The Concept of Mimesis in Adorno's Aesthetic Theory

Mimesis plays an important role in Adorno’s Aesthetic Theory and permeates through the book. If only two concepts are to be figured out in the book, they will be the “content of the truth of art work” and “mimesis”. Avoiding the traditional use and understanding of the latter, Adorno tries to renew the power of mimesis in art and life. He uses mimesis to criticize the structures of suppression and hegemony in Enlightenment and modern thinking. This essay discusses the concept of mimesis in Adorno’s thoughts from three points of view: dialectical relationship between mimesis and reason; mimesis as the subject-object dialectic; mimesis and its connections with expression.