The relevance of the Bewußtseins- Industrie to the essayistic oeuvre of Hans Magnus Enzensberger

Abstract

With an interest in issues relating to the role of literature in the socio-political context, Hans Magnus Enzensberger uses the Bewußtseins-Industrie in many of his texts as an analytical construct to describe the way in which society functions. This becomes evident particularly in essays in which he deals directly with social aspects. In both his poetics and his creative work this problematic issue is often present too. The purpose of this essay is to trace succinctly the roots of Enzensberger’s Bewußtseins-Industrie to some aspects of the Kulturindustrie of Theodor W Adorno, and then to describe the key position which this notion occupies in his essayistic oeuvre.