of narrative
of
and
death
on
which
the
order
life
very
veryeconomy
HomeriOpera,ed. David B. Munroand ThomasW. Allen
4. Homer,Odyssey,
(London:OxfordUP, 1917); in English:trans.RobertFagles (New Yorkand London:
willhenceforth
be giveninthetext
Penguin,1996)Book 12,lines205-207.Allreferences
only(Greekedition).
bybookandlinenumbers
betweentheSirensandtheIliadicMuses,see PietroPucci's
5. On theconnection
Arethusa12 (1979): 121-31.
rhetorical
remarkable
analysisin"TheSongoftheSirens,"
"Feminine
6. Cf.Jean-Pierre
AspectsofDeathinAncientGreece,"DiaVernant,
critics 16 (1986): 54-64.
"L'Echo du sujet,"Le sujetde la philosophie.
7.
Cf. PhilippeLacoue-Labarthe,
thatat the
I (Paris: Aubier:Flammarion,
1979) 217-303. It is striking
Typographies
courtofthePhaeacians,Odysseusspeaksofhisownheroicglory[kleos]inthefirst
person ("I am Odysseus,son of Laertes,knownto theworldforeverykindof craft- my
thatit is unusualin Greek
famehas reachedtheskies"[9.19f]).CharlesSegal remarks
enunciated
to speakof"mykleos"(kleosor famenormally
onlyinthethirdperson- not
abouthimself-andtypically
fora speakerto advertise
onlyafterthehero'sdeath).See
"Kleos and its Ironies in the Odyssey," in Harold Bloom, ed., Homer's The Odiyssey
(New York:ChelseaHouse,1988) 128f.Thetripto HadesinBook 11 (priorintheorder
in theorderoftelling)has alreadygivenOdysseusa premature
of experience,
posterior
twicemortal
tasteofdeath,a deathbeforedeath,rendering
him,as Circeaptlyremarks,
[disthanees]:"doomedto die twiceover- others
justdie once" (12.22). Andindeed,in
responseto Alcinous,Odysseusannounceshis tale,the storyof his own kleos,as a
a narrative
mourning
performance,
griefwhichredoublesthegriefwhichhislifeas such
has, accordingto him,become."But now you'reset on probingthebitterpains I've
borne,/so I'm to weep and grieve,it seems,stillmore./Well then,whatshall I go
whatshallI save forlast?"(9.12ff).Theverycompulsion
to narrate
would
first,/
through
theboundsof what"I" can say of myself,thusmakingtheact of
seem to transgress
forthelostobjectbut,indeed,a formofself-mournspeechnotonlyan actofmourning
forthelostsubject.
ing,an impossiblemourning
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RebeccaComay
25
depends.8For the livingOdysseusto hear of his own heroic kleos
It would
the verylogic of self-consciousness.
would be to transgress
own
A
to his
funeral. hypertrophic
have been an invitation
memoryof his own posthumous
reputation wouldbe
Odysseus'santicipation
fromthe lethaloblivionwhichwould make a living
indistinguishable
deathofeverypresent.9
fruit"[meliedeakarpon]of thelotus-flowers
The "honeysweet
(9.94)
had made the men forgetthe voyagehome. Circe's beautifulsong
of their
(10.221) and honeyedwine (10.234) made themforgetful
nectar
voice
and
voice
fatherland.
(1.56)
Calypsowithher beguiling
butat thecost of fame.The Sirens'
(5.93) had promisedimmortality,
promisea
op'] (12.187),10in contrast,
"honeyedvoices" [meligerun
butat thecostof life.Suchfame- premature,
kindof memory,
private,
itselfas fame- wouldswallowup its
contradicts
famewhichtherefore
of
theanonymity
skinsandbone-heaps,
listener,
leavingonlyshrivelled
his
own
dead. By hearing
the unmourned
fame,Odysseuswould,in
of grief,a grief
8. Cf Odysseus'surgeto impartsequentialorderto his narrative
whichin its excessivenessthreatens
preciselyto explodesuch sequence,or renderit
shall I save forlast?/What
first,/what
"Well, then,whatshall I go through
arbitrary:
me
start
Now
let
me
have
the
bytellingyoumyname...
given myshare./
gods
pains
." (9.15-17).
andthe
betweentheSirensandtheunderworld,
connection
9. On themythological
betweenthe
wereseenat somepointas mediating
thattheSirensthemselves
possibility
theSirensas birds,thuscorrespondrepresent
livingandthedead (earlyGreekpaintings
Die Seelenvogelinder
see GeorgWeicker,
ba or soul-bird),
totheEgyptian
ing,perhaps,
altenLiteraturund Kunst(Leipzig: Teubner,1902) and K. Buschor,Die Musen des
Jenseits(Munich:Bruckmann,
1944).See also thecriticaldiscussionby KarolyMarot,
Akademieder WissenLiteratur
Die Anfangeder griechischen
(Budapest:Ungarische
De
de Rachewiltz,
schaften,
1960) 106-87.Fora good surveyoftheissue,see Siegfried
AnInquiryintoSirensfromHomertoShakespeare(NewYork:Garland,1987)
Sirenibus:
andProceedings
"TheHomericSirens,"Transactions
254-75,as wellas GeraldGresseth,
herethatinthe
PhilologicalAssociation101(1970). It is worthrecalling
oftheAmerican
the
inthelastbookoftheRepublic,Platohas thesoul encounter
allegoryoftheafterlife
overthespindleofNecessity,singing
Sirens(eightof them,almostMuselike)presiding
themusicofthespheres(616b-617-d).
thewordforSirenis relatedto theword
10. Accordingto at leastone etymology,
a manticbee. See
fromsomeMediterranean
seiren- "inherited
language"- signifying
in GeorgeSteinerand
ofKnowledge,"
"The SirensandtheTemptation
GabrielGermain,
RobertFagles,eds.,Homer:A CollectionofCriticalEssays(EnglewoodCliffs:Prenticebee
insofaras theindustrious
interesting
Hall, 1962) 96. The associationis particularly
virtue.See forexample
valorizedin Greeceas theveryimageof feminine
was typically
theHomerichymnto Hermesand LaurenceKahn's superbessay,Hermespasse ou les
de la communication
(Paris:Maspero,1978).
ambiguitis
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26
Adorno's SirenSong
fact,negateit.ll1If desirefeedson thenarcissistic
will-to-knowledge,
wouldsoonbe over.Memorywouldbecomeforgetfulthehoneymoon
ness. Culture - song - would relapse into "nature." Levi-Strauss
remindsus thathoney(an uncookedbutprocessedfood,"naturalcul12If
ambivalent
fromthestart.
ture"at itsmostalluring)is structurally
Iliad
to the dead (24.68, cf.
funerary
offering
honeyis a traditional
- in thiscase
too,ofGreekembalming
23.170) - a standard
ingredient,
of an
wouldresultin theexcessivenaturalness
its "cultural"attributes
in the
death:thecorpsewouldbe leftto rotunremembered
unmarked
open air. The evidenceof the rottingcorpses[andr6nputhomendn]
on theSirens'flowery
meadow- Vernantreminds
(12.46) lyingstrewn
also thefemalegenitals13
us that"meadow"[leimdn]in Greeksignifies
- would be a warningto thosewho would ask too manyquestions
Thosewhowouldhearan omniscient
Pytho[Puth6]in
[puthomendn].14
the Sirens'meadowwouldfind,ultimately,
just thesnakein thegrass
of forbidden
whichis the temptation
knowledge.BetweenCalypso's
the
and
Sirens'
meadow,betweenthisblissfulignorance
flowery
(5.72)
the
and thatrapturous
knowing, distancewouldseem,then,to be quite
The
woman
who wouldsingback to Odysseushis heroicglory
slight.
and the womanwhose charmwould make him forgetall about it
would equallysubvertthe
him,in turn,forgotten)
(therebyrendering
with
narrative
orderof timeand history,
replacingepic remembrance
recallwhichhasoblivionas itsend.
thepremature
- a "masculinity"
so totalit
But if the Sirenspromiseomniscience
- their
to
of
its
bearer
a
bones
wouldendup paradoxically
reducing
heap
in
it
mean
well.
What
would
is
other
as
ways
appeal sexuallyambiguous
of
that
to seducethrough
song?Was thethreat thesongnotprecisely it
oftheirattributes
11. PietroPuccipointsoutthattheSirens,despitetheproximity
anddictiontothe(Iliadic)Muses,do notactuallyspeakofkleosbyname.See "The Song
of theSirens"130n9. CharlesSegal makestheparallelpointthat,like Hesiod'sMuses,
theSirensspeaknotofmemory
butofa kindofimmediate
(idmen... idmen,
"knowing"
12.205-207);see "KleosanditsIroniesintheOdyssey"145.
12. ClaudeLevi-Strauss,
FromHoneytoAshes,trans.
JohnandDoreenWeight(New
York:HarperandRow, 1973).On thesemantic
fieldof"honey"inearlyGreekliterature,
see PietroPucci,HesiodandtheLanguageofPoetry
Johns
(Baltimore:
HopkinsUP, 1977).
See also JanHendrik
BieneundHonigals Symbol
desDichterundderDichtung
Waszink,
indergriechische
Literatur
(Opladen:Westdeutscher,
1974)andKahn,Hermes.
13. Jean-Pierre
"Feminine
Vernant,
FiguresofDeathinGreece."
&
14. EmilyVermeule(AspectsofDeathinEarlyGreekArtandPoetry[Berkeley
Los Angeles:U ofCalifornia
of 12.46tothe
P, 1979]203) relatestheandr6n
puthomen6n
atDelphi.
punon therotting
Python
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Rebecca Comay
27
theear,reducing
his bodyto an openoriassailedthepasserbythrough
In
whatever
calls?
fice,impregnated
by
lettingthatviscoussweetness
in
a woman?15
Understandwould
not
the
man
become, effect,
penetrate
to the Sirens'magic involvesan
ably,Odysseus'sonly counter-spell
Iftheearis in facttheessenofthephallicposition.
reassertion
emphatic
itslabyrinthine
confusion
and theerectposture,
tialorganof equilibrium
Hence
the
sense
of
balance
and
the
wouldrender
gait.
upright
precarious
inner
ear.
of
the
disturbance
whichaccompanies
theseasickness
every
Would it not
But whatwouldbe the forceof Odysseus'sstrategy?
earswith
In
his
men's
it
was
to
cure?
the
reinstate veryambiguity
filling
the
the Sirens'auralrape by pressing "honeysweet"
wax, preempting
he simulta[meliedeakeron](12.48) substanceintotheiropenorifices,
Not to mentheirsexualconfusion.
neouslybothdeniesand confirms
tionhis own. For in closingup thosegapingholes he mustfirstenter
whathe wouldmostdeny,becomthem,musttherefore
acknowledge
to thesailormenandmale
female
seductress
both
at
once
ing,therefore,
- who,moreover,
is able
himself
women.
Odysseus
rapistto thesailor
to spellbind[thelgein]any audiencewithhis own singingeloquence
wine"
who has administered
"honeysweet
(e.g., 11.333, 17.514ff),16
[meliedea oinon] (9.208) and "honeyed words" [epessi meilichioisi]
him,and who has similarly
(9.363) to theCyclopspriorto mutilating
soothedhis ownmenwithwordsof honeysoftness
[meilichiois
epeessi]
Odysseusbecomesat once
(10.173, 10.547)- thishoneyed,honeying
victimoftheSirens'power.
Sirenandsupreme
bothseductive
Whatdoes it mean forOdysseusto reasserthis phallicpositionby
tiedto themastwithcords?Odysseus- whowas taught
havinghimself
all aboutknotsfromthe sorceressCirce (8.447) - is no neophytein
bondage games. Earlier,to get the besottedsailors away fromthe
an athlete"[8.164]andwhose
15. We knowthatOdysseus(who"doesnotresemble
proneto cryat music.Upon hearing
"legs have losttheircondition"[8.233]) is rather
Demodocus'sepicchantatthecourtofAlcinous,he was reducedtotears(8.86-93),compared,indeed,to a widowweepingoverthebodyof herdead husband(8.521-29).At
10.410ff
Odysseus'smenclusteraroundhimas calvesarounda cow. On thequestionof
see HeleneP. Foley,"'ReverseSimiles'andSex
ingeneralintheOdyssey,
"rolereversal"
and J.P.Sullivan,eds., Womenin theAncient
in JohnPeradotto
Roles in theOdyssey,"
World(Albany:SUNY P, 1984)59-78.
at21.406-11.Itis
toa bardat 11.368and,indirectly,
16. Odysseusis also compared
standsinforOdysseusintheSirens
worthnotingthatinlateantiquity
Orpheussometimes
theSirensbyplayingtheirowngameofRhodeshasOrpheusoutwit
episode.Apollonius
themwithhis lyre.See Argonautica
IV.891-92,trans.R.C. Seaton
outsinging
literally
HarvardUP, 1912).
(Cambridge:
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Adorno's SirenSong
28
he had draggedthemback weephoney-sweetfruitof the lotus-flowers,
beneaththe rowingbenches
to
the
boat
and
tied
horizontal,
them,
ing
and
board
above
securelyvertical,he insists that the
(9.99f).17 Now,
him
tie
hard.
"Until
it hurts"[en desm6 argaleo] he
men
plugged up
in
no
a
rather
detail
way necessaryto the strategyand in
touching
says,
But what is this body
any case not partof Circe's originalinstructions.
pinnedimmobileagainstthe mast,armsand legs helpless,torsoreduced
to a giantear, like a sail growingswollen withthe Sirens' swell,18like
the"inversecripple"of whichNietzschewrites:
Anear!Anearas bigas a man!I lookedstillmoreclosely- andindeed,
small
was moving,something
underneath
theear something
pitifully
earwas
andslender.
andwretched
And,no doubtofit,thetremendous
to a small,thinstalk- butthisstalkwas a humanbeing!Ifone
attached
a tinyenviousface;
useda magnifying
glassone couldevenrecognize
fromthestalk.Thepeople,
also,thata bloatedlittlesoulwas dangling
toldmethatthisgreatearwas notonlya humanbeing,buta
however,
greatone,a genius.ButI neverbelievedthepeoplewhentheyspokeof
cripplewho
mybeliefthatitwasan inverse
greatmen;andI maintained
andtoomuchofonething.'19
hadtoolittleofeverything
Odysseus, all ears for the Sirens' song, stiffwith the erectionthat
masks a deeper fearfulness,Odysseus would be just this cripple.20
PtolemyChennus,a satiristfromthe second centuryC.E., suggeststhat
Odysseus's nickname"Outis" ("nobody") indeed comes fromthe fact
thathe had big "ears" [6ta].21 With ears like this does it matterwhat
sailinvolvedtyingthesurviving
cave similarly
17. TheescapefromPolyphemus's
ontothebackoftheCyclops'smalesheep(9.429f),Odysseushimself
ors(horizontally)
theCyclopswitha (vertical)beamthesize of a "mast"(9.322). Later,
havingmutilated
oftheSirensepisode,andinterms
backhomeinIthaca,ina kindofparodistic
redoubling
linktheSirenswiththeprophylactic
whichsemantically
remedyagainstthem,Odysseus
tiedup witha "braidedrope"[seirenplekwillhavethetreacherous
cowherdMelanthios
ten]andhoistedup a "highcolumn"(22.175f).
resonancesof windfertilization,
see Ernest
18. On some of thepsychoanalytic
theEar,"EssaysinAppliedPsychoanalysis,
Jones,"TheMadonna'sConception
Through
vol. 2 (NewYork:International
UP, 1964).
19.
FriedrichNietzsche, "On Redemption,"Thus Spoke Zarathustra,The Portable
20.
Cf. SigmundFreud,"Medusa's Head," StandardEditionof the Complete Works
trans.WalterKaufman(NewYork:Viking,1968)250.
Nietzsche,
Freud18,trans.& ed.JamesStrachey
(London:Hogarth,
1974)273.
ofSigmund
21. Or,evenmoresuggestively,
inHomeric
Greekdialect,ouata.See JohnWinkler's
essay, "Penelope's Cunningand Homer's," in The ConstraintsofDesire: TheAnthropology
ofSex and Genderin AncientGreece (New York: Routledge,1990) 129-67,here 144.
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RebeccaComay
29
thereis to hear?Kafkawonderswhether
the Sirenswerenot,indeed,
was
who
it
not
withhis
whether
seducedhimself
silent;
Odysseus
quite
it was notindeedthecureitselfwhich
whether
own driveto mastery;
theverticalexaltawas in theendtherealdisease.Whocouldwithstand
oftheupright
stance?
inducedbytheexperience
tion[Uberhebung]
ofhavingtriumphed
overthembyone'sown
thefeeling
Against
thatbears
and the subsequentexaltation[Uberhebung]
strength,
couldhaveremained
before
downoneverything
it,noearthly
powers
intact[widerstehen].22
Whatif thebinding
And whatwouldbe theeffectof sucha binding?
theenchanting
to counter
whichwas homeopathically
song- forinGreek,
sharea common
as in otherlanguages,"binding"and "spellbinding"
- was onlyto redoubleits constricting
semanticthread23
power?If the
as bindwith
werestringing
Sirensthemselves
along
promises
Odysseus
the
one
to
at
least
were
untethered?
as
etymology, word
According
ing they
"Siren"relatesto seira,thewordfor"cord"or "line"or "bandage":the
thatthe
wouldbe, then,theenchainers.24
enchanters
finally,
Suggesting,
A doublebind.
theoutset
splitanddoubled.
binding
poweris from
Adorno'sSirens
andI amnotjokingwhenI saythatit
I haveexperience,
ondryland....
is a seasickness
- FranzKafka
Adornoof coursehad his own Sirensto contendwith.By the 1930's
the autonomous
bourgeoissubjecthad been,as he saw it, liquidated
22. Kafka,"The SilenceoftheSirens,"Parablesand Paradoxes,bilingualedition,
ed.NahumGlatzer(NewYork:Schocken,1961)88f.
TheTherapy
23. See PedroLain Entralgo,
(New
oftheWordin ClassicalAntiquity
Haven:Yale UP, 1970)21. Entralgo
companions
pointsoutthatwhenOdysseus'shunting
thebleedingbymeansofa "charm"[(epaoide]
"bindup" [desan]hiswoundandstaunch
andindeedindistin(19.457) themedicalandmagicalaspectsofthecureareinseparable
331-33on thesongoftheFuries,"bindingbrainandblighting
guishable.Cf Eumemides
bloodinitsstringless
melody."
derclassischenAltertumvon Pauly,Real-Encyclopiidie
24. See AugustFriedrich
J.B.MetzlervonGeorgWissowa(Stuttgart:
Neue Bearbeitung
begonnen
swissenschaft,
scheVerlagsbuchhandlung,
1927),ZweiteReihe,Bd. 3.A.1,cols.289f.Otheretymologies
and the Semiticsir
of seirendincludesurizo ["hiss,""pipe,"]seirios ["scorching,"]
"TheHomericSirens,"204 n.
["song."]See onthislastpointGeraldGresseth,
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30
Adorno's SirenSong
tothefascinations
oftheculture
indushavingsuccumbed
beyondrepair,
try,to thehypnotic
spellofa powerwhichno longerneedsto maskitself
wouldhavealreadydisrupted
thepossibility
as such.Sucha submission
of everynostos,shortcircuiting
scene
of
every
recognition,
preempting
If Odysseusis thefigureof eventualreturn-to-self
and homeall return.
to
his
the
modem
exile
is
unable
find
back
home.
coming,
way
Odysseuswas a scarredman,butthescarwouldhavefounditsuses.
Fullyhealed,
Odysseus'sscarhad beentheverylocus of self-identity.
of family,
and of tenderconvalescence,
fullof memoryof childhood,
thescaralso markedtheplace whereimmediate
recognition
(bythesertakeplace.It was a scarbornin privivantwomanEuryclea)couldfirst
lege, signifyingthe securityof lordlypedigree,giving back to
"Nobody"[outis]his propername. If the scar recallsthe "pain" or
"trouble"whichis odussamenosOdusseos'spaternaldestiny(19.407smoothness
wouldbe a signthatall thatpainhad been
409), itssutured
in thelaborofthe
putto work.Pain(in Hegelianfashion)is neutralized
the
event
of
coincides
preciselywiththerestorarecognition
Concept;
orpropername.
tionoftheetymon
Recall the famousscene.Odysseushas arrivedhomein Ithaca,disguised as a beggar,strippedof heroicappearances,divestedof his
name.Nobodyrecognizeshimexceptforhis dog- whopromptly
drops
notPenelope.His wifeis kindto the
dead (17.326) - and particularly
old beggaranyway,andputshimup forthenight,tellingEurycleiathe
nurse(Odysseus'sown servantsince infancy)to wash the stranger's
feet.As Odysseusgetsundressed,
Eurycleiacatchessightof a scaron
his thigh(thehero's identifying
mark)at whichpointthereis a long
camerafreeze.Justat the pointwherethe nurseis aboutto exclaim
recounts
Homerindulgesin a lengthy
aloud in recognition,
flashback,
how as a youngman Odysseushad been goredby a wild borewhile
at his grandfather's
estate,howwell he was takencare
country
hunting
how manygiftshe received,and so on. Thereis a
of by his relatives,
second flashbackcontainedwithinthe flashback:the mentionof the
remindsHomerof how Odysseuswas namedat birth:his
grandfather
or "troubled"
namemeans"troublemaker"
middlevoice)
(odussamenos,
When
Homer
is
with
these
details,everything
(19.407).
through
snaps
back intoposition,thenurseuttersherlongdeferred
and
exclamation,
In a sense the interruption,
the recognition
scene is consummated.
functionsstructurally
as a
togetherwith its narrativeovercoming,
microcosmor synecdocheof theOdysseyas a whole.
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Rebecca Comay
31
The description
ofthescarin Book 19 wouldbe thedigression
to end
all digression:a litlecircleinscribedwithinthelargercirclewhichis
thehero'swandering
journeyhome.Auerbachpointsout thatthesyn- the steepletacticaldigressionintroduced
by the scar's description
unleashedby Odysseus'sunveilingof his leg,
chase of reminiscence
- in no waythreatens
patrimony,
property
up name,ancestry,
conjuring
of therecognition
scene.The relaxedeconomyof
narrative
thecoherent
the epic present,he says, can toleratesuch a digressionwithouta
whenit is thepatriarchal
detailsof Odysstrain.25
Particularly,
perhaps,
intothetext,and particuwhichare beinginterpolated
seus's birthright
womanwhois waitinginthewings.
larlywhenitis a servant
thus
scar
is, and signifiesnothingotherthan,the very
Odysseus's
unhealthemodemwound- unending,
of
the
home.
image
By contrast,
return.
of
such
have
made
would
Adorno
economy
any
impossible
ing
in emigraknewsuchexile. In America,he wrote:"everyintellectual
He wenton to speak of this
tionis, withoutexception,mutilated."26
as such.Heine
woundas theuniversaldiasporawhichmarksmodernity
livedhis exile as a wound.Thatwound,says Adomo,has becomeour
literwhichHeinesensedhas beenfulfilled
own."Now thatthedestiny
all
also
become
has
...
the
homelessness
homelessness;
everyone's
ally
humanbeingshavebeenas badlyinjuredin theirbeingand in theirlanguageas Heinetheoutcastwas."
has becomea universalfact.Once moreit is
The threatof shipwreck
and dispersal.Once morea questionof a prea questionof distraction
matureandhencepreemptive
pleasure.Once moreit is a questionof an
Once moreit is a questionof seducto
death.
impossiblerelationship
of thephallicsubjectis once more
theear. The propriety
tionthrough
which penetrateseverywhere
voice
an
threatened
emasculating
by
in
and
time.
nowhere
becauseitis located
space
Who are the modernSirens?If music's veryessence is to be the
Literature
25. Eric Auerbach,Mimesis:The representation
of realityin Western
(GardenCity,New York:Doubleday,1957).
aus dembeschdidigten
26. Adorno,MinimaMoralia:Reflexionem
Leben,GesamMin4 (Frankfurt:
melteSchriften
1974); In English,trans.E.F.N. Jephcott,
Suhrkamp,
ima Moralia: Reflections
fromDamagedLife(London:NLB, 1974) ?22. (Henceforth
citedas MM).
2
Gesammelte
27. Adorno,"Die WundeHeine,"Notenzur Literatur,
Schriften
1974) 100; In English,"HeinetheWound,"Notesto Literature,
(Frankfurt:
Suhrkamp,
WeberNicholsen85.
trans.Shierry
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32
Adorno's SirenSong
it is thesign
"surviving
messageof despairfromtheshipwrecked,"28
it is a degenerate
form
of thetimesthatit fallson deafears.Or rather:
its listeners,
of musicwhichwouldhave alreadyinfantilized
reducing
thealert,autonomous
identifying
subjectto thespellboundconsumer,
calls. "Vulgarization
and
withwhathe hears,acquiescentto whatever
in the reifiedproduchostilesisters,dwell together"29
enchantment,
tionsofmassmusic.
Benjaminsuggeststhatby Kafka'sday,theSirenshave fallensilent
because music as such - the last "token of hope" - has been perma-
fromexerting
them,perversely,
mentlygagged.30Thiswill notprevent
In
theSinger"(Kafka'sfinaltestaa certainhypnotic
spell. "Josephine
on his deathbedwhile his own voice, was, underthe
ment,written
the mass mouseaudidisappearing31)
laryngitis,
impactof tubercular
thepatheticsqueakingwhichnonetheless,
ence failsto appreciate
they
on
these
them.32
missed
out
"enchants"
insist,
properchildhood,
Having
rodentexiles- "nearlyalwayson therun"- are at once too "childish"
Joseand "too old formusic,"and hardlynoticewhentheenchanting
forbetter
conditions,
stopssinging.33
working
phine,on strike
of modemculture.As
thedegradation
Music forAdornoepitomizes
of instinct,"34
it bothcarriesthegreatthe"mostimmediate
expression
to
themostvulnerable
andwouldbe therefore
estemancipatory
potential
of all theartforms(a
As theleastobviouslyrepresentational
distortion.
advan"non-mimetic
mimesis")musicwouldseemto havethesupreme
28. Adorno,Philosophy
ofModernMusic,trans.AnneMitchellandWesleyBlomfreetranslation.
ster(New York:Continuum,
1985) 133.I cannotresistcitingtherather
derneuenMusik
Theoriginalis moresober."Sie istdiewahreFlaschenpost."
Philosophie
citedas PMM.)
GS 12: 126.(Hereafter
in der Musikund die Regressiondes
29. Adorno,"Uber den Fetischcharakter
inMusicandtheRegression
of
"On theFetish-Character
H6rens,"GS 14: 28; In English,
School
eds., The EssentialFrankfurt
Hearing,"in AndrewAratoand Eike Gebhardt,
citedas F.) (Translation
Reader(NewYork:Urizen,1978)281. (Hereafter
modified.)
30. WalterBenjamin,"FranzKafka,"Gesammelte
2.2 (Frankfurt/Main:
Schriften
trans.HarryZohn,Illuminations
1977)416; In English,
(NewYork:Schocken,
Suhrkamp,
1969)118.
31. ErnstPawel,TheNightmare
ofReason:A LifeofFranzKaJka(NewYork:Vintage,1984)443.
32. FranzKafka,"Josephine
theSinger,ortheMouseFolk,"TheCompleteStories
(NewYork:Schocken,1971)362.
33. "Josephine
the Singer,"364, 369. See LaurenceRickels'ssuggestiveessay,
"MUSICPHANTOMS: 'Uncanned'Conceptions
of MusicfromJosephine
theSingerto
58 (1989): 3-24.
MickeyMouse,"Sub-stance
34. GS 14: 14;F 270.
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RebeccaComay
33
art'sutopianmandatewhichis theexpressionof the
tage in fulfilling
But
inexpressible. in its privilegelies its weakness.Its veryautonomy
its"monadic"tendency
to introversion,
wouldentail
fromsignification,
which
is
the
mark
of
a certainblindnessto material
origins
everyfetish.
in orderto be realized,thusharInsofaras musichas to be performed
or self-interpretabouringwithinitselfitsown congealedself-imitation
and itsreproduction
wouldbe in logicalsymbiosis
itsproduction
tion,35
fromthestart.
fromtheoutset.It is in thissensehalfphantasmagorized
in itsinnerform.It wouldthusseemto
itsownalienation
It anticipates
forceof capital,easilyaliensubmitmostreadilyto thecommodifying
cut
offfromits own source.
ated fromits own performance,
easily
overUndertheimpactof soundrecording,
says Adorno,reproduction
of musicbecomescomand thustheself-alienation
whelmsproduction
abstractentities,like
become interchangeable,
plete. Its components
like
the
commodities
an
on
standardized
line,36
they
assembly
parts
itsliswiththisprocessof abstraction,
haveindeedbecome.Identifying
whoselife,says Adorno,
consumers
tenersbecometheundifferentiated
theconformist,
music
becomes
film.
Processed
has becomea
repetitive
childrenwho keep on
intotheretarded,
spell whichturnsits listeners
askingforthesameolddish.37"Es istbabyfood."38
withtheapparaidentification
Because of thelistener'shallucinatory
If
audiencehas
whom.
the
who
is
unclear
it
becomes
consuming
tus,
mouthwithshining
been reducedto pureorifice- a "greatformless
teethin a voracioussmile"39- it is just as true,forAdorno,thatit is
swallowedby thejunk it swallows.No less thanthechilddevoursthe
babyfood,mass culture(like Charybdis)devourshim. "Being conas 'participasumed,swallowedup, is indeedjust whatI understand
for the new
tion' [Mitmachen]which is so totallycharacteristic
It is equallyunclearwhois hearingwhom.Delutype."40
psychological
on thepartofthelistener
sionalprojection
stripshimoftheinner"voice
of self-reflection.
of conscience"whichprovidesthe verypossibility
35. Adorno,Asthetische
Theorie,GS 7: 190f;In English,trans.RobertHullot-Kencitedas AT.)
U ofMinnesota
P, 1997) 125f.(Hereafter
tor,Aesthetic
(Minneapolis:
Theory
36. Adorno(withtheassistanceofGeorgeSimpson),"On PopularMusic,"Studies
andSocial Science9 (1941): 19.
inPhilosophy
37. GS 14: 39; F 290.
notincludedinEnglisheditionofDE).
38. GS 3: 305 (supplement
39. GS 14:35; F287.
TheOrigin
40. "NotizenzurneuenAnthropologie,"
quotedin SusanBuck-Morss,
ofNegativeDialectics(NewYork:FreeP, 1977) 189.
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34
Adorno's SirenSong
Lackinginnerspeech he now hearsvoices fromthe outside.41The
"alien" product,"cut offfromthe masses by a dense screen,. . . seeks
to speak forthe silent."Lackingbothvoice and ear of his own, the
an instant
modemlistenerfindsthesirensproviding
self-interpretation,
whattheyoffer,
theirownaudiencebeforethe
constituting
predigesting
hearsforthelistener."42
fact."Thecomposition
If "humandignity"- forAdornoas forBloch - consistsof the "right
wouldhavecrippledtheorthopaedia
to walk,"43thecultureindustry
of
the
or
theupright
Reification
"stiffness"
posture.
produces
"rigidity"44
whichsignifythe compensatory
erectionsof Medusa's victims.Like
in an ecstasybornof deepest
Odysseusstiffagainstthemast,writhing
thespellbound
listeners'hardandjerkymovements
betray
deprivation,
somewhattartly,
theimpotence
whichis theirfate.Adornocomments,
thesuperfithatpeopleno longerknowhowto dance."As ifto confirm
of
the
feet
to fulof
form
are
unable
and
ecstasy,
ciality treachery every
Jazz listenersare the castratiwho
fill what the ear pretends."45
theirownmutilation
as an aesthetic
experience
pleasure.The "whimperor "eunuchlikesound"47of thejazz singercroonsthe
ing" vibrato46
- stepping
outonlyso as to stepback in lineof impotence
comforts
and incomplete
whichkeeps
orgasm"48
onlythe"premature
expressing
on cheating
youoftherealthing.
Circe's magichad turnedmenintosnuffling
pigs (10.239). Civilizatheupright
was to institutionalize
tion'sdefense,Freudinsisted,
posture
in itsrepression
of thesenseof smell.49But if theadvertising
industry
would guaranteehomoerectushis hard-wondignityin the formof
41. GS 3: 214; DE 189.
42. "On PopularMusic"25.
43. GS 4: 182;MM?102.
GS
undGesellschaft,"
44. "Alle Phinomene
starren.
.. " See "Kulturkritik
Prismen,
and Society,"
10: 29; In English,trans.Samueland Shierry
Weber,"CulturalCriticism
Prisms(Cambridge:
MIT, 1982)34.
45. GS 14:42; F 292.
46. Adorno,"UberJazz,"GS 17: 99; trans.JamieOwen Daniel,"On Jazz,"Discourse12 (1989-90):67. (Hereafter
citedas J).
47. "ZeitloseMode - Zum Jazz,"GS 10: 133; In English,"PerennialFashionJazz,"Prisms129.
48. GS 17: 98; J66.
49. Freud,Civilization
and itsDiscontents,
2: 99-100n.1. Adorno
CompleteWorks
itspecifically
to theCirce
picksup thisscentat GS 3: 209, 266; DE 184,233, andrefers
episodeat GS 3: 90; DE 71.
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RebeccaComay
35
frombodyodor,"50Adomoreminds
"shiningwhiteteethand freedom
can be deceptive.Beneaththesurface
us thatsuchverticalappearances
ofKafka'simagicreatures
oftheupright
subjectwouldbe thedistorted
until
to Grehunchbacks
we
come,finally,
nary mice,moles,dogs,
salesmanturnedinsect,crawlingin grotesque
gor Samsa, travelling
towardshis sister'sviolin.51Adorno'smodemCirce has transrapture
In a sadomasochmeninto"savages"and in turnintoinsects.52
formed
istic parodyof sexual ecstasy(or, remarksAdorno,like the hideous
- in Adomo'sunusuof a woundedanimal)the"jitterbugs"
convulsions
in
The siren-bonds
fascination."53
"whirl
about
vivid
description
ally
moretightly
all
the
themselves
are tight.Thejitterbugs
only"entangle"
themorefrantically
inthenetofreification
theytrytobreakaway.54
and withperhapsa similar
Platonicformula,
Accordingto a familiar
oftheartwork
the
uncontrolled
subtext,
expresses
reproducibility
gender
A
mimetic
flux.
itselfas an infinitely
genealogicalcatastroregressive
of
the
have
disordered
would
Copy and
veryprocess reproduction.
phe
of
a
simulacrum
becomes
voice
the
become
indistinguishable,
original
of
the
of
film
out
"birth
itself,theoriginalno longerholds.Afterthe
lifeitselfbecomesjust likethemovies.The "perforspiritof music,"55
thevoice becommancesoundslike its ownphonogra
ph recording,,,56
"hit
the
of
like
imitation
an
becoming an
song"
itself,
ing
foritself,sendingout itsown titleas theonlycontentit
advertisement
50. GS 3: 191;DE 167.
The CompleteStories 130f. For Adorno's
51. Kafka, "The Metamorphosis,"
in Kafka,see "Noteson Kafka,"GS 10: 254-287;In
responseto thethemeof animality
English,Prisms245-271.
recallthattheSirensthemselves
evenfurther:
were,atleastin
52. To twistthematter
to speak
relatedtoinsects(cfn. 10 above).In thePhaedrus,Socrates,trying
one tradition,
ofthenarcoleptic
noiseofthecicadas,warnsPhaedrus
temptation
againstthebackground
Sirensong"(259a).
of theirbuzzingdrone,whichhe refers
to,indeed,as a "bewitching
are said bySocratesto descendfrommenwhobecameso drunk
The cicadasthemselves
toeatordrinkand"diedwithwithpleasurefromthemusicoftheMusesthattheyforgot
the"Sirens"wouldbe,then,boththeperpetrait"(259c).By suchan allegory
outnoticing
on the
remarks
torsand thefirstvictimsof musicalseduction.
See, forsomeinteresting
totheCicadas(Cambridge:
J.Ferrari,
Phaedrusmyth,
UP, 1987).
Cambridge
Listening
in "Jazz- a Perennial
to the"jitterbugs"
53. GS 14: 42; F 292. Adornoalso refers
Fashion,"GS 10: 132;Prisms128.
54. GS 14:41; F 292.
GS 13: 102; In English,trans.RodneyLiving55. Adorno,VersuchiiberWagner,
citedas W).
stoneIn SearchofWagner(London:NLB 1981) 107.(Hereafter
56. GS 14: 31; F 284.
57. GS 14: 23; F 277.
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36
Adorno's SirenSong
wouldannounce."Todayeverygiantclose-upof a starhas becomean
forhername,everyhit-songa plug [zumPlug] forits
advertisement
tune."58"Onlythecopy"appears.59
Utopiabecomes"merelya gilded
behind
- i.e.,forthoselikePlato'sprisbackground
projected
reality"60
in
or
for
those
cave.
oners, perhaps
Calypso's
In Homer,therewas alreadya fineline betweenthe song "itself'
or replication.
and its own announcement
Odysseus'sSirens,promissing of nothingotherthanthe factthat
ing to sing of "everything,"
theyare to sing: a song aboutitself,says Todorov,a song aboutall
song.61A song,says Blanchot,directedtowardsa singingwhichis
always"stilltocome."62
intotheir
... theyburst
high,
thrilling
song:
- Achaea'sprideandglory
famous
'Comecloser,
Odysseus
mooryourshiponourcoastsoyoucanhearoursong!
inhisblackcraft
Neverhasanysailorpassedourshores
ourlips.
thehoneyed
voicespouring
from
hehasheard
until
(12.183-188)
betweenthepromising
Whatwouldbe thedifference
songandthesong
is
of
the
instanceof the
whichis promised?
course
paradigm
Promising
of
which
the
and
the
utterance
"doing,"the
"saying"
performative
In
announcement
and theact,are indistinguishable.Homer,theSiren's
its
promisesoundsas sweetas thehoneyedvoice it promises:certainly
allureis as lethal.The cultureindustry,
by Adorno'saccount,would
intotheteasingspecularhavetransformed
sucha radicalperformativity
of
Radio
function
of
sheer
assumes
the
ity
performance.
phatic/phallic
all orifices,invadingall space.
noise forthesake of noise,penetrating
"The giganticfactthatspeechpenetrates
everywhere
replacesits content."63
Soundbecomestheechoadvertising
but
nothing itsownpublicbecomesartand nothing
else,just as Goebbels- with
ity:"Advertising
- combinesthem: 'artpour l 'art,advertisingforits own sake,
foresight
58. GS 3: 187;DE 163(translation
modified).
59. GS 3: 165;DE 143.
60. GS 3: 166;DE 143(translation
altered).
61. TzvetanTodorov,PoeticsofProse(Ithaca:CornellUP, 1977)56.
62. MauriceBlanchot,
"TheSongoftheSirens,"TheGaze ofOrpheus,
trans.Lydia
Davis (Barrytown,
NY: StationHill,1981) 105.
63. GS 3: 183;DE 159.
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Rebecca Comay
37
of socialpower."64
In an infinitely
a purerepresentation
circulardeferthe
in
which turn"incessantly
reducesto a
ral,thead promises product,
The
whichitpromisesas a commodity."65
merepromisetheenjoyment
to Tantalus,66
tantalized
spectaclesof Hollywoodreducetheconsumer
the greaterurgeto
so numbingit wouldpreempt
witha forepleasure
it
desire
which
frustrates
a
thereby
(pornograhappiness.By stimulating
makesthe promisethe very
phy in its essence),the cultureindustry
of whichwouldbe its own denial.Art'spromessede bonarticulation
The
of art"67)wouldhave been eliminated.
heur("once thedefinition
"medicinalbath"of "fun"[das Fun]68scrubsaway the last utopian
Themenureplacesthemeal:
tracesofhappiness.
ofwhatitpercheatsitsconsumers
Theculture
industry
perpetually
onplea...
it
draws
which
note
The
promises. promissory
petually
all the
whichis actually
thepromise,
sureis endlessly
prolonged;
is that
all itsignifies
consists
of,is illusory:
maliciously,
spectacle
thatthedinermustbe satisfied
therealpointwillneverbe reached,
themenu.69
withreading
its own fulfilment:
In thetotalitarian
every
state,thepromisepreempts
invitation
a call to panic. Sound
a
becomes
threat,every
promise
becomes, indeed, a screechingsiren, blocking hearing,blocking
as follows:
Thenewsirensaredescribed
thought.
hisvoice
oftheFiihrer;
theuniversal
Theradiobecomes
mouthpiece
of sirens
thehowling
to resemble
risesfromstreet
loud-speakers
canhardly
bediswhich
modem
propaganda
announcing
panic- from
that
the
wireless
knew
Socialists
The
National
gave
anyway.
tinguished
causejustas theprinting
pressdidtotheReformation.70
shapetotheir
Aberrations
Reproductive
to emphasizethatthereis a certaingender
It is perhapsunnecessary
Plato a familiar
Adorno'sdenunciations.
subtext
According
underlying
mimeticserieswouldbe indistinguishable
toniclogic,an uncontrolled
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
GS 3: 186;DE 163.
GS 3: 185;DE 162(translation
modified).
CfGS 3: 162;DE 140.
GS 14: 19;F 274. Cf.GS 7: 26;AT 12.
GS 3: 162;DE 140.
GS 3: 161; DE 139(translation
modified).
GS 3: 159;DE 159.
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38
Adorno's SirenSong
fromthe wantonpropagationwhich makes potentialbastardsof every
offspring.Even Telemachus is not so sure who his fatheris (1.216)
Reproductiveconfusionat the aestheticlevel suggestsas always the fragilityof the sexual contract.If the unproductiveforeplayof the culture
industryyields only the simulacral pleasures of false advertising,its
demonic self-replicationwould both soften the virile "firmness"of
everysubjectand corruptthelegitimacyof everybirth.
inhisself-abandonThe decomposition
ofthesubjectis consummated
mentto an everchanging
sameness.This drainsall firmness
[Feste]
fromcharacters.
WhatBaudelairecommanded
thepowerof
through
Faithlessness
andlackof
images,comesunbidtowill-lessfascination.
to situations,
areinducedbythestimuidentity,
pathicresponsiveness
lus of newness,whichalready,as a merestimulus,
no longerstimuof the wish forchildrenis
lates. Perhapsmankind'srenunciation
to prophesy
theworst:
declaredhere,becauseit is opento everyone
ofall thoseunborn.
Malthusis one ofthe
thenewis thesecretfigure
and Baudelairehad reasonto
forefathers
of thenineteenth
century,
ofitsreproduction,
unconextolinfertile
beauty.Mankind,
despairing
sciouslyprojectsitswishforsurvivalontothechimeraof thething
todeath.71
neverknown,butthisis equivalent
But the generationaldisturbancegoes in both directions.If children
have become the death wish of a fatherlesssocietywhich has replaced
authenticpropagationwithsterilepropaganda,Adomnosuggeststhatthe
genealogical relationshipto the past is distortedalong parallel lines. A
"disturbedrelationship"to theancestors.72A mourninggone astray.
Memory itselfis at issue. In its complicitywith mass culture,Wagner's music has the mnemotechnicversatilitythatwritingonce did for
Plato - music "designed to be remembered,intendedfor the forgetful."73Berlioz's idee fixe puts the listener"underthe spell of an opium
dream."74The detachedor morcellizedmusical "theme"impressesitself
our generalamnesia,makindeliblyin our memory,therebyconfirming
ing us memorizewhat we cannotremember,idioticallyinscribingwhat
cannotbe learned.75It is deathitself,of course,which goes most unremembered.If mourningitselfis, as Adomo says, the very "wound of
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
GS 14:270; MM ? 150(translation
modified).
GS 3: 243; DE 215.
GS 13:29; W31
GS 13:29; W31
GS 14:27; F 281
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RebeccaComay
39
whichchallengesthefunccivilization"76
- a purepurposeless
activity
tionalefficiency
of everyorder- itwouldbe naturally
thefirstthingin
Thatwhichis notput to
an exchangesocietyto undergoliquidation.
restby propermourning,
says Freud,will alwayskeepcomingback to
hauntus. And thisis just whathappens,adds Adomo,in therecycled
tunesofthemusicindustry.
The atomized,spatializedtimeof serialmusicexpressesjust therage
againstthepast- Nietzsche's"revenge"againstthe"it was" - whichis
themarkof inauthentic
danced,
(Nietzsche'svengefullistener
memory.
"kill
listeners
ifnotthejitterbug,
thewhirling
"tarantella."77)
Regressed
time because thereis nothingelse on whichto vent one's aggresneed to be "Uptodatesein,"
sion."78In theirfrantic
theyridiculethat
most
withwhichonlyyesterday
infatuated,
hatingtheold and
theywere
as if to avengethefactthattheirown ecstasyhad been,to
out-of-date
beginwith,fake.79In a note"On theTheoryofGhosts,"Adornorelates
The
of timeto a radicalfailureof mourning.
the modematomization
hatredof the past is itselfthe inabilityto give properburial.Immibooksgetset
grantswipe awayall tracesof theirpastlife.Out-of-print
for
beach
on
the
Sirens'
bones
aside.The unburied
become, Adomo,the
withits"beautified
funeral
The modemrn
of thecrematorium.
ornaments
mensurvivor
bottledashessuitsthe"hardened"
corpse"andtake-home
- a reification
of lifewhichhas continuedeven
talityof the guilty80
without
a home."81
ofthedead,a "homecoming
untodeath,a cheating
thiswhole
But let us notignorethegenderassumptions
determining
leads
discussion.Accordingto Freud,some sortof misfired
mourning
would
What
"mass
of
the
to
psychology."82
phantasmagorias
directly
- and Freudrecognizedno
be? Oedipal autonomy
propermourning
of the father'sprohibiotherkind- requiredthe son's internalization
tion:the acquisitionof a super-egowouldbe the onlypropermonuhas no suchmemory.
mentto thedead. "Mass" psychology
Lackinga
before
father
archaic
an
the
sons
to
father
imago
project
bury,
proper
The "leader"would
in helplessidentification.
whomtheyfuseprostrate
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
GS3:244;DE216
"TheTarantulas."
See Nietzsche,ThusSpokeZarathustra,
GS 14: 44; F 294.
GS 14:45; F 295.
GS 3: 244; DE 216.
GS 13: 139; W149.
andtheAnalysisoftheEgo,"SE 18: 67-144.
See Freud,"GroupPsychology
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Adorno's SirenSong
40
forthemissingfather,
whocan be neither
be thesimulacral
supplement
The group'stieswouldremainall
overthrown.
mournednor,therefore,
of themother'sbodyratherthanthe
the incorporation
pre-Oedipal83:
of
the
law.
The prohibition
father's
on enjoyingthe
introjection
or internalized:
mother'sbodyhas notbeenregistered
thefather's
"No"
Fromearto mouth,
fromfather
to mother,
fromOediremainsunheard.
on thistriply
axis - body,gender,stageregressive
pal to pre-Oedipal:
would
to
masspsychology's
seem
turn.
perversions
to
Adorno's
almost
verbatim
oftheFreudian
transcription
According
the
the
decline
of
leads
Oedipal family
directlyto
grouppsychology,
of
If
the aberrant
mass
culture.84
freedom
patterns
presupmourning
ofa priorauthority,
theadultcapacityforresisposestheinternalization
thattherebe strong
fathers
to overcome.Jessica
tancerequiresprecisely
Benjaminhas outlinedtheissuewell.85By Adorno'sand Horkheimer's
wouldhave
thedeclineof entrepreneurial
capitalism
gloomyreckoning,
into
the
the
self-reliant
businessman
order,turning
dislodged patriarchal
the
with
of
the
father
the
thescrambling
employee,
replacing authority
theself-legislating
sonwiththecomreplacing
powerof administration,
he is told.Replacedas well wouldbe
pliantchildwho does whatever
"warmand lovingmother"whoseveryexclusionfrom
the traditional
a certheworldof workandpowerhad meant(imaginedHorkheimer)
of theprinciple
of exchange.86
The "profestainutopiantranscendence
into"hygiene."88Woman
sional mother"("Mom"87)turnsaffection
And so on. (I
"bustlesaboutafterculturalgoals likea social hyena."89
I'm
actuallyquoting boththerhetoparody,butonlyslightly since
ofAdorno'sandHorkheimer's
ricandthesubstance
argument.)
83.
Cf JanineChasseguet-Smirgel,Sexualityand Mind: the role of the motherand
fatherin thepsyche(NewYork:NewYorkUP, 1986)81-91.
ofFascistPropaganda,"
GS
84. See inparticular,
"Freudian
TheoryandthePattern
8: 408-433; The Essential FrankfurtSchool Reader.
85. JessicaBenjamin,"The End of Internalization:
Adorno'sSocial Psychology,"
Telos 32 (1977): 42-64; "Authority
and the FamilyRevisited:or, A Worldwithout
Fathers?,"New German Critique 13 (1978): 35-57. See also Klaus Theweleit,Minner-
RoterStem,1977-78).Also,PatriciaJagentowicz
Mills,
phantasien,2 vols. (Frankfurt:
Woman,Nature,and Psyche (New Haven: Yale UP, 1987) 93-116.
86. Horkheimer,
and theFamily,"trans.MatthewO'Connell,Critical
"Authority
and the Family,"in Ruth
Theory(New York: Seabury,1972) 114; "Authoritarianism
Nanda Anshen,ed., The Family: Its Functionand Destiny(New York, Harper,1959) 390.
87.
88.
89.
Cf.PhilipWylie,Generation
ofVipers(NewYork:Rinehart,
1942).
"Authoritarianism
andtheFamily,"389.
Horkheimer,
GS 3: 288; DE 250.
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Rebecca Comay
41
Monopolycapital has dispensed,says Adorno,withthe need for
of social
superegos.Governanceno longerrequirestheinternalization
to providea
norms.The familyis no longernecessaryor sufficient
The administration
forand fromthedemandsofcivilization.
now
buffer
the detourthrough(self-)
worksdirectlyon its subjects,rendering
and obsolete.Withtheerosionof thebourgeois
repression
superfluous
- butat thesametime,
familygoes thelastvestigeofguiltyinwardness
ofrevolt:
the
final
notesAdomosomewhat
sadly,
possibility
theeconomic
undermine
interests
Whenthebigindustrial
incessantly
theindependent
economic
basisformoraldecisionby eliminating
and
over
the
self-employed
entrepreneur
taking
by
subject,
partly
intotheobjectsofa tradeunion,
theworkers
bytransforming
partly
an
.. . Thereis nolonger
mustalsoatrophy
forreflection
thecapacity
to be adjudicated,
or motivational
conflict
instinctual
by
internal,
oftheinternalizaInstead
is formed.
ofconscience
whichthetribunal
and
whichnotonlymadeitmorebinding
tionofthesocialcommand
and
itfrom
atthesametimemoreopen,butalsoemancipated
society
idenanddirect
there
is animmediate
thelatter,
itagainst
eventurned
valuescales.90
withstereotyped
tification
bourAlthoughAdornois not exactlynostalgicforthe patriarchal
this
that
on
and
note
this
of
I
lack
must
stress
nostalgia
geois family
its
that
notes
he
from
scorehe differs
Horkheimer91
sharply
markedly
forindependemisewouldmeanjust theeclipseof thelastopportunity
dentthought."Withthe familytherepasses away,while the system
butalso the
lasts,notonlythemosteffective
agencyofthebourgeoisie,
also strengthened,
the individual,
resistancewhich,thoughrepressing
perhapsevenproducedhim.The endof thefamilyparalysestheforces
ofopposition."92
we findan endless
In the absenceof effective
paternalprohibition
workof mournauthentic
for
the
melancholic
substituting
consumption
to
the
reverts
In
identification
pre-Oedipal,narcissistic
fascism,
ing.
of normalgrowth.
achievement
the
whichsubverts (male)
cannibalism
Adornosuggeststhatthe relative
In his essay on fascistpropaganda,
in thepresent
createstheprojective
absenceof paternalauthority
phanthe
a realauthority,
tasmof the"leaderimage."Insteadof internalizing
90. GS 3: 224; DE 198(translation
modified).
clearin Adorno'ssharpcritiqueof
91. Thislackofnostalgiabecomesparticularly
Huxleyin"AldousHuxleyandUtopia,"10:97-122;Prisms97-117.
92. GS 4: 23; MM ?2.
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42
Adorno's SirenSong
orphanedmasses simplyabsorbwhattheythemselvesput out: they
embellishtheirown psychicoverflowand go on to devourtheirown
creationas an external
they"discover"whatthey
thing.Likepositivists,
haveinfact"made"- andproceedtoeatit.93
- Adornosuggeststhereby
has withdrawn
Wherelegitimate
authority
thatitonceexisted- an amorphous
(almostFoucauldian)"power"steps
in to fill the vacuumleftby the unmourned
dead. But because the
leaderhimselfis only deputizingforthe powerlessindividualswho
him,theleaderis just an actor,playingtherole
have,in fact,invented
of "leader"to an enchanted
publicwho cannottelltherealthingfrom
look
thefake."They
likehairdressers,
actors,and hackjourprovincial
The phantasmagoria
of fascistdemagogyare
nalists,"writesAdorno.94
of a banishedmimeticimpulse,an "organized
the finaldissimulations
of magicpractices,"
imitation
a "mimesisof mimesis"95
"Grouppsyis
this
fiction.96
chology" just
Andwhatbetterfigureforsucha fiction
thanthefigureof "thefeminine"?Lackinga properfatherwhose authority
theymightinternalize, themassesbecome,in theend,a woman."Justas womenadore
Or
theunmovedparanoiac,so thenationgenuflects
beforefascism."97
again: "Now emotionis reservedto power conscious of itselfas
to man,cold,bleakand unyielding,
as woman
power.Man surrenders
did beforehim.Man turnsintoa womangazingup at hermaster
...
The seeds of homosexuality
are sown."98And thuswe findAdorno,
- mass
male imaginary
finally,
chimingin withthenineteenth-century
cultureas woman the fantasyof a lethallassitudeor an oceanic
thefantasyof a waterygrave.AndreasHuyssenhas outengulfment,
lined the issue well.99FromNietzsche'spolemicagainstWagner's
effeminacies
Le Bon's description
of the sphinxlike
hypnotic
through
crowdto Eliot's depictionof thelureof mass societyas a return
to an
little
is
left
to
the
Weimar
womb,
encompassing
imagination.
Early
filmtheory,too, was quick to pronounceon the dangersto hygiene
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
GS 8: 417-419.
GS 3: 270; DE 236.
GS 3: 209; DE 185.
GS 8: 432-33.
GS 3: 216; DE 191.
GS 3: 290; DE 252.
AndreasHuyssen,
"Mass Culture
as Woman,"inTaniaModleski,ed.,Studiesin
Entertainment:CriticalApproaches to Mass Culture(Bloomington:Indiana UP, 1986).
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RebeccaComay
43
of themovietheater:
thestuffy
posedby the"darkhole" (Kracauer100)
of class and genderdivisions,the
air,theriskof disease,theblurring
If Adornodoes notexactlyreproduce
riskof sexual contactitself.101
he doesn'texactlydispelthemeither.Leaving
thesefearfulfantasies,
wherethismodemOdysseushas a leg to stand.
us towonder,finally,
Penelope
their
areinbedandtelling
WhenUlyssesandPenelope
first.
I
believe
a
hers
tells
tooneanother,
stories
Penelope
comefirst
malewriter
wouldhavemadeUlysses'sstory
second.
andPenelope's
- SamuelButler
Or is thereanothersexual economyat play? I haven'tmentioned
she was consideredtoo boringly
Penelope- fewdo. Even in antiquity
she
to say? She was faithful,
there
was
What
be
to
mythologized.
good
a
slut.
her
into
turned
Later
tradition
home.
came
By
wove,Odysseus
the Hellenisticperiodthe fantasieswere going full steam.102Apollodorusspeaksof herpromiscuity,
beingsent
sleepingwiththesuitors,
As Hyginustells it, she
away in disgraceupon Odysseus'sreturn.103
son by Circe,
ends up marrying
Telegonus- Odysseus'sillegitimate
- andbearingItalus,
hisfather
whoappearsone dayin Ithacato murder
100. Kracauer,"Langeweile,"Das Ornamentder Masse: Essays (Frankfurt:
ofsomeofthegenderassumptions
determining
1977)322. Foran examination
Suhrkamp,
see SabineHake,"GirlsandCrisis- TheotherSideofDiversion,"
Kracauer'sfilmtheory,
NewGermanCritique40 (1987): 147-64.
filmcriticism
101. This has becomea centralthemein feminist
focusingon the
"Kinoto SabineHake (citedabove),HeidiSchliipmann,
Weimarperiod.See, inaddition
undfilm33 (Oct. 1982): 45-52; MiriamHansen,"EarlySilentCinema:
sucht,"frauen
NewGermanCritique29 (1983): 147-84;andPatricePetro,JoyWhosePublicSphere?,"
in WeimarGermany
less Streets:Womenand Melodramatic
(Princeton:
Representation
Princeton
UP, 1989).
see Paulyand Wissowa,Real-Encyclo102. Fora surveyoftheclassicalliterature,
Erste
der
Reihe,Bd 19.1,cols.479-482.
classischen
Altertumswissenschaft,
pddie
trans.JamesFrazer(Lon103. EpitomeVII: 36-38,in TheLibraryofApollodorus,
scenarios.In the first
don: Heinemann,1921). Apollodoruspresentstwo alternative
is sentawaybyOdysseustoherfather
Icarius,
instance,
Penelopeis seducedbyAntinous,
ofPan,see
withPanbyHermes.(On Penelopeas themother
andproceedstogetpregnant
also Cicero,De NaturaDeorumIII.xxii.56,trans.H. Rackham[London:WilliamHeineandis killedin
Penelopeis seducedbyAmphinomos
mann,1933]).In theotherinstance,
husband.
byherreturning
punishment
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44
Adorno's SirenSong
afterwhomItalywas named.104
(Telemachusmeanwhileis said to go
on to marrystepmother
Latinusin theprocess,butthat
Circe,fathering
is anotherstory.105)
the
Renaissance,Penelope'sweb had become
By
of
feminine
the veryimage
a sign of promiscuity
and
prevarication,
a spider'sweb,a trap.106
diversion,
Butevenin theOdysseyheridentity
was less securethanone tendsto
think.Agamemnonbackhandedly
comparesher to a Clytemnestra
thatshe'sjust hunting
foranother
(11.433f,24.200f).Athenainsinuates
man (15.20-23). Telemachusdoesn'ttrusther to protectthe family
in his absence(15.88-91).He complainsbitterly
thatto the
property
won't
or
no
(1.249f,cf 16.730).Penelopehersay yes
eagersuitorsshe
self professesto understand
Helen's adulteryas, afterall, a normal
"error"(23.209-30).She dreamswithpleasureabouthercollectionof
pet geese (19.537).107The menshe feedsamongthepigs becomejust
of Circe's magic.108
like thepig-victims
Odysseus.who rarelysees fit
to mentionheron his travels,treatsherwithjealous suspicionon his
His homecoming
return.
takesplacewhilehe's wrappedin a slumberso
is
"sweet"[hedistos]it's comparedto death(13.79-81). If homecoming
said to be "honeysweet"
(as Teiresiasputsitl09),its allurewould be
closetothedistracting
exileitwas toend.
perilously
Certainlythe suitorssee heras anotherSiren.Penelopetoo knows
men'sheartswith"wordsof honey"[meilihowto "enchant"[thelgein]
chiois epeessi] (18.283): she too knowshow to "fan"and "inflame"
theirpassion(18.160f)untiltheir"kneesslacken"and "heartsdissolve"
of theseductivetrickery
(18.212). One of thesuitorscomplainsbitterly
is itselftheultimate
of herweb routine(2.89). Herprevarication
promise thatso defersitselfthatit unravelsits own point.The weaving
104. Hyginus,Fabulae CXXVII, ed. H.I. Rose (LugduniBatavorum:
A. W. Sythhoff,1963).
105. Hyginus,
FabulaeCXXVII.
106. Cf. PatriciaParker,LiteraryFat Ladies: Rhetoric,Gender,Property(New
York:Methuen,1987)26.
107. For a psychoanalytic
reading,see GeorgesDevereux,"Le caracterede Pen&1982)259-70.
(Paris:Flammarion,
lope,"Femmeetmythe
108. To tighten
are
theidentification
stillfurther,
Calypsoand Circe,conversely,
withlooms(5.62 and 10.222),thelatter
ofwhichis associatedwiththesuspicion
outfitted
of a trapor snare[dolos](10.232, 10.258)- thesamecunningattributed
laterto PeneSee JohnWinofcourse,toOdysseushimself.
lope's weaving(19.137)- and,throughout,
kler,Penelope'sCunningand Homer's"and MarcelDetienneand Jean-Pierre
Vernant,
inGreekCulture
andSociety(Sussex:Harvester
P, 1978).
Cunning
Intelligence
109. 11.100.Cf.Odysseus'sowninvocation
ofhomesweethomeat9.34.
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RebeccaComay
45
provesnotonlyto be deceptivebutto be quitefatal.The slaughtered
as fishcaughtina net(23.384f).
suitorsaredescribed
In 1897, Samuel Butlerreads the Odysseyand concludesthata
womanmusthavewritten
it.The telltalesignsarenumerous:
theobsesthetrivialhousewifely
sion withwomanlymatters;
details;thevarious
and bad logic110;and finally
inconsistencies
thewhitewashing
of PeneThe
of
the
no
name.
"authoress
has
he
feel,
Odyssey"
complains,
lope's
forwhatit's reallylike to be a man in love. It wouldhave been easy
enoughforPenelopeto getridof thesuitorsif she had reallywanted.
"All she had to do was to boltthedoor."'11Afterall, she musthave
"andnotgetting
Butleradds."Did she
beena good forty,
anyyounger,"
he asks,
evertrysnubbing?"
Didsheeverread
wasboring
didsheevertrythat?
... andthenthere
Did shesingthemherown
themanyof hergrandfather's
letters?
I havealways
songs,orplaythemmusicofherowncomposition?
togetridofpeople....
whenI wanted
thesecourses
successful
found
tosittoherforherweb- givethema goodstiff
Did sheask[them]
Didshefind
allthetime?
sticktoit,andtalktothem
pose,makethem
andsayshedidnotwant
torun,andthenscoldthem,
errands
forthem
topaythem,
forherandforget
docommissions
them?
Ormakethem
or keepon sendingthembackto theshopto changethings.... In a
so astute
a matron
oneofthethousand
didshedoa single
word,
things
about
wouldhavebeenatnolosstohituponifshehadbeeninearnest
sensethe
Withone touchof common
to be courted?
notwanting
intodust.112
wholefabric
crumbles
a
Butwas notPenelope'sweavingquiteessential?Did itnotrepresent
thatitcouldnotcometo term?Penelope's"seducdesireso vertiginous
fromherweeping.For likeherweaving,
tiveness"is in factinseparable
When
thebardPhemiuscharmstheentire
end.
cannot
Penelope'sgrief
his
with
singing(1.337-44),Penelopeis theonlyone to resist
company
sorrow"[penthos
his sirenspell.Her"unforgettable
alaston](1.342) (in
it is a sorrow
her words)won't acceptthe drugof musicalcomfort;
whichis "unforgettable"
simplybecause it cannotcome to term.Not
therefore,
Odysseusis dead or alive - notknowing,
knowingwhether
mournnorabstainfrom
thefullmeasureof herloss - she can neither
likeitintheIliad... "
butI can findnothing
110. "I do notsaythatthisis feminine,
SamuelButler,TheAuthoress
oftheOdyssey(London:A.C. Fifield,1897) 151.
111. Butler126.
112. Butler130.
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46
Adorno's SirenSong
In thistensionbetweenmourning
anddesire,Penelope'sown
mourning.
doublebindnowcomestolight.
nornot-mourning,
she does not in factrecognize
Neithermourning
herreturning
husband.Unlikethedog, thenurse,the son, theswineofproofs.Unseduced
thiswifedemandsan infinity
herd,and thefather,
even whenOdysseusappearsin dazzling,greased-upsplendour- the
verycharmthatworkedwell enoughon Nausicaa (6.230-35)- Peneis said to be the
lope remainsstonyand inert.If Penelope'sfaithfulness
condition
of
heroic
reputation
(24.192-202),if his
very
Odysseus's
that
wife
wait
at
it
his
gloryrequires
patiently home, is ironicthatPenein
herself
won't
she renders
lope
participate the generalrecognition
and thelimitof
Her reticence
is at onceboththecondition
possible.113
his heroickleos:shewithdraws
fromtheintersubjective
arenashe opens
(23.97-103).Her
up. Her son reproachesher forherhardheartedness
herforbeing"untrusting"
nursereproaches
(23.72). The wordin Greek
anduntrustworthy.
Butcould
is apistos:itmeansin factbothuntrusting
a wifein sucha circumstance
everbe fullypistos?To trustand to be
trusted
wouldseemhereto be at odds. (In Homer,typically,
it's only
male companionslikePatroclusand Achilleswho getthefamiliar
epithetof pistos.) Were Penelopeto allow herselfto be seduced too
quicklyby Odysseus,hertrustwouldbetrayherrealuntrustworthiness.
The
To trustand to be trusted
are,forthiswoman,quiteirreconcilable.
doublebindofbeingOdysseus'swife.
Perhaps,at moments,Adornohimselfhad glimpsesof this Penelope. In theAestheticTheory,he writesof theendlesslongingwhich
loss. No comfort
couldassuagethis.The stubbornfeedsoffan infinite
introduceswithinmourninga desire which
ness of its attachment
and thusstakesa
refusestheconsolationof everypartialnourishment
claim on a happinessoutstripping
wouldbe
everyfact.In its tenacity
in itspatienceitsgreatest
its urgency,
zeal. In Prisms,Adornowrites:
"Like knowledge,
artcannotwait,butas soon as it succumbsto impatienceit is doomed."'114
Suchburning
patiencefeedson a griefwhich
knowsneither
nor
Thisgriefwouldbe, likePenehealing recompense.
lope's, quite "unforgettable" endless preciselywhere it is most
uncertain
whatexactlyhasbeenlost.
113. On Penelope'snon-recognition,
see Sheila Murnaghan,
"Penelope'sAgnoia:
PowerandGenderintheOdyssey,"
Helios 13 (1986): 103-15.
Knowledge,
114. Adorno,
"ArnoldSchanberg1874-1951,"
GS 10: 171;Prisms165.
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Rebecca Comay
47
In MinimaMoralia,Adornowritesthatfor"theone who no longer
has a homeland,"writingitselfbecomesthe only place to live.l15
an
Such a place would be the non-placeof a permanent
wandering,
odysseywithouta finalend. But hereOdysseuswould have become
wouldhave becomejust
none otherthanPenelope.His intransigence
which
her expectancy:a kindof "seasickness,"as Kafka remarked,
on dryland. The bonds would loosen just
now is felteverywhere
In sucha loosening,thetext
wheretheywouldseemto be thetightest.
as suchis formed.
written
texts,"writesAdorno,"are likespiders'webs: tight,
"Properly
In theAesthetic
he
andfirm."l116
Theory,
concentric,
well-spun
transparent,
It unravelsitsownwillto
oftheartwork.
writesof thespecial"cunning"
moment
tototalizeas an essential
itsownfailure
andincorporates
mastery
is noneotherthanPenelope.
ofthiscunning
Theparadigm
ofitstruth.
inthenexusof
is enmeshed
oflogos,becauseitmutilates,
Theunity
unraveled
whointheevening
Homer's
taleofPenelope,
itsownguilt.
alletheday,is a self-unconscious
whatshehadaccomplished
during
sheactuinflicts
onherartifacts,
Penelope
goryofart:Whatcunning
versesthisepisodeis not
EversinceHomer's
onherself.
allyinflicts
buta constitutive
itis easilytaken,
forwhich
orrudiment
theaddition
theimpossibilthisstory,
arttakesintoitself
ofart.Through
category
ofitsunity.
as anelement
oftheoneandthemany
ityoftheidentity
havetheir
nolessthanreason,
Artworks,
cunning.117
writesof the"infinite
In Fear and Trembling,
resignation"
Kierkegaard
is not
restitution.
Such renunciation
of
without
sacrifices
which
hope
its
with
of religion,
comforting
by theconsolations
(yet)compromised
whichis notyetthatof
It thusinstallsa mourning
hopeof recompense.
theknightof faith,whoseleap - and thisis of coursepreciselywhat
- involvedtheabsurd
abouthim118
Adornowas to findmostirritating
thathe wouldsomehowgethis ownback."Infinite
conviction
resignaIts melancholy
would
confidence.
tion"would have no such knightly
in
its
the
of
exceed economy everyhomecoming;
hopelessness
rigorous
writes:
wouldlie itsonlystrength.
Kierkegaard
115. GS 14:96; MM?51.
116. GS 4: 95; MM?51.
117. GS 7: 278; AT 186f.
GS 2; In English,trans.
des Asthetischen,
118. Adomo,Kierkegaard:Konstruktion
RobertHullot-Kentor,
(Minneapolis:U of
of theAesthetic
Kierkegaard:Construction
Minnesota
P, 1989).
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48
Adorno's SirenSong
Infinite
is thatshirtwe readaboutin theold fable.The
resignation
threadis spunundertears,theclothbleachedwithtears,theshirtsewn
withtears;butthentoo itis a better
thanironandsteel...
protection
The secretin lifeis thateveryonemustsew it forhimself,
and the
astonishing
thingis thata mancan sewitfullyas wellas a woman.119
119. Kierkegaard,
trans.
HowardHongandEdnaHong
Philosophical
Fragments,
Princeton
UP,1985)56.
(Princeton:
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