ABSTRACT
The realism rejects mimesis as imitation, because imitation invokes the finite as the infinite, and construes a stereotyped individuality as truth. Realism is the consequence of the stoic hope, and art should bear the banner of history's telos. Catharsis is an aesthetic category by dint of art's anthropocentrism. It is the reaffirmation of history's telos, and in art it is teleologically justified. The cultural definition of tragedy as 'common sense' is very relevant to the investigation of its political implications. As a metanarrative itself, the art-form's language-game preserves its historic character as a signifier that remains autonomous from its signified. Art's autonomous legislation does not prevent it from assessing reality. Modernism's historic legitimacy is not found in a mere reflection of history as a totality, but in autonomously making it. The aesthetic strength of music reveals the strength of the culture industry.
