Das Gedicht als geschichtsphilosophische Sonnenuhr? Zum Standort des poetischen Subjektes in der zeitgenössischen Lyrik bei Adorno

It is shown that Adorno, in his attempt to determine the historical-philosophical place of contemporary poetry in light of the most advanced state of artistic material, fails to live up to his own standards. Although he had greatly expanded his understanding of artistic form in the years following the first publication of his speech on Lyric Poetry and Society, in his later printed version he neither undertook the long-overdue revision of his concepts of form nor did he take note of the poetry of his time. In this light, the purpose and significance of the recently published critical new edition of the substantially identical versions of this speech appear questionable.