ABSTRACT In this essay I draw attention to conceptual similarities in Walter Benjamin’s and Theodor W. Adorno’s reflection about language, with special attention to Benjamin’s 1916 essay about language as such, including its theological impulses. In Adorno’s case, I concentrate on language theory as it comes forth in relation to his philosophy of music and the supposed language-character of music. I argue that this particular connection between Benjamin and Adorno is largely unexplored in the literature, and I show that their conceptual affinities have far-reaching consequences for a proper understanding of Adorno’s philosophy as a whole. Music is of fundamental importance for Adorno’s critical theory, and this fact points to an intricate entwinement between materialism and theology, stemming from Benjamin’s theory of language. Thinking of music as secularized prayer means to emphasize that music relates to reality in a way that resembles the logic of Benjamin’s understanding of a pre-lapsarian language of divine names.

中文翻译：

---

作为世俗化祈祷的音乐：论阿多诺对音乐及其语言特征的本雅明式理解

摘要 在这篇文章中，我提请注意 Walter Benjamin 和 Theodor W. Adorno 对语言的反思中概念上的相似性，特别关注 Benjamin 1916 年关于语言本身的文章，包括其神学冲动。在阿多诺的案例中，我专注于语言理论，因为它与他的音乐哲学和假定的音乐语言特征有关。我认为本雅明和阿多诺之间的这种特殊联系在文献中基本上没有被探索过，并且我表明他们在概念上的相似性对于正确理解整个阿多诺的哲学具有深远的影响。音乐对于阿多诺的批判理论至关重要，这一事实表明唯物主义和神学之间存在错综复杂的交织，源于本雅明的语言理论。