Prisms of Realism. On the Question of Emancipation and Authority in Art (Lukács, Brecht, Adorno, Kluge)

In a Marxian sense, artistic realism is considered as a fundamental political, philosophical and artistic attitude. Its aim is to reveal the underlying power structures of the sociopolitical reality, and thereby to contribute, through the raise of awareness, to the very process of emancipation from domination. But from where does an artist draw the authority to determine an adequate position towards reality? How should an artwork be addressed to its spectators? How should form and content relate to each other and to the reality at stake, and in which way is a critical perception able to trigger mobilization? Those questions have been discussed intensely in the so-called expressionism debate, namely by Georg Lukács and Bertolt Brecht. This article deploys their respective arguments, as well as a second fecund theorization: Alexander Kluge’s concept of antagonistc realism, which not only develops Brecht’s position further,
but also takes into account Theodor W. Adorno’s critique of engaged art.