Effetto Baudelaire: Theodor Adorno a cent’anni dalla morte del poeta delle Fleurs du mal

With reference to unpublished materials (which could be consulted in the Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno Archive and obtained from special archives in Chicago), the present contribution intends to explore and reconstruct the possible intellectual effects triggered in Adorno by a stay in Paris that followed the invitation he received in the spring of 1967 to participate in the international conference Rencontre internationale. La Découverte du présent, Hommage à Baudelaire. This event was organised and held in Paris in January 1968 to commemorate the first centenary of the death of the Fleurs du mal poet. Although Adorno’s many other commitments at the time meant that he was neither able to officially speak at the event nor to stay for its entire duration (it actually lasted several days), the correspondence shows that he did in fact take part (in the capacity of what today might be called a “discussant”).