This paper focuses first on a short essay by Hans-Jürgen Krahl, widely considered the most talented and inventive of Theodor Adorno’s students and from there addresses broader historical questions: Krahl’s implicit self-positioning was somewhere between the beleaguered elitism of the Weimar years, and the beginnings of a democratically oriented LGBT rights movement. Krahl, this paper argues, stands at mid-points along several historical developments (somewhere between Freudo-Marxism of the Frankfurt Institute and the SDS and what we might call the identity politics movements of the 1970s), the aftereffects of which are still with us. At the same time, he presents us with several fascinating roads not taken. 

Respondents will be Sabine von Dirke (German) and Mary Zaborskis (Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies)

Adrian Daub is Professor of Comparative Literature and German Studies at Stanford University. His research focuses on the intersection of literature, music, and philosophy, particularly in the nineteenth century. He is the author of multiple scholarly monographs and also writes on popular culture, technology and politics for national and international publications.

For the pre-circulated reading, please visit https://calendar.pitt.edu/event/queering_the_frankfurt_school

This event is part of Pitt's Year of Creativity.