On Adorno's Critical Theory of Mass Culture

Adorno is the one who first introduced both mass culture and celebrity culture simultaneously into the realm of modern theory of culture,and set the tune for critique of mass culture of the Frankfurt School.Adorno's critical culture theory was a response to the crisis of modern industrial society and culture caused by the commercialized,normalized and enforcing mass culture.Adorno advocated anti-art that performed the functions of negation,criticism and Utopia.He maintained that only this kind of art could eliminate despair and save the spirit and the reality.The author points out that while Adorno's critical theory of mass culture reveals the conflicts and crises of modern capitalism,it has obvious limitaitons and defects,too.