Critical Theory and Phenomenology

This book outlines the most important points of intersection between early phenomenology and critical theory. It develops extensive analyses' of specific instruments of the phenomenological method such as eidetic intuition and the procedures of genetic phenomenology. These procedures were both criticized and reappropriated by some of the most notable early critical theorists such as Adorno, Benjamin, Kracauer and Marcuse. As such, the book offers the first extensive account of the important phenomenological heritage of critical theory. This book also attests to the versatility of the phenomenological method, which can be shown to have influenced a wide array of approaches within the critical tradition. The chapters focus on these early critical theorists and also discuss the applications of their methods within the treatment of numerous media-theory issues. In so doing, the book shows how fertile a critically reappropriated phenomenology may prove for tackling contemporary media phenomena such as television, film and advertising. This volume appeals to students and researchers working in the crosshairs of phenomenology, critical theory, and media studies.

Auteur

Christian Ferencz-Flatz (n. 1981) is a researcher at the Alexandru Dragomir Institute for Philosophy and an associated professor at the National University of Theatre and Film. He is a former fellow of the Alexander Humboldt Foundation. His research interests concern classical german phenomenology, critical theory, film and image theories. His most recent publications include the monographs Sehen Als-ob. Ästhetik und Pragmatik in Husserls Bildlehre (Bautz, 2016) and Filmul ca situäie sociala (Tact, 2018), as well as the 2016 and 2018 issues of Studia Phaenomenologica: Film and Phenomenology (with J. Hanich) and The Promise of Genetic Phenomenology (with A. Staiti).