V E S T N K 2/1999 - Supplement XIVTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF AESTHETICS XIVÈME CONGRÈS INTERNATIONAL D'ESTHÉTIQUE XIV. INTERNATIONALER KONGRESS FÜR ÄSTHETIK »Aesthetics as Philosophy« «L'Esthétique comme philosophie» »Ästhetik als Philosophie« LJUBLJANA 1998 P R O C E E D I N G S P A R T I I ISSN 0353-4510 FILOZOFSKI VESTNIK / ACTA PHILOSOPHICA Volume / Letnik XX, number / številka 2 / 1999 SUPPLEMENT XIVTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF AESTHETICS XIVÈME CONGRÈS INTERNATIONAL D'ESTHÉTIQUE XIV. INTERNATIONALER KONGRESS FÜR ÄSTHETIK »Aesthetics as Philosophy« «L'Esthétique comme philosophie» »Ästhetik als Philosophie« LJUBLJANA 1998 PROCEEDINGS PART II FILOZOFSKI VESTNIK is included in: Arts & Humanities Cit. Index, Current Contents / Arts & Humanities, Internationale Bibliographie der Zeitschriften, The Philosopher's Index, Répertoire bibliographique de philosophie, Sociological Abstracts. 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INTERNATIONALER KONGRESS FÜR ÄSTHETIK »Aesthetics as Philosophy« «L'Esthétique comme philosophie» »Ästhetik als Philosophie« LJUBLJANA 1998 PROCEEDINGS PART II SELECTED PAPERS LJUBLJANA 1999 XlVth International Congress of Aesthetics Sections (1) »Aesthetics and Philosophy« (2) »Aesthetics and History« (3) »Aesthetic Experience« (4) »Aesthetics, Critical Theory, Post-Structuralism ...« (5) »Feminist Theory and Aesthetics« (6) »Aesthetics, Ethics and Environment« (7) »Applied Aesthetics« (8) »Aesthetics and Philosophy of the Body and the Sensuous« (9) »Art, Culture and Aesthetics in the East, the West, the First, the Second and the Third World« (10) »Aesthetics and Histories and Theories of Art, Literature, Music, Architecture, Design, Film, Photography, Dance ...« Conferences [1] »Artistic Expression of Cultural Identity« [2] »Environmental Aesthetics« [3] «La poietique» [4] »Musik als Sprache?« Edited by Aleš Erjavec, Lev Kreft and Marija Bergamo CONTENTS / SOMMAIRE / INHALT (1.1) An tanas Andrijauskas (Lithuanie), Recherches des principes de 'l'Esthétique non-classique' 9 (1.2) W. Stephen Croddy (U.S.A.), TheEpistemology of Analytic Cubism 15 (1.3) Pietro Kobau (Italien), Welches Interesse haben wir an einer aufklärerischen Ästhetik ? 25 (1.4) Yacouba Konate (Côte d'Ivoire), Art, Philosophie et Modernité: l'Afrique en Effet 37 (1.5) Germina Nagat (Romania), Description and Explanation in Art Exegesis 49 (1.6) Ossi Naukkarinen (Finland), Philosophical Aesthetics and the Aesthetics of Everyday Life 59 (1.7) Katerina Reed-Tsocha (U.K.), Dividing Lines, Impoverished Domains: The Aesthetic and the Artistic 65 (1.8) G.W. Trompf (Australia), Post-Modernism as Decadence. On Aesthetics and the Philosophy of History 75 (1.9) Zhou Laixiang (P.R. China), My Harmonious Aesthetics and Philosophy 85 (2.1) Albert van der Schoot (The Netherlands), Rational Order in Tone Scales and Cone Scales 91 (3.1) Christian Allesch (Austria), Aesthetic Experience - A Topic at the Cross-Roads between Philosophy and Psychology 101 Contents / Sommaire / Inhalt (3.2) Vaidas Matonis (Lithuania), Artistic Experience as a Construct of MultifacetecL Cognitive Sub-Systems Ill (3.3) Raffaele Milani (Italy), The Aesthetic Exploitation of Landscape .... 121 (3.4) Joosik Min (Korea), 'Fengliu' the Aesthetic Way of Life in East Asian Culture 131 (3.5) Christiane Page (France), Une expérience esthétique : Le travail du grotesque dans la formation de l'acteur 141 (3.6) Simo Sàâtelâ (Finland), Between Intellectualism and 'Somaesthetics' 151 (5.1) Karin Fry (U.S.A.), Preserving the Subject. Kristeva's Aesthetics in Light of Kant 163 (7.1) Katya Mandoki (Mexico), The Indispensable Excess of the Aesthetic 173 (8.1) Gabor Csepregi (Canada), The Clever Body and Aesthetics of Movement 181 (9.1 ) Jale Erzen (Turkey), The Plight of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. The Universal Model or Pluralism - What are the Criteria ? 191 (9.2) Giovanna Lelli (Italy), A Typology of Medieval Islamic Poetics. Elements of a Comparative Analysis between Islam and the West 201 (9.3) Grazia Marchianô (Italy), The Enlarging of the Aesthetic Ecumene through Transcultural Studies 205 (9.4) Maja Milcinski (Slovenia), The Aesthetics of Decay 213 (9.5) Evanghélos Moutsopoulos (Grèce), La création musicale comme expérience esthétique 221 (10.1) Keiji Asanuma (Japon), Sense de la matière 229 Contents / Sommaire / Inhalt (10.2) Viktor Bychkov (Russland), Ästhetische Prophezeihungen des russischen Symbolismus 237 (10.3) Jožef Muhovič (Slovenia), Art<->Aesthetics<->Philosophy 247 (10.4) Dabney Townsend (U.S.A.), Aesthetics and the Representation of Discovery 259 (10.5) Richard Wooodfield (U.K.), Photography and the Imagination 271 (10.6) Ernest Zenko (Slovenia), Modern Artist and his Space: Lâszlô Moholy-Nagy 279 [2.1] Sven Arntzen (Norway), Natural Beauty, Ethics and Conceptions of Nature 291 [3.1] Richard Conte (France), Recherche et création 303 [3.2] Rachida Triki (Tunisie), Esthétique et philosophie des limites : La scène du nommable 317 [4.1] Dalibor Davidovič (Kroatien), Zum Begriff System'in der Musikwissenschaft. Beobachtungen einiger pragmatisch ausgerichteten Entwürfe 325 [4.2] Krzysztof Guczalski (Polen), Musik is keine Sprache - Argumente Susanne Langers revidiert (und mit Hilfe der Ideen Nelson Goodmans untermauert) 335 [4.3] Werner Jauk (Osterreich), Interaktion - Strukturierung durch kommunizierendes Verhalten 349 [4.4] Borut Loparnik (Slowenien), Die Kommunikation im Schatten der Untersichtlichkeit. Eine Frage des Expressionismus 361 Antanas Andrijauskas Recherches des principes de l'«Esthétique non-classique» Les premiers symptômes de crise de l'esthétique classique occidentale se font sentir dans la conception irrationaliste de Schopenhauer, dans la- quelle on constate une limitation du rationalisme des Lumières, ou l 'on aperçoit les tendances de la problématique philosophique de l'esthétisme et de l'ontologisme, où l'on soulève le problème du dialogue entre les tra- ditions esthétiques de l'Est et de l 'Ouest. En élargissant les traditions irrationalistes, Kierkegaard et Nietzsche, précurseurs de F «esthétique non- classique», s 'engagent dans la voie de la déconstruction des principes basi- ques de l'esthétique classique. Independement l 'un de l'autre, ils cessent de respecter la ligne principale du développement de l'esthétique classique pour orienter la conscience esthétique vers la formulation d 'une «esthéti- que non-classique» dans laquelle la vie humaine, elle-même, est considérée comme art. Ces penseurs dénoncent la limitation de l'appareil des catégo- ries de l'esthétique classique et celle des principes de raisonnement, ils ap- portent une nouvelle expérience unique de ¡'«existence» (Kierkegaard) et de la «vie» (Nietzsche). En premier lieu y surgissent l'«ontologie subjective» et l'idée de la disharmonie du monde qui nie l'optimisme des Lumières et annule les liens avec le concept classique de l 'harmonie et de la beauté. Les idées esthétiques de Nietzsche et celles de Kierkegaard, transfor- mées au XX s., ouvrent aujourd'hui une nouvelle «esthétique non-classique», qui se manifeste dans la culture post-europocentriste de métacivilisation; elle sort du cadre imposé par l'esthétique classique occidentale, s'évade de ses stéréotypes de raisonnement et tient à élargir son objet de recherches en y incluant les phénomènes esthétiques chassés vers la pér iphér ie et la marginalisation. De là vient son exceptionnelle attention aux formes non- classiques de raisonnement, de création, d'art d'expérience esthétique, qui se sont cristallisées dans les civilisations traditionnelles orientales, dans les cultures exotiques et marginales. L'«esthétique non-classique» cherche les points de contact entre les interprétations des problèmes esthétiques basiques, surgis dans les cultures et les civilisations différentes, elle renonce au totalitarisme, au monopole d 'une seule vérité, proclame «la transparence» de la raison, le pluralisme de la vision du monde, rejette le rationalisme superflu, la réflexion binaire, Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XTV ICA Supplément), pp. 9-14 9 Antanas Andrijauskas soulève l 'idée de coexistance des systèmes différents d'évaluation esthétique et celle du polylogue, se penche sur un style poétique et non-systématique de raisonnement, sur les catégories contextuelles et celles de situation. Elle se caractérisé par l'aspiration à franchir les limites qui séparent l 'expérience esthétique, la philosophie, l'art, la poétique du quotidien en les assemblant tous pour former un phénomène esthétique cohérent. La transition de l 'humanité vers une nouvelle étape de métacivilisation marque la conscience esthétique pos tmodeme dans laquelle interfèrent les idées sur l 'esthétique et la philosophie de l 'art des civilisations occidentale, indienne, chinoise, japonaise, arabe, ainsi que latino-americaine, africaine et conduit à une réévaluation des ambitions universelles de l 'esthétique occidentale classique, ce qui accentue la méditation sur la relation entre les grandes traditions de l 'esthétique, leur spécificité et leurs points communs. Pendant de longues années, dans l 'esthétique et la philosophie de l 'art occidentales classiques on se fondait sur quelques idées majeures héritées à la fois des traditions esthétiques antiques et occidentales. Cet héritage formait le fondement pour des spéculations abstraites sur l 'expérience es- thétique et sur des valeurs artistiques universelles considérant comme mar- ginales et non représentatives des catégories esthétiques cristallisées dans d 'autres civilisations qui s'écartaient des schémas de la pensée occidentale stéréotypée et rationelle. La comparaison des idées nées dans la civilisations indienne, chinoise, japonaise, arabe classique, byzantine et occidentale fait ressortir de certai- nes tendences dominantes. La tradition occidentale en matière d'esthéti- que et de philosophie de l'art, fondée sur l 'antithèse entre subjectivité et objectivité, met l 'accent sur les aspects objectifs et rationnels de la percep- tion esthétique du monde et de l'essence de l'art. D'où ressort l ' intérêt pour le monde réel, les faits empiriques et l'analyse, alors que plusieurs textes et penseurs de l ' Inde (Natyaœastra, Gitalamkara, ¿Eitralaksana, Bhamacha, Vamana, Œankara, Anandavardhana, Abhinavagupta), de la Chine (Zhong Bing, Wang Wei, Su Shih, Mi Fu, Kuo Hsi, Shi Tao) et du J a p o n (Ki-no- Tsurayuki, Murosaki Shikibu, Fujiwara Teika, Zeami, Bashô, Motoor i Norinaga) mettaient traditionnellement un accent plus fort sur les médita- tions esthétiques sur l 'unité harmonique de l 'homme et de la nature et sur une expérience esthétique très subtile. La tradition esthétique arabe des concepts rationnels (Al Farabi, Ibn Sina) et des concepts intuitifs (Al Gha- zali, Ibn Arabi) était plus proche de la tradition esthétique occidentale que de la tradition esthétique de l 'Extrême-Orient. Dans notre ère postmoderne caractérisée par la mondialisation de la culture humaine et la révolution de l ' information cette différence entre les 10 Recherches des principes de l'«Esthétique non-classique» traditions en matière d'esthétique et de philosophie de l 'art encourage la concurence entre elles et nous amène à rechercher des points de contact. La recherche des contours d 'une nouvelle théorie universelle «oecuméni- que» s'impose. Ainsi donc, au point de vue comparative, les traditions de l 'esthétique et de la philosophie de l'art nées dans les civilisations différen- tes peuvent être considérées comme les voies différentes conduisant à la réalisation du même objectif la création d 'une esthétique et d ' u n e philoso- phie de l'art post-eurocentriste qualitativement nouvelle et «non-classique». L 'un des plus impor tants points de la présente thèse est celui de l '«esthétique non-classique» de l 'époque du postmodernisme, dans le con- texte plus large de la perspective historique et dans celui de l'analyse de ses traits typologiques: la réflexion, la conception de l'univers, les principes de création, l 'echelle des procédés de l 'expression artistique; le pôle intellec- tuel, humaniste, le postmodernisme, sur le plan qualitatif, se présente à nos yeux comme un nouveau phénomène de la culture universelle planétaire, qui diffère pr incipalement des phénomènes précédents. Ses pr incipaux traits typologiques sont les suivants: le renoncement aux points de vue uni- latéraux des préceptes de l'art, celui à l 'esthétique classique de l 'Ouest; le pluralisme des principes, le style multiforme, le fait de soulever une multi- tude de nouveaux principes de création et de réflexion, emprun tés aux autres civilisations; alors qu 'une telle vision multiforme du monde étaitjus- qu'alors impossible. A l 'époque du postmodernisme actuel nous sommes témoins d ' une des plus importantes fissures dans l'histoire de l 'esthétique et de l 'art de la civi- lisation occidentale, fissure qui change radicalement de nombreux princi- pes de la création de l 'art européen formés au cours des siècles. Même le regard, le plus superficiel, je té sur les processus actuels nous fait voir, selon les mots de O. Spengler, les symptômes de la transition de la culture vivante en civilisation technocratique endurcie. Une question naturelle se pose: l 'esthétique et l'art occidental contem- porain entrés dans une nouvelle ère d ' informatique et des moyens de com- munication de masse subissent - ils vraiment la crise globale? Nous devons répondre positivement à cette question compliquée si nous restons attachés aux principes classiques occidentaux de l 'art et de l 'esthétique. Bien qu'il soit difficile de nier une chose si paradoxale - celle des phénomènes qui accompagnent toujours des crises et qui ont pour origine la crise elle-même, qui a son tour, fait sentir et voir les maux de l 'être humain, de l 'art et de la culture. Néanmoins en analysant le phénomène du postmodernisme nous devrions parler non de la crise de l'art, de l 'esthétique et de la culture en général, mais - de la crise des mythes de la culture occidentale classique, 11 Antanas Andrijauskas qui, très concrète semblait éternelle et inébranlable ainsi que de l 'appari- tion de nouvelles formes «ouvertes» d'art , de réflexion, et de conception «esthétique non-classique», qui sont for tement influencées par les cultures de l'Est, exotiques et marginales. Il devient de plus en plus evident qu 'au fur et à mesure de se former les principes esthétiques du postmodernisme, atteignent qualitativement un nouveau stade du phénomène postmoderniste, c'est un post-eurocentrisme. En effet, le postmodernisme c'est tout ce qui succède chronologiquement au modernisme, néanmoins ce n'est pas une simple réaction au système de valeurs créé par des maîtres du modernisme et au système des principes de la vision du monde artistique, mais c'est une vraie reconstruction de l 'épo- que, un vrai changement radical des orientations spirituelles des paradig- mes de la culture, dont nous n'avons pas encore tout à fait compris la signi- fication. Donc, les tournants radicaux qui se sont cristalisés dans la cul ture postmoderniste contemporaine ont une signification historiosophique glo- bale et non locale. Nous sommes témoins de l 'autodestruction des idéaux de l'art, de l 'esthétique et de la philosophie classique trop rationalisée, qui s'était cristallisée dans la culture occidentale de l 'époque moderne . C'est pourquoi les esthéticiens postmodernistes rejettent le langage philosophi- que traditionel et rationnel ainsi que tous les systèmes fermés, ils s'orien- tent vers le style oriental de la réflexion «poétique», vers les catégories es- thétiques individuelles, attentives aux situations de l 'expérience unique. Les idéologues du postmodernisme, ayant recours aux idées esthétiques du taôisme, ch'an, zen, voudraient créer la métaphysique qui n 'en est pas une métaphysique universelle, moderne ou autrement dit une «métathéorie», qui jetterait les bases méthodologiques essentielles pour une nouvelle pratique de l'«esthétique non-classique» et de l'art de l 'époque postmoderniste. Elle est ainsi - ironie bizarre du destin - malgré le désir passionné des alliés du postmodernisme de nier le système d ' idéaux et de valeurs esthéti- ques posé par les maîtres du modernisme classique: un nouveau mouvement a repris le caractère dualiste du modernisme. Deux pôles essentiels de l 'orientation divergeante se dessinent tant dans le postmodernisme que dans le modernisme, dans le cadre desquels se fait voir ce mouvement à plusieurs faces. O n p o u r r a i t a p p e l l e r le p r e m i e r pô le p o p u l a i r e ou fo rma l i s t e esotérique, c'est celui où l 'on admire la nouveauté d 'une forme et d ' u n e idée, la conception en elle-même. Le culte hypertrophiée du j eu (au sens général du patr imoine culturel et des «textes») lié aux formalistes et aux besoins pragmatiques de la société de consomation postindustrielle et la 12 Recherches des principes de l'«Esthétique non-classique» conscience des masses. Ce tournant, ayant des tendances formalistes et su- perficielles a repris à la popculture la désacralisation de l'art, son orienta- tion vers l 'art de grandes masses, vers les phénomènes choquants du kitch, du contexte quotidien qui se trouve souvent bien loin des limites de l'éthi- que et de l 'esthétique classiques. Il s 'oriente vers la deuxième face noire de l'«ego» de notre sosie: le même tournant a repris de la contreculture - la tendence aux actes destructifs, à la décanonisation des idéaux de l 'esthétique classique, à sa destruction brutale. Les oeuvres des adeptes alliés de cette ten- dance sont bien influencées par l'«esthétique négative», antiesthétique et par les idées de l 'esthétique de déconstruction, ils aspirent à rompre l 'attitude traditionelle de la raison, de l 'humanisme, de la spiritualité, du sexe et à faire voir une nouvelle réalité, privée de préjugés stéréotypes. C'est une recher- che éternelle du nouveau. Le tournant populaire du postmodernisme est étroiment lié aux besons de la culture de masses, de la stratégie du marché de l'art, de la publicité, de l'activité commerciale, des magasines à la mode, des galeries d 'a r t mo- derne. On peut y voir beaucoup de phénomènes éphémères, spectaculai- res. En premier lieu on fixe attention par un emballage brillant, par une forme extérieure au style criant. Le r a p p o r t é t roi t avec les valeurs commercia les quas ies thé t iques impossées par les mass média, explique l 'apparition des instincts primitifs et de la suggestivité toxicomane, du sentimentalisme, de la pauvreté spirituelle, du pragmatisme dans ce tournant populaire du postmodernisme. Assez souvent on s'y oriente vers les stéréotypes de la réflexion et de la conscience philistine et cela devient un fantôme idéologique menaçant, on cache scru- puleusement l 'absence d'idéaux humanistes, de philosophie vivace, d'esthé- tique, d'art , de vie elle-même, de transcendance. L'un de ses traits principaux - c'est la disparition de la pléni tude de l 'être, celle du contact d 'un créateur avec le monde réel. C'est une vraie simulation de la réalité, comblée de suggestivité, c'est un univers d 'écrans de télé, de virtualité, de mystifications, de fictions, de langage artificiel inauthentique, qui change le rapport de l 'homme avec le monde réel. Dans cette aile du postmodernisme qui ignore la réalité, prédominent les tendan- ces féministes et érotiques. Ces dernières cachent une interprétat ion très forte de la mise en relief de la sexualité féminine, de la transsexualité, des problèmes des minorités sexuelles. Le deuxième pôle - intellectuel, humaniste. Ses adeptes, grâce à leurs valeurs esthétiques et artistiques, ayant renoncé au tragique de la vision du monde actuel à leurs prédécesseurs modernistes, aspirent à rendre la tradi- 13 Antanas Andrijauskas tion locale, nationale et ethnique à l 'homme qui réfléchit et qui est térrorisé par la culture de masse et par sa technocratisation agressive. C'est seulment en nous rendant compte de cette «dualité» de princi- pes dans l 'art et dans l 'esthétique postmoderniste, de son orientation vers les idéaux divergeants, que nous pouvons comprendre et expliquer la mul- titude de paradoxes de l '«esthétique non-classique» contemporaine. 14 W. Stephen Croddy The Epistemology of Analytic Cubism I. Introduction Analytic Cubism was central to the development of twentieth century art. It consists of the paintings Picasso and Braque created between 1908 and 1912. A principal influence of these works was the evolution in their style. Braque's »Viaduct at L'Estaque« of early 1908 commences the development. Picasso's »Majolie« of early 1912 exemplifies its most advanced stage. Contrasts between these two paintings illustrate five attributes toward which Picasso's and Braque's imagery evolved. They are: (1) A minimum degree of realism1 (2) Shallow depth (3) Fragmented and flattened forms (4) Extensive passage (5) A reduced palette My purpose is to explain why the development of Analytic Cubism culminated in these particular features. This account will increase our un- derstanding of what these influential paintings achieved. I will show that three components of Structural Linguistics can con- tribute to this explanation and thereby to our understanding. Two are the concepts of »acceptability« and of an »environment« for a sign. Structural Linguistics investigates the environments for the signs of natural language. The third component is the certain manner in which this study develops. Several critics have proposed that Analytic Cubism is an investigation of the signs for representation.2 The above constituents of Structural Lin- 1 By »realism« I am speaking of the illusionistic depiction of the (supposed) visual appearance of one or more objects. 2 Leo Steinberg interprets the paintings to be a »reflective analysis of «//known formal devices. The whole inventory of space and body-building devices is up for trial.« [Steinberg(78), p. 126, his emphasis.] Rosalind Krauss takes Picasso and Braque to be investigating the »structure of the sign«. [Krauss, p. 273.] Edward Fry interprets the works to be an analysis of the »grammar of representation«. [Fry, p. 96.] Christine Poggi describes Picasso's approach as »self-consciously structural«. [Poggi, p. 27.] William Rubin finds him to be »exploring sequentially the more remote implications of one evolving language«. [Rubin (89), p. 26.] In contrast to Rubin I am maintaining that it is the exploration of the language that evolves, not the language itself. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 15-23 15 W. Stephen Croddy guistics provide a more precise description of the type of analysis these com- mentators suggest. I will show that specifically it is the environments of the signs that are being investigated. I will argue that the investigation being of this particu- lar type accounts for the five features which characterize the culmination of Analytic Cubism's development. Furthermore, I will use Structural Linguistics' concept of »acceptabil- ity« to establish that the progression of Analytic Cubism's investigation of the environments for the signs of representation is parallel to the progres- sion of Structural Linguistics' investigation of the environments for the signs of natural language. This symmetry is part of the explanation of the five features. My account of Analytic Cubism's evolution is philosophically relevant not only for aesthetics but also for epistemology. The reason is that we employ signs of representation in our acquisition of knowledge through visual perception. Philosophy's analysis of this process requires a description of the signs' struc- ture. Analytic Cubism's investigation of the signs' environments and thereby of their structure is a significant contribution to this description. II. Structural Linguistics' Procedure Structural Linguistics employs a procedure to arrive at an analysis of the structure of a natural language's signs. The procedure proceeds f rom the fact that a sign occurs as a member of an arrangement of elements. The environments for a sign are those arrangements containing it which the language's fluent speakers consider to be acceptable.3 The structure of a sign is a description of the types of environments for the sign. Two dimensions of die procedure reveal the manner in which the analysis of a sign's environments develops. The first is that the procedure is designed so that it is applicable to unknown languages. Consequently it begins its in- vestigation with a certain type of environment. It is one which occurs frequently and thereby is easier to discern.4 Thus it has a higher degree of acceptability.5 3 Chomsky (57), p. 49. Harris, p. 31. 4 Nida(62), p. 177, #25. 5 Chomsky notes »Obviously, acceptability will be a matter of degree, along various dimensions.« He adds »The more acceptable sentences are those that are more likely to be produced, more easily understood, less clumsy, and in some sense more natural.« [Chomsky (65) pp. 10 and 11] See Quine's »Progress on Two Fronts« and works referred to for a discussion of the investigation of unfamiliar languages from a philosophical point of view. 16 The Epistemology of Analytic Cubism The procedure ' s second dimension is that each sign can occur in an indefinitely large number of types of environments. The set of a sign's pos- sible environments includes not only ones with a higher degree of accept- ability, but also those with the lowest degree. In order for Structural Lin- guistics' analysis to be adequate, it must provide for all of these types.0 Thus to insure the accuracy of the investigation, it is necessary that the proce- dure be applied to a broad spectrum of kinds of environments.7 This re- quires that it study those approximating the lowest degree of acceptabil- ity. The progression of the investigation, therefore, takes a certain direc- tion. As we have noted, it begins with more acceptable environments. Then in order to assure the accuracy of the structural analysis, it includes a wide diversity of types. This requires that it develop toward those environments which approach the limits of acceptability.8 Consequently, most environ- ments considered during the advanced stage of the investigation approxi- mate the lowest degree of acceptability. One of the principal questions, then, at this level of the analysis is what are the parameters of acceptabil- ity. In summary, Structural Linguistics' investigation of environments is a certain type: It evolves f rom the more to the least acceptable. I will ar- gue that Analytic Cubism's evolution is analogous. Two similarities are notable. One is that Analytic Cubism's investiga- tion also includes environments which have a minimum degree of accept- ability. The second is that it is this type of environment which occurs dur- ing the investigation's most advanced stage, high Analytic Cubism.11 III. Realism One reason the progressions of the two investigations are analogous is that, like Structural Linguistics, Picasso and Braque employed a crite- 6 Chomsky (65), p. 4 7 Ibid. Nida (61), p. 145. 8 Harris briefly describes how this might be accomplished, which would be during the latter stages of the investigation. See Harris, p. 1. 9 A principal difference between the two investigations is that Structural Linguistics' includes a larger variety of highly acceptable environments. In contrast Analytic Cubism's focus, as I will discuss, is on environments with a minimum degree of acceptability. 17 W. Stephen Croddy r ion of acceptability.10 It was that a painting must to some extent be realis- tic.11 A painting comprises an arrangement of signs. Thus it can be viewed as an environment. Employing this concept from Structural Linguistics, then, we can interpret Picasso's and Braque 's requirement to have been that in order for a painting to be acceptable and thus constitute an environment, it is necessary that to some degree it be realistic. TV. Minimal Realism This is my thesis: The paintings of Analytic Cubism constitute an investiga- tion of the environments of the signs for representation. We have seen that an investigation of environments progresses f rom the more acceptable to the least acceptable. Picasso and Braque equated accept- ability with realism. Therefore, through the use of concepts from Structural Linguistics my thesis predicts that Analytic Cubism's deve lopment will progress f rom the more realistic to the least realistic.12 The paintings f rom 1908 to 1912 demonstrate that this prediction is correct.13 Thus my thesis accounts for the first feature which culminated Analytic Cubism's evolution: A minimum degree of realism. I would like now to discuss the manner in which Picasso and Braque decreased depth in order to diminish realism. This compression of space 10 In Semiotics of Visual Language, Fernande Saint-Martin provides an excellent discussion of the importance of this criterion for establishing the structure of the signs for representation. 11 As Yve-Alain Bois points out, they never go as far as »total pictorial abstraction«. [Bois (92), p. 174] Similarly, Rubin maintains that »Representation is more than a commitment for Picasso, it is an obsession.« [Rubin(89), p. 24] Kahnweiler states »Les peintres cubistes étaient profondement conscients de la mission de l'art plastique qui est de créer - en fait, de recréer, cons tament - le monde ex te ' r i eur des hommes.«[Kahnweiler, p. 4] 12 I take Bois to have this point in mind when he maintains that Braque and Picasso are »reflecting on the minimal conditions for the readability of pictorial signs«. [Bois(90), p. 82] 13 For examples of paintings which exemplify this type of evolution consider Braque, »Viaduct at L'Estaque«, early 1908; Picasso, »Cottage and Trees«, 1908; Picasso, »Reservoir at Horta«, summer 1909; Braque, »Violin and Pitcher«, early 1910; Picasso, »Portrait of Ambroise Vollard«, 1910; Picasso, »Ma Jolie«, 1911/12; and Braque, »Le Portugais«, autumn 1911-early 1912. All are reproduced in Picasso and, Braque: Pioneering Cubism. See Hempel, pp. 365-376, for a discussion of the relationship between prediction and explanation. 18 The Epistemology of Analytic Cubism fragmented and flattened the forms. As a result, compositional unity became central for maintaining some degree of realism. The principal means by which this was achieved was through the use of both types of passage in con- junct ion with a reduced palette. V. Decreasing Depth: Flatness and Fragmentation The perception of a three-dimensional space is the primary illusionistic component of a realistic image. Thus the reduction of depth was the princi- pal method by which Picasso and Braque diminished realism. It occurred in two respects. One was a decrease in those portions of a figure which occupy depth. The other was a contraction of the space between the ground and the picture plane. Thus neither of these types of spatial re- duction occurred laterally, i.e. either vertically or horizontally across the can- vas. In fact, with the decrease in depth there was a corresponding increase in the significance of lateral space. We will see that this occurred with Picasso's and Braque's use of one of the types of passage. In order to appreciate the consequences of their reducing depth, let's consider their approach to realism at the beginning of Analytic Cubism. Braque's »Viaduct at L'Estaque« from early 1908 is an illustrative ex- ample. Here surfaces are oblique to one another and to the viewer. Figures with a sense of amplitude are the result. This approach to the depiction of objects occurs within an inwardly extended space. The consequence is a moderate amount of illusionism. The investigation then moves toward a minimal degree of realism. The progression occurs by bringing the ground forward. This compresses the space between it and the picture plane. Nevertheless, the number of aspects is main- tained. Thus the contraction in depth causes many of the forms to f ragment and flattened to a position approximately parallel with the canvas' surface. During the reduction, most curved shapes became linear. This accounts for the considerable angularity in high Analytic Cubism, the culminating stage. Picasso's »Ma Jolie« from this period exemplifies the resulting type of imag- ery with its extensive planarity. VI. Composition Unity I have been considering Picasso's and Braque's manner of significantly reducing depth with its resulting flatness and fragmentation. This interpre- 19 W. Stephen Croddy tation accounts for these salient features of the type of minimum degree of realism found in works during the advanced stage of the investigation, e.g. Braque's »Le Portugais«, Picasso's »Man with a Violin«, and »Majolie«. During the progression towards this culminating phase, fragmentation threatened to compromise composition unity and thus realism. Therefore methods for preserving structural coherence became of prime importance. The following analysis of some of Picasso's and Braque's techniques reveals fur ther aspects of the investigation's evolution. Their methods employed versions of the signs for representation. As discussed in the preceding section, in the shallow space of high Analytic Cubism these signs typically occurred as arrangements of angular segments of shading. Two of Picasso's and Braque's techniques for maintaining composi- tional unity involving these signs employed both types of passage. O n e type integrates the over-all image internally. The other unifies it laterally.14 Fur- thermore, achieving both of these kinds of integration motivated the par- ticular hues Picasso and Braque selected and the manner in which they employed them. Thus the use of passage is a reason for the reduction in palette. One of Picasso and Braque's techniques is applied to interior space. It employs a limited range of moderate hues in representing the principal figure (s). This consistent subdued tonality is presented against a ground of a similar value. Picasso and Braque then employ these diminished shades to integrate their imagery inwardly. The result is one of the types of passage. As »Le Portugais« illustrates, their method of achieving this kind is to allow intermittently the shade of the ground to show through the figure's image. Similarly, periodically the hue of one plane in the shallow depth occurs on another. Their employing moderate tones in conjunction with this technique enables them to create a subtle modulation that contributes to two types of partial unification: 1) of forms on different planes, and 2) of forms with the ground. Picasso's and Braque's second type of passage employs modelling. It i nco rpora t e s the i r r e d u c e d pa le t te as well. Its p u r p o s e is to con jo in continguous forms. They accomplish this lateral linkage by subtly gradating the shade in- side the forms. This decreases their delineation. In addition, their contours are drawn as incomplete allowing them to open onto one another. Picasso's »Portrait of Ambroise Vollard« demonstrates how the resulting elision en- 14 For an insightful analysis of passage and its significance, see the discussions in Steinberg(79)and Rubin (79). 20 The Epistemology of Analytic Cubism ables the close-value gradation to progress f rom one form to the next. This creates a continuous flow of light and space that links the forms together.15 Note that this kind of passage is neither a horizontal nor a vertical com- pression of the forms. Hence it does not reduce lateral space. On the other hand, the passage that integrates forms and the ground inwardly creates a more shallow depth. This consequence of interior integration brings out a paradox of high Analytic Cubism. It is that this type of passage simultaneously both increases and decreases the degree of realism. Its contribution to compositional unity increases realism. Whereas its reduction of depth decreases it. This paradox is a source of the tension found in the paintings.10' Reconsider the two kinds of passage, which achieve both types of inte- gration: lateral linkage and modulat ion between planes. The preceding discussion demonstrates that they require a minimum variation in subdued shades. Thus the principal formal procedures Picasso and Braque employed to achieve structural unity are one part of the explanation of their use of a reduced palette. The other is that the employment throughout the canvas of a restricted spectrum of neutral hues contributed fur ther to this coher- 17 ency.1' VII. Conclusion I have given an analysis of the methods by which Picasso and Braque employed both types of passage in conjunction with diminished hues. Their purpose, I proposed, was to maintain structural unity and thereby preserve a degree of realism. I argued for an account of why Analytic Cubism's evo- lution resulted in extensive passage and a reduced palette as well as a con- siderable reduct ion in depth with the resulting f lat tened and f rac tured forms. Employing concepts f rom Structural Linguistics, the explanation of these particular features is that the paintings constitute an investigation of the environments of the signs for representation. The features are the con- 15 »The handling of space, of light, and the linkage of planes are...central to a definition of Cubism.« Rubin (77), p. 180. The effectiveness of Picasso's and Braque's techniques in achieving the second type of passage is brought out be contrasting them with the process by which contours are formed in visual perception. Cf. Osgood, chapter 6. lr' »the dramatic tension of...high Analytic Cubism«. Rubin(89), p. 24. 17 Additional contributions include the rhythmic distribution of light and dark across the canvas and the use of only one subject which is presented iconically, i.e. it is frontal, vertically centralized, and anchored to the base of the canvas. Simplified themes contributed to the unity of the content. 21 W. Stephen Croddy sequence of this investigation's evolution toward a minimum degree of re- alism. Two results of my explanation are philosophically relevant. One is that it increases our aesthetic understanding of what the paintings accomplish. The other is that it shows that Picasso's and Braque's investigation of the e n v i r o n m e n t s of the signs for r e p r e s e n t a t i o n can c o n t r i b u t e to t he espistemological analysis of the process by which we acquire knowledge through visual perception. Bibliography Bois, Yve-Alain(90). »Kahnweiler's Lesson«, Painting as Model (MIT Press, 1990). Bois, Yve-Alain(92). »The Semiology of Cubism« in Rubin (92). Chomsky, Noam (57). Syntactic Structures (Mouton, 1957). Chomsky, Noam(65). Aspects of the Theory of Syntax (MIT Press, 1965). Fry, Edward F. »Convergence of Traditions: The Cubism of Picasso and Braque« in Rubin (92). Harris, ZelligS. Structural Linguistics (University of Chicago Press, 1951). Hempel , Carl. Aspects of Scientific Explanation (The Free Press, 1965). Kahnweiler, Daniel Henry. Les Sculptures de Picasso (Paris: Editions des quatre- chemins, 1948). Krauss, Rosalind. »The Motivation of the Sign« in Rubin (92). Nida, Eugene(61). »Field Techniques in Descriptive Linguistics«, Interna- tional Journal of American Linguistics, vol. 13, 1961, pp. 55-64. Nida, Eugene (62). Morphology, 2nd ed. (The University of Michigan Press, 1962). Osgood, Charles E. Method and Theory in Experimental Psychology (Oxford University 1953). Poggi, Christine. In Defiance of Painting (Yale University Press, 1992). Quine, W.V. »Progress on Two Fronts«, Journal of Philosophy, vol. XCIII, no. 4, April, 1996. pp. 159-163. Rubin, William (77). »Cézannisme and the Beginnings of Cubism«, Cezanne: The Late Work (The Museum of Modern Art, 1977). Rubin, William(79). »Pablo and Georges and Leo and Bill«, Art in America, March/Apri l 1979, pp. 128-147. Rubin, William (89). »Introduction«, Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism (Museum of Modern Art, 1989). 22 The Epistemology of Analytic Cubism Rubin, William(92). Picasso and Braque: A Symposium (Museum of Modern Art, 1992). Saint-Martin, Fernande. Semiotics of Visual Language (Indiana University Press, 1990). Steinberg, Leo (78). »Resisting Cézanne«, Art in America, November/Decem- ber 1978, pp. 115-131. Steinberg, Leo (79). »The Polemical Part«, Art in America, March/April 1979, pp. 115-127. 23 Pietro Kobau Welches Interesse haben wir an einer aufklärerischen Ästhetik ? Heutzutage scheint der Begriff »Ästhetik« zu viele Bedeutungen zu haben: heutzutage versieht die Ästhetik Argumentationen, die sich gar nicht mehr auf das fast-unbegrenzte Wort »Kunst« beziehen, sondern die wegen ihrer Bestre- bung zur Vollständigkeit fast-tautologisch zu sein scheinen (man denke nur an die postmodemistischen Ausfuhrungen über die »Ästhetisierung«). Die Ästhetik scheint auf alles hindeuten zu können und an ein Ubermaß an Rechtmäßig- keit zu leiden. Selten wird ein Versuch gemacht, jene historischen Begründun- gen herauszufinden, die die Ästhetik auf so wirkungsvoller Weise - vielleicht sogar zu wirkungsvoll - mitlegitimiert haben. Wenn diese heutige Situation unbefriedigend ist, wäre es vielleicht angebracht, auf jenen Augenblick zurückzugreifen, der die erste Gelegen- heit für diese Disziplin dargestellt hat. Das Moment der Gründung der Äs- thetik in den Absichten der Schulphilosophie besitzt in der Tat nicht nur den Reiz eines Anfangs (der noch offen für Ausführungsweisen ist, die sich von dem tatsächlich befolgten Weg unterscheiden), sondern auch den zweideu- tigen Reiz eines Projekts, das möglicherweise jenseits oder sogar gegen sei- ne ursprünglichen Absichten ausgeführt worden ist. Man will also damit folgendes sagen: angenommen, daß sich die Aufklärung je eine Ästhetik wie die gegenwärtige gewünscht habe (die sich mittlerweile wegen deren tota- lisierenden Bestrebungen in Verlegenheit ist), so hat sie sie aber unter ei- ner bestimmten Bedingung verlangt. Nach den Worten Baumgartens, heißt es also: die Ästhetik bleibt vorwiegend »die Wissenschaft der sinnlichen Er- kenntnis«; sie ist ein methodisches Mittel, eine notwendige Ergänzung der Logik. Zudem wird der oft darunter (nicht unbedingt im künstlerischen Sinn) verstandene Begriff der Schönheit nicht von unseren - weder ir- rationellen, noch ausgleichenden, noch kritischen - Interessen gedacht oder gesteuert. 1. Wohin gehört die Philosophie der Kunst ? Nach langen und mühseligen Vorarbeiten veröffentl icht der Rest Fenner Verlag im Jahre 1845 in London die Encyclopaedia Metropolitana. Die Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 25-35 25 Pietro Kobau Gründe des Projekts dieses Werks sind im passenden Treatise on Method ent- hal ten , das h ier gemeinsam Coleridge u n d e inem bes t immten Doktor Stoddard zugeschrieben wird, während in den darauffolgenden Ausgaben allein Coleridges Name erscheint. In Wirklichkeit täuscht die Ausführung dieses enzyklopädischen Projekts seine ursprünglichen Absichten: die Ur- schrift des Treatise on Method, die Coleridge im Jahre 1817 für einen münd- lichen und schematischen Bericht für den Verleger der Encyclopaedia ent- worfen hatte, unterscheidet sich von der in der Encyclopaedia selbst enthal- tenen Ausgabe, insbesondere dort, wo es um die Regulierung der systema- tischen Struktur des Werks geht. Der Unterschied ist letzten Endes nu r einer, j edoch grundlegend; Coleridge hatte in der Tat eine Dreiteilung vorgesehen, u.z: 1) reine Wis- senschaften (die sich auf die »Relation of Law« stützen und sich mit der kantischen Welt der Ideen befassen, die die Vernunft innerhalb der Gram- matik, der Logik, der Mathematik, der Ethik, der Metaphysik und der Theo- logie erkennen kann), 2) angewandte Wissenschaften (die sich auf die »Re- lation of Theory« stützen, die die Vernunft durch die Beobachtung der Welt der Phänomenen erkennen kann) und 3) schöne Künste (die sich auf die »Relation of Taste« stützen und die als Mittelwelt zwischen den anderen beiden Bereichen dienen) . Die Encyclopaedia ist stattdessen vorwiegend in eine zweiteilige Struktur aus reinen Wissenschaften und angewandten Wis- senschaften gegliedert, u n d die schönen Künste f inden ihren Platz eben un te r den letzteren (als angewandte Wissenschaften gelten also Poesie, Malerei, Musik, Bildhauerei, Architektur; beachtlich ist es, daß die Poesie an der Spitze steht und durch die Psychologie eingeführt wird). Es ist deut- lich zu erkennen, daß der Unterschied nicht äußerlich ist; dies führ t uns direkt zum Problem der Rechtfertigung einer Wissenschaft der Kunst, be- sonders im Rahmen einer allgemeinen Gnoseologie und Methodologie. Im Versuch dieser untreuen Wiedergabe des Projekts von Coleridge eine Erklärung zu geben, würde man vorab versucht sein, sie durch die Wandlung des intellektuellen Klimas zu rechtfert igen. Gesagtes Klima - könnte man leicht sagen - übereinstimmte ursprünglich mit der von Kant abgeleiteten Romantik und wandelte sich später in eine wesentlich positivi- stische Atmosphäre um. Sehr gut zu verstehen ist darum die große Zahl Jener, die sich für diese Erklärung ausgesprochen haben. Abgesehen von unserer Befürchtung bei der Benutzung solcher unhandlichen Begriffe wie »Romantik« und »Positivismus« f inden wir j edoch Gründe genug, um eine andere Interpretation zu versuchen. Der Grund ist ganz einfach chronik- artig: die un t reue Wiedergabe von seiten des Verlegers ist nicht postum gewesen; in anderen Worten, der Verleger hat nicht auf Coleridges Tod und 26 Welches Interesse haben wir an einer aufklärerischen Ästhetik ? auf eine Änderung des kulturellen Klimas gewartet. Coleridge hat tatsäch- lich seine Beziehungen zum Verleger in der Zeitspanne zwischen dem 7 April 1817 (Tag an dem der erste schematische Bericht der Treatisestattgefunden hat) und den Dezember des gleichen Jahres abgebrochen; ferner, während Fenner schon im Januar 1818 privat einige vereinzelte Kopien des »neu aufgearbeiteten« Manuskripts veröffentlicht, bringt Coleridge im gleichen Jahr seine eigene - zwar auch »neu« aber nach dem ursprünglichen Ansatz erarbeitete - Version, unter dem Titel Essays on Method (nach der neuen Veröffentlichung von TheFriend). Diese chronologische Unmittelbarkeit des Streites zwischen Coleridge und Fenner hilft uns zu verstehen, was wirklich geschehen ist. Kurz gefaßt kann man behaupten, daß ab sofort eine rein theoretische Alternative an- geboten wurde: einerseits bietet man die Bestimmung der Wissenschaft der Kunst als Teil der offenen Gesamtheit der angewandten Wissenschaften, wobei j e d e davon eine empirische Rechtfert igung genießt, während die Notwendigkeit eines methodischen (transzendentalen, könnte man auch sagen) Fundaments ausschließlich der geschlossenen u n d au tonomen Ge- samtheit der reinen Wissenschaften vorbehalten bleibt. Andererseits steht eine Wissenschaft da, die zur gleichen Zeit spezifisch und allgemein ist, da sie zwischen den reinen und den angewandten Wissenschaften methodisch vermittelt, indem sie sich insbesondere auf die Psychologie bezieht. Gera- de darum hätte sich diese zweite Wissenschaftsart eher den Namen von »Ästhetik« verdient, als jene , die technisch beschränkte »Wissenschaft der Kunst«. Es stehen nun zwei Lösungen zur Verfügung, um j e n e Lage deutli- cher zu erläutern, die auf keinen klimatischen Wechsel im Universum der Ideen warten mußte, um zustande zu kommen. Überdies hat das Interesse an dieser Lage nicht ausschließlich historiographische Gründe, da heute das Problem einer methodischen Rechtfertigung der Ästhetik eher beiseite ge- legt als befriedigend gelöst zu sein scheint. Der erste Weg nach einer Lösung wäre auf der Geschichte der Ideen zu beharren - j edoch auf eine synchronische Weise - und das Bild um den Streit zwischen Coleridge und Fenner zusammenzustellen. Zwar wäre die- ser Vorgang sehr aufschlußreich, aber auch problematisch, insbesondere was Coleridge betrifft; in der Tat, obwohl er au fondein sehr systematischer Autor ist (und das Treatise beweist es), ist er gleichzeitig auch sehr eklektisch in seinen allgemeinen Hinweisen, und daher gerade an j e n e n Stellen um so unklarer, wo er sich für unser Vorhaben mehr interessant beweist. Besten- falls würden wir uns also wieder vor der Wahl befinden, die vom Verleger mit der Hilfe von Doktor Stoddard gewaltsam aufgelöst wurde. 27 Pietro Kobau Der andere Lösungsweg stützt sich auf einen Anhaltspunkt, der in den ersten Zeilen des Treatise beinhaltet ist. An dieser Stelle erläutert Coleridge, daß der Begriff »Enzyklopädie« mittlerweile dermaßen vertraut geworden ist, daß es nicht m e h r nötig sei, den Sinn von einem »Kompendium des menschlichen Wissens« zu verdeutlichen; gleichzeitig klagt er j edoch über die Tatsache, daß man nie dazugekommen sei, ein solches Kompendium mit einer methodischen Struktur auszustatten, bzw. daß die wenigen Versuche in diesem Sinne mißlungen sind, weil man nicht genügend über die metho- dische Prinzipien des Wissens nachgedacht hat. Es handelt sich dabei offen- bar um eine solcher typischen Lügen, die stillschweigend von Verlegern und Autoren zusammen ausgedacht werden, um die Aufmerksamkeit des Lesers zu gewinnen, indem man seine Unwissenheit zuerst ausnutzt u n d später heilt. Heute würde man sie als »trügerische Werbung« bezeichnen. Es is t ja schließlich das Jah r 1817, in dem Hegel in Heidelberg die erste Auflage seiner Enzyklopädie zu Lichte bringt, d.h. jenes Werk, das gleichzeitig sowohl der letzte Schrei nach der kantischen methodischen Reform im Bereich der Spekulationen über den philosophischen Systematismus als auch eines der letzten Beispiele von Handbüchern darstellt, die für eine veraltete Disziplin gedacht sind, die noch ihrer propädeutischen Funktion wegen in den deut- schen Universitäten gelehrt wird. Auf j edem Fall kann es hin und wieder nützlich sein, solche kleinen harmlosen - oder sogar in bester Absicht gedach- ten - Lügen nicht hinauszuschieben, so wie es sich manchmal lohnt, eine rhetorische Frage ernst zu nehmen. Und das ist es auch, was wir jetzt versu- chen werden, indem wir Coleridges erste (unhaltbare) Behauptung demen- tieren werden. Wir werden zeitlich rückwärtig handeln, indem wir zumindest die wichtigsten Momente in Betracht nehmen werden, die hinter dem Pro- blem der Anordnung einer Ästhetik, bzw. einer Wissenschaft der Kunst, in- nerhalb einer methodisch strukturierten Enzyklopädie stehen. 2. Die Ästhetik als Technik Zahlreiche interessante Dement i von Coleridges Behaup tung sind während der Zeit der Aufklärung zu finden, und sollte das Hauptziel der Encyclopaedia Metropolitana sein, eine Antwort auf den Empirismus und auf den Skeptizismus der französischen Enzyklopädisten zu geben, desto mehr lohnt es sich, sich der deutschen Schulphilosophie zuzuwenden. Aus verschie- denen Gründen sehr interessant finden wir hier in erster Linie die Entschei- dung Wolffs, der die Philosophie der Künste innerhalb seines Wissenssystems stellt. 28 Welches Interesse haben wir an einer aufklärerischen Ästhetik ? In dem Discursus praeliminaris dephilosophia in genere, das der Logica des Jahres 1728 vorgesetzt wurde (das Werk war schon im Jahre 1713 im Vor- wort der Deutsche Logik vorweg bekanntgegeben, da der Autor die Absicht hatte, seine Gedanken auch außerhalb Deutschlands zu verbreiten) - in dem Discursus praeliminaris also, nachdem Wolff das philosophische Wissen als Kenntnis der Gründe des Seins, bzw. des Geschehens beschreibt, und nach- dem er es vom mathematischen und historischen Wissen unterscheidet (ob- gleich er davon Gebrauch machen wird), legitimiert Wolff sogleich die Philosophia juris, medicinae, artium (§ 39). Diese Formulierung werden wir nun näher betrachten. An erster Stelle, vom Standpunkt des herkömmlichen philosophischen Gemeinsinnes gesehen, scheint Wolffs Rede von Philosophie der Kunst zu- gleich geeignet und ungeeignet. Geeignet ist sie zwar aus einer rein termi- nologischen Perspektive, unter der Bedingung aber, daß man Wolfis »Kün- ste« nicht zu eng mit Coleridges - oder der »gegenwärtigen« - »Kunst« ver- gleicht. Wolff redet nicht von Kunst im Sinne einer aus anthropologischen Gründen bestehenden Entität, und schon gar nicht im Sinne eines außer- ordentl ichen auf dem metaphysischen bzw. antimetaphysischen Horizont aufgestellten Wesens; er benutzt auch nicht das Wort »Kunst« als Sammel- name für ein »System der schönen Künste«, oder im Sinne einer »ästheti- schen Kunst«, nach der Benennung von Odo Marquard. Er spricht im all- gemeinen von techne und schließt von diesem Horizont die Frage des Schö- nen als grundlegend aus. Er zielt also auf die philosophische Angliederung der Technica, bzw. der Technologia (§ 71); dementsprechend, damit keine Zweifel übrig bleiben, in der Anmerkung bezüglich auf den erwähnten § 39 bringt er das Beispiel der Kunst des Holzhackers an; er führ t erst im § 40 sein - in anderen Fällen - sehr geliebtes Beispiel der Architektur an, das sonst irrtümlicherweise an eine Vorliebe für die schönen Künste glauben lassen würde. Daraus kann man schon eine erste wichtige Überlegung er- zielen, und zwar, daß es nicht nötig ist, den Anbruch des Positivismus abzu- warten, um der Rechtfertigung einer Philosophie der Kunst zu begegnen, die als Philosophie der (offenen) Gesamtheit der Techniken betrachtet wird, inbegriffen jener, die sich mit der Bearbeitung des Schönen befassen. Es ist kein untreues Verhalten notwendig, wie das eines Verlegers gegenüber der Tiefgründigkeit eines Coleridges; stattdessen genügt schon das Ersuchen nach der Angliederung eines ultratraditionellen Begriffs wie techne oder ars an die Frage der Methode. Indem Wolff die Methodisierung der verschie- denen Arten vom Wissen verfolgt, anstatt sich an ein Paradigma zu wenden, das die Wissenschaft und die Technik - auf Grund der Anwendungs-Bezie- hung eines theoretischen bzw. reinen Wissens - voneinander unterscheidet 29 Pietro Kobau und zusammen verbindet, wendet sich Wolff an ein psychologisches Muster, das der Schöpfung des künstlichen Wissens recht gibt und dem es gleich- gültig ist, ob dieses künstliche Wissen als theoretisch oder als praktisch de- finierbar ist. In der Tat, stellt Wolff das Problem der Methode in der glei- chen Weise wie j enes der Bildung und der Fortbi ldung der natür l ichen Fähigkeiten des Menschen. Im Kapitel »De Dispositionibus naturalibus & Habit ibus intellectus«, das der erste Teil der Psychologia empirica (1732) schließt, setzt er in diesem Sinne eine Unterscheidung zwischen den natür- lichen Fähigkeiten (oder Begabungen) der Seele und deren mit der Übung gewonnenen »Anlagen« fest. Letzere unterscheiden sich wiederum in »Leh- ren« oder »Künste«, j e nachdem sie sich auf theoretischer oder praktischer Weise entwickeln. Wichtig ist aber, daß diese Unterscheidungen keinen ontologischen Unterschied zwischen Natur (die psychologischen Fähigkei- ten) und Kunst (das erworbene und methodisierte Wissen) bedeuten. Wolff setzt vielmehr seine Gedanken fort, indem er unterschiedliche psychologi- sche Anlagen mit unterschiedlichen disziplinbezogenen Bereichen in Ver- b indung bringt. Wir bef inden uns hier vor einem argumentativen Muster, auf dem zahlreiche Versuche einer methodischen Reform des Wissens- systems nach Wolffs Beispiel un te rnommen worden sind; d.h. also daß wir uns vor einer Strategie befinden, die besserungsfähige und disziplinierbare psychologische Fähigkeiten unzertrennlich mit enzyklopädischen Bereichen zusammenknüpft , die geschichtlich schon in (theoretischen oder prakti- schen) Wissenschaften zusammengestellt werden können, aber auch nicht. Ferner wird gerade in diesem Kontext von Wolff eine erste Verbindung zwischen der Überlegung über das Schöne und der Überlegung über die Gesamtheit der besonderen Künste (immer gleich Techniken) durchge- führt , die das Schöne als Gegenstand haben. Stets in der Psychologia empirica gibt es ein weiteres Argument, den »Experten der Künste« gewidmet, wor- über nachzudenken ist. Vor allem behauptet Wolff (§ 531), daß solche Ex- perten besser in der Lage seien, die Vollendung eines Werks zu entblößen und zu »messen«, und darum besser in der Lage seien, auch an den Kunst- griffen dieser Werke Genuß zu finden. Die Fähigkeit sich (natürlich u n d un- mittelbar) über ein schönes Werk freuen zu können wächst also im gleichen Schritt mit der (technisch und methodisch vermittelten) Fähigkeit ein schö- nes Werk herzustellen, da es sich auch hier darum handelt , die Schönheit bewerten zu können. Solche Bewertung steht gleichermaßen an der Basis sowohl vom »Kennen« als auch vom »Handeln«. Man kann also behaupten, daß an der Basis einer »Wolffschen« Ästhetik das Thema des »bewerten können« steht; diese Fähigkeit ist zwiefältig, weil sie gleichzeitig theoretisch u n d praktisch ist. Da sie ein Wissen ist, stellt sie sich einem continuum ent- 30 Welches Interesse haben wir an einer aufklärerischen Ästhetik ? lang, das von der unreflektierten Wahrnehmung der Vollendung des Schö- nes bis hin zur Kenntnis ihrer Gründe (ergo zu einer vollkommen philoso- phischen Kenntnis) hinüberstreckt. Gerade an dieser Stelle fügen sich dann verschiedene Vollziehungen des gleichen Projekts einer philosophischen Enzyklopädie ein, innerhalb deren auch andere Varianten der Gründung einer Ästhetik stattgefunden haben (man kann hier z.B. an Gottsched, oder an Bodmer und Breitinger denken) . Aber erfolgreicher sind gerade j e n e Versuche gewesen, die, indem sie diese doppel te theoretisch-praktische Gliederung jedes Wissens für offenbar (bzw. allzu offenbar) hielten, das Fundament einer Ästhetik vor allem (wenn nicht sogar ausschließlich) in der theoretischen Seite gesucht haben. 3. Die Ästhetik als Logik Baumgartens größtes Verdienst liegt - mehr als in seinen spekulativen Leistungen - in seiner gut gelungenen disziplinaren und zugleich didakti- schen Reform-Initiative. Als er einundzwanzig Jahre alt war, hatte er schon eine neue Wissenschaft entworfen, die nützlich sein sollte, um den traditio- nellen Streit zwischen Philosophie und Poesie neu zu schlichten; später, in der Mitte des 17. Jahrhunder ts hat er diese Wissenschaft als erster an einer Universität gelehrt; schließlich hat er 1750 ein Handbuch veröffentlicht, das zum ersten Mal den Titel Aesthetica trug. Baumgartens Ästhetik ist zwar sicherlich das Ergebnis einer enzyklo- pädischen Ausbesserung, die nach einem schon vorgezeichneten Weg ent- wickelt wurde, doch stützt sich dieses Werk auf einem begriffsmäßigen Vor- schlag, der eine zweite Lesung wert ist. Kurz gefaßt, zielte Baumgarten auf eine Lehre des Schönen ab, die im poetischen und überhaupt künstlerischen Bereich anwendbar sein konnte, doch wünschte er sich vor allem - und diesem ersten Zweck dienend - eine Ästhetik, die ein unverzichtbarer Teil der Erkenntnistheorie sein sollte. Er dachte an eine Wissenschaft, die die Art und Weise durchforschte, durch die unsere Sinne die Dinge zur Kennt- nis nehmen und durch die diese Kenntnis zur Vollendung geführ t werden kann. Später folgten dann - bei anderen mehr oder weniger von ihm ab- hängigen Autoren - die Wissenschaft des Geschmacks, der Gefühle . . . Weit entfernt bleibt also die Philosophie der Kunst im Sinne Wolfis, und das hat zwei Gründe: weil Baumgartens Ästhetik weder der Kunst als Art der Technik noch dem Thema der Schönheit als ein - innerhalb der allgemei- nen Technologie - der Kunst umschreibendes Thema angewendet werden kann. Um diese Stelle besser betrachten zu können, müssen wir einen weite- 31 Pietro Kobau ren Aspekt der Struktur der Wolffschen Enzyklopädie analysieren. In der Tat muß Baumgarten für entscheidend empfunden haben, daß ein in der Über- lieferung als ontologisch betrachtetes Problem (d.h. das Thema der »Vollen- dung« der Dinge, von der die Schönheit eine Art ist) bei Wolff rechtmäßig Platz in einer Psychologie findet. Wolff befaßt sich in diesem Kontext mit der Schönheit, indem er sich vor allem auf unsere Neigung ihr gegenüber kon- zentriert, und das auf eine Weise, die man fast phänomenologisch bezeich- nen könnte. Daraus geht folglich hervor, daß das Vergnügen, das man vor der Vollendung empfinden kann, nicht unbedingt von einem auf bewußter und korrekter Weise argumentierten Urteil vermittelt werden muß. In der Tat (Psychologia empirica § 510), wenn man die bewiesene Vollendung bezüglich auf ein Objekt als »wahre Vollendung« betiteln kann, ist es dann gestattet bei j ede r Schönheit , die wir - möglicherweise wegen eines unbewußten Fehlers - irgend einem Objekt zuschreiben, von »scheinbarer Vollendung« zu reden. Es folgt somit (§ 511), daß der Genuß eine intuitive Erkenntnis einer sowohl wahren als auch anscheinender Vollendung ist. Wichtig scheint hier insofern zu sein, daß Baumgarten in seiner Grün- dung der Ästhetik ganz und gar auf die Entwicklung eines Paradigmas ver- zichtet, das zwischen der phänomenologischen (bzw. gnoseologischen) und der ontologischen Ebene (nach dem »Anscheinend/Wahr«-Paradigma) vermittelt, und sich stattdessen eines rein erkenntnistheoretischen Paradig- ma bedient. In den Meditationes de nonnullis ad poema pertinentibus (1735) erkennen wir tatsächlich eine Umschreibung der wichtigsten Kenntnisse der klassischen Poetik, doch liegt der von den Meditationes bis zu der Aesthetica fast unberühr t durchlaufende und entscheidende Bestandteil in der engen E n t s p r e c h u n g zweier (die e ine gnoseologische , die a n d e r e disziplin- bezogene) Entgegensetzungen: »Sinn vs Verstand« u n d »Poesie vs Philoso- phie«. Wenn man den allgemeinen methodischen Wert der Meditationes betrachtet, müßte also die in den ersten Absätzen vorgeschlagene Lösung stark auffallen; sie sieht nicht nur die Erwerbung des traditionellen poetischen Wissens für den Philosophie-Bereich sondern auch die notwendige Gründung einer Ästhetik innerhalb der Erkenntnistheorie vor. In anderen Worte, noch wichtiger als die Methodisierung der Poetik gilt die Tatsache, daß Baumgar- ten dessen Objekte thematisiert und bestimmt, indem er sie in den von den poetischen Werken bedeuteten »sinnlichen Vorstellungen« auffindet - zusam- men mit ihrer besonderen »Vollendung« (die »extensive Klarheit«). Im Be- zug auf den Erkenntniswert besagter Vorstellungen beteuert Baumgarten wieder mit einer Leibnizschen Terminologie die aristotelische These, nach der es nicht möglich wäre, ohne Bilder denken zu können: der Mensch be- sitze insofern kein - egal wie stark formalisiertes - Wissen, das an keiner Stel- 32 Welches Interesse haben wir an einer aufklärerischen Ästhetik ? le eine »verworrene Erkenntnis« bzw. irgendeine »sinnliche Idee« einschließt. Eine als unvermeidbare Grenze postulierte (psychologische, anthropologi- sche) Sachlage wird demzufolge das Fundament für die (logische, methodi- sche) Erläuterung des Objekts der »sinnlichen Rede« (§ 7), d.h. j ener Rede, die sich grundsätzlich nach der sinnlichen Erknntnis orientiert. Je größer ist die Zahl der sinnlichen Elemente in einem Diskurs, und desto vollendeter ist die dadurch intendierte sinnliche Erkenntnis (§ 8). In den letzten drei Absätzen der Meditationes spitzt sich die Situation sogar zu: die traditionell konfliktgeladene Beziehung zwischen Philosophie und Poetik (oder Rhetorik) wird zu einer der Philosophie internen Proble- matik, zu einer (methodisch regulierbaren) Beziehung zwischen zwei phi- losophischen Disziplinen: die Ästhetik und die Logik. Baumgarten schlägt dementsprechend die Ergänzung der »Logik« - im ihren traditionellen und allgemeinen Sinne - mit einer Ästhetik vor (§ 115), damit auch der Bereich der von den Sinnen versorgten Erkenntnis darin miteinbezogen wird. Nach- dem er sich für die Nützlichkeit gesagter Ergänzung ausgesprochen hat, schlägt er ferner vor, dabei die Psychologie methodisch zu verwenden; nur wenn man sich hauptsächlich auf diesem Fundament stützt (§ 116), kann man sich erfolgreich in der Erkenntnistheorie auf die klassische Unterschei- dung zwischen aistheta und noeta berufen. Doch, auch wenn wir diesen Vorschlag einer völlig methodischen (und sogar extrem gnoseologischen) Gründung der Ästhetik annehmen möch- ten, bleibt ein Problem ungelöst . Auf dem Kantianismus u n d auf die Phänomenologie beruhend würden wir in der Tat j eden Vorschlag fü r un- annehmbar halten, der die Stützung einer exakten Methode auf eine (im- mer empirische) Psychologie beabsichtigt. Ferner scheint diese Gründung an einem Zirkularitätsfehler zu leiden: die (in der Absicht) gründende (und förmlich universale) Methode stützt sich hier auf einem positiven Lehrkern (d.h. auf eine Gnoseologie wie die Leibnizsche, die sich auf dem Lehrsatz der Kontinuität der Wahrheitsgraden beruht) . Gerade diesen Fehler, der das ganze Wolffsche System betrifft, scheint Kant zu unterstreichen, als er in seiner ersten Kritik (»Vorwort«) deutlich zwischen der positiven Wirkung von Wolffs formalen Methode und dessen Dogmatismus unterscheidet —wobei er in der Tat auf die Unterscheidung zwischen empirischen u n d transzen- dentalen Methoden achtgibt. 33 Pietro Kobau 4. Die Psychologie verfügt über eine Methode Um den disziplinaren Sinn der »philosophia instrumentalis« - die Gesamtheit der Instrumente des Verstands, die systematische Sammlung der Erkenntnisvorschriften - leichter verstehen zu können, wo sich nach der Schulphilosophie sowohl die Ästhetik als auch die Logik aufstellen, müßte man sich fragen, warum sich das Wolffianismus so unbedarfterweise der Beschul- digung ausgesetzt habe, es hätte eine Art von »Psychologisierung der Logik« durchgeführ t - nach dem berühmten vom Idealismus geprägten Ausdruck. In der Tat zielt die Schulphilosophienicht auf die Bildung einer »reinen« Logik ab, die frei von pragmatischen Absichten bzw. anthropologischen T h e m e n ist; sie konzentriert sich vielmehr immer auf die Vervollkommnung der tat- sächlichen Benutzung j e n e r Techniken, die für die Entdeckung u n d die Bewertung der positiven Wahrheiten nützlich sind. Ihr Ziel ist geradezu der optimale Ablauf von Beobachtungs-/Versuchs- und Gesprächsverfahren, die im voraus als wissenschaftlich angenommen werden. Auch aus diesem Ge- sichtspunkt geht die aufklärerische Bestimmung der Methode nicht von einer Differenzierung zwischen (reine) Theorie und Praxis, sondern von j e n e r (aristotelischen) These aus, nach der die Kenntnis sowohl in der Pra- xis als auch in der Theorie immer aus einem Verfahren besteht; u n d nach dieser Voraussetzung kann die Benutzung psychologisch-anthropologischer Inhalte in einer »philosophia instrumentalis« weniger problematisch ausse- hen. Man will hiermit bestimmt keine disziplinare Reform (oder Gegen- reform) vorschlagen, doch scheint zumindest ein Grundbestandtei l der »philosophia instrumentalis« eine erneute theoretische Debatte wert zu sein. Das erkenntnistheoretische Thema der tatsächlichen und rechtmäßi- gen Notwendigkeit der »sinnlichen Vorstellungen«, auf dem Baumgarten seine philosophische Ästhetik gründet, stellt nicht nur das (Leibnizsche) Ergebnis einer Kritik gegenüber Descartes' Gnoseologie dar (weitere Kriti- ken sind übrigens auch von Locke, Thomasius, u.a. geübt worden); es be- inhaltet und verstärkt auch eine Voraussetzung, die sowohl von den Befür- wortern als auch von den Gegnern von Descartes gebilligt wurde. Kurz for- muliert heißt es, daß die Psychologie über eine methodische Funktion ver- fügt, weil sie in der Lage ist über die gründliche Gliederung von Ontologie u n d Gnoseologie Rechenschaft ablegen zu können. Vielmehr: sie ist die einzige Disziplin, die sich in solcher so günstigen Lage befindet. Im Grun- de genommen könnte man die ganze methodologische Debatte des Ratio- nalismus als eine Fortsetzung der in der Regula X/ /enthal tene Problematik verstehen, wo Descartes sich gezwungen sieht, ein psychologisches (bzw. 34 Welches Interesse haben wir an einer aufklärerischen Ästhetik ? sogar psychophysiologisches) Paradigma in eine Abhand lung übe r die Methode einzufügen. Indem es auf die Fragen antwortet, was Verstand und Körper sind, und wie der Geist den Körper informiert, beantwortet gesag- tes Muster in Wirklichkeit eine viel allgemeinere Frage: j e d e Kenntnis - sowohl die natürliche, als auch die methodisierte und formalisierte - wird in der Tat auf das Sein durch eine psychologische Vorrichtung zurückge- führt , die seinerseits notgedrungen eine ästhetische Vorrichtung impliziert. Die Tatsache, daß sich Descartes in der Regula XIIverpflichtet sieht, dem De anima eine Antwort zu geben und dabei dessen Paradigma der »tabula rasa« zu bewahren und zu bearbeiten, hat damit zu tun, daß dieses Thema übli- cherweise benutzt wird, um die Verdoppelung der »äußerlichen« Welt in einer »inneren« Welt zu beschreiben. Diese Verdoppelung, bzw. Trennung, ist seinerseits Muster und Metapher des Unterschieds zwischen »das, was es gibt« und »das, was erfahren wird«, zwischen dem Bereich der Dinge, die ganz schlicht existieren, und dem Bereich des Wahren und des Falschen. Natürlich - man hat es sofort festgesetzt - gehören »außen« und »innen« zu einer Metapher, denn es ist begriffsmäßig sehr problematisch, »das, was es gibt« als »das Außere« und »das, was erfahren wird - wahr oder falsch« als »das Innere« zu bezeichnen. Doch der Versuch, diese Metapher in ei- nen Begriff umzuwandeln, hat während der ganzen modernen Debatte über die Methode (zumindest bis zum Idealismus) eine zentrale Rolle gespielt. Schon Bacon drückte es wie folgt aus (Novum Organum, »Vorrede«): die Methode dient zur »Wiederherstellung, bzw. Verbesserung j ene r Beziehung zwischen dem Verstand und den Dingen, die auf der Erde, bzw. zwischen den irdischen Dingen, nichts seinesgleichen hat«. Es scheint nun schwer zu behaupten, daß diese philosophische Arbeit an der Metapher der zwei Welten (die äußere und die innere) diese Meta- pher völlig abgenutzt hat, u.z. eine Metapher, aus der die aufklärerische Ästhetik entstanden ist, und derer Bestimmung als »einfach psychologische« nie überzeugend sein kann. Doch, wenn auch dies der Fall wäre, bliebe trotz- dem eine Grundalternative: entweder beruht die Ästhetik vor allem auf der allgemeinen (sicherlich sehr abstrakten und unoriginellen) Problematik der Beziehung zwischen dem, was es gibt, und dem, was wir kennen, oder sie wird von einem besonderen Objekt bestimmt, das man ihr äußerlich zuteilt. In diesem Falle, würde man ihr jedoch die Rolle einer Technik oder (be- stenfalls) einer angewandten Wissenschaft zuschreiben - und das unabhän- gig davon, ob sie sich darüber bewußt ist, oder ob gesagtes Objekt ein gro- ßes Ansehen genießt. 35 Yacouba Konate Art, Philosophie et Modernité: L'Afrique en Effet De quelle couleur une pensée philosophique? Grise ou noire bien sûr. Du moins, c'est l'impression qui se dégage à la fois de l'histoire de la Philo- sophie en tant qu'étude des «moments historiques que la pensée humaine a adoptés durant des siècles», selon le mot de Fr. Châtelet, et d 'un certain enseignement de la philosophie comme discipline scolaire. Cette histoire et cet enseignement de la philosophie disposent que la connaissance des textes d'auteurs est un exercice qui rend la réflexion familière et habituelle, et partant, ils aident chacun à s'orienter dans la vie selon son propre pou- voir de réflexion. Descartes n 'en attendait pas moins de la philosophie. «(...) Il vaut beaucoup mieux se servir de ses propres yeux pour se conduire, et jouir par même moyen de la beauté des couleurs et de la lu- mière, que non pas de les avoir fermés et suivre la conduite d 'un autre; mais ce dernier est encore meilleur que de les tenir fermés et suivre la conduite d 'un autre; mais ce dernier est encore meilleur que de les tenir fermés et n'avoir que soi pour se conduire. Or c'est proprement avoir les yeux fermés, sans tâcher jamais de les ouvrir, que de vivre sans philosopher; et le plaisir de voir toutes les choses que notre vue découvre n'est point comparable à la satisfaction que nous donne la connaissance de celles qu 'on trouve par la philosophie; et enfin, cette étude est plus nécessaire pour régler nos mœurs et nous conduire en cette vie, que n'est l'usage de nos yeux pour guider nos pas» (Descartes, 1637). On peut passer sous silence l'éloge de la philosophie que comporte cette pensée pour souligner les éléments esthétiques qu'amène la définition cartésienne de la philosophie. Descartes en effet parle ici du plaisir des yeux, du plaisir de voir et de découvrir qui reste peu de choses à côté du plaisir de la connaissance philosophique. L'exercice philosophique ne consiste pas nécessairement à voir le monde en gris. Philosopher c'est se servir de ses propres yeux pour se conduire, et jouir de la beauté des couleurs et des lumières, le découvrir en couleurs et sous la lumière. Descartes un penseur de la modernité et un penseur moderne: cette vérité est bien établie, mais Descartes un penseur en couleurs, voilà ce qu'une lecture esthétique de cette page permet d'ajouter. A la vérité, cet état de choses n'est pas surprenant ou tout au moins elle ne devrait pas l'être compte tenu du lien essentiel qui Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999- XIVICA Supplément), pp. 37-47 37 Yacouba Konate unit moderni té et image dans l'histoire des idées en Occident. D'où vient donc que le philosophe apparaisse si souvent comme le spécialiste des cho- ses grises et sombres? Notre propos ne sera pas de répondre directement à cette question. Il vise cependant à montrer que par le biais de l'art, on peut cultiver un rapport plus vivant et plus réel à la philosophie: la pratiquer sans nécessairement s 'ennuyer; la pratiquer en ouvrant ses propres yeux plutôt que voir le monde par procuration. 1 Art, Philosophie et Modernité «A maints égards, le discours philosophique de la moderni té rencon- tre et recoupe le discours esthétique» (Habermas, 1985, préface). Qu 'on la pense comme rationalisation et désenchantement d 'un monde s'organisant autour de l 'entreprise privée et de l'Etat comme le fit Max Weber ou qu 'on la t ienne pour un rapport réflexif entre les traditions (Comte), ou encore pour la volonté d'éradication du mythe par la raison (Nietzsche et Adorno) , il reste que «c'est d 'abord dans la critique esthétique que se précise la cons- cience de la moderni té qui s 'en trouve posée comme question et comme exigence «de se fonder par ses propres moyens» (Habermas, 1985). En ef- fet c'est la fameuse «querelle des Anciens et des modernes» au début du XVIIIè qui instruit et installe durablement la notion de moderne. Se rebel- lant contre l 'ordre ancien, les modernes se révoltent contre «l'idée que le classicisme français se fait de lui-même en assimilant le concept aristotéli- cien de perfection à celui de progrès, tel qu'il avait été suggéré par la science moderne» (Habermas, 1985). S'érigeant contre la tradition de l 'imitation des modèles anciens, les modernes rejettent le dogme d 'une beauté parfaite, absolue et éternelle et se fixe des critères d 'un beau moins prétentieux: un beau relatif et histori- que. Dans cette volonté de rupture s'esquisse l ' idée de nouveau commen- cement, d'auto-fondation. Cette idée spécifique des Lumières se trouve déjà clairement articulée par Descartes. En effet lorsqu'il prend sur lui de ne plus croire en ce que tout le monde croit et de n 'admet t re que ce qui aura sur- vécu aux cribles de son doute devenu hyperbolique pour être plus radical. Descartes se détermine comme un moderne et c'est comme philosophe des temps modernes qu'il p rend sa place aux côtés de Kepler et Galilée. Hei- degger du reste voit dans l 'engagement philosophique cartésien le para- digme même de la modernité. Est moderne celui qui à l'instar de Descar- tes ne pense pas par r ep roduc t ion d ' u n m o n d e ou d ' u n o rd re qui lui préexiste, mais pense en son nom propre, se posant dans une opposition 38 Art, Philosophie et Modernité: L'Afrique en Effet au monde. Vidée de tout sens préalable, le monde est investi à nouveaux frais de sens et de valeurs qui le représentent , lui donnan t une nouvelle présence (Darstellung). Si l 'art est moderni té qu'est-ce qui dans l 'art atteste de la dite moder- nité? Hegel répondrai t «l'art est la manifestation la plus haute de l'Idée». L'absolu comme esprit existe en soi et pour soi. Dans le monde , il traverse l 'esprit fini, se donnan t l'occasion de se saisir dans son essentialité. Le pre- mier moment de ce savoir senti et immédiat, c'est l'art. L'intuition sensible y donne à la Vérité sa formation sensible mais chaque p h é n o m è n e a une signification autre que sensible. C'est en l 'art que la Vérité atteint sa forme la plus parfaite. Qu'est-ce à dire? Pour Hegel l 'art représente, c'est-à-dire présente à nouveau, les objets, les hommes et les situations. Un objet artistiquement traité n'est plus seule- ment lui-même en tant que plate objectivité, il devient por teur de sens. Ce qui signifie que la représentation par l 'art apporte une certaine valorisation de l 'objet. Les souverains africains de tous les temps le savent qui s 'adju- geaient les meilleurs artistes et les meilleurs griots pour f rapper à la porte de l'histoire et les seigneurs d 'aujourd 'hui , le savent qui prescrivent à leurs fonctionnaires de travailler sous la photo du président. Survivance d'idolâ- trie? Hegel aurait-il reconnu la moderni té en Afrique s'il avait vu l 'Afrique des arts et des artistes au lieu de l ' imaginer d 'après les récits des voyageurs de son temps? Aurait-il apprécié à sajuste signification le fait que l 'art afri- cain ne s 'applique aucun interdit de la représentation? L'art africain dans sa production dominante imagine davantage la nature qu'il ne l'imite. Les cubistes ne s'y t romperont pas: les sculptures africaines valident une image de l 'homme créateur. Kant notait que ce n'est pas en répétant la nature mais en la représentant que l 'homme se rapporte à Dieu, à l'Esprit, à la Liberté, au progrès, à la modernité. En cela, l ' homme est bien à l ' image de Dieu qui comme chacun sait produit, crée des choses qui ne sont pas données dans la nature. Il n'y a pas modernité sans représentation et la modernité est l'épo- que de la représentation. La modernité n'est pas seulement assomption de la représentation, elle est aussi dépassement, recomposition, purification de la représentation. Si les artistes tels Homère et Hésiode résistent à la mise au pas qui ressort des propos de Socrate et Platon, c'est dire que le moderne et le non-moderne ne sont pas nécessairement en rupture. Ils peuvent être les versants contra- dictoires d ' une même époque. L'Afrique des traditions est aussi Afrique de la moderni té et inverse- ment. C'est indubitable même pour l'intellectuel africain, qui sur le chemin 39 Yacouba Konate de l'université, temple du savoir nouveau, bute parfois contre des sacrifices exposés aux carrefours comme pour narguer les feux rouges aux lumières trop souvent aveugles. Les peintres naïfs ivoiriens sont très sensibles à cette proximité distante qu'ils traduisent par une juxtaposition village-ville où les scènes de l 'une débordent dans l 'autre sans médiation. C'est que la moder- nité qui se projeta comme Aufklärung, c'est-à-dire philosophie des Lumiè- res, p romène beaucoup d 'ombres portées. Adorno et Horkheimer ont ana- lysé avec beaucoup de perspicacité cette dialectique des Lumières qui ac- cumule contradictions et ambiguïtés qui développe un monde. La raison n 'est pas comme elle le prétend, l 'autre du mythe puisqu'elle développe le mythe de la raison et le fét ichisme de la rat ionali té. Effect ivement les prophétismes africains sont des moments de réenchantement du monde . «En fait, si la christianisation, comme beaucoup d 'auteurs depuis Max We- ber l 'on t souligné à propos de l 'Europe, participe d ' u n mouvement de sécularisation accompagnant notamment la formation de classes moyennes attirées par le modèle occidental, les prophétismes contrarient peu ou prou ce mouvement. Car en collant au plus près des manifestations très matérielles de la modernité, ils refusent précisément à celles-ci tout caractère de désen- chantement et perpétuent au contraire la mémoire vive d ' u n e histoire ivoi- r ienne commencée sous le signe du miracle» (Dozon, 1995). On comprend mieux pourquoi le chercheur en philosophie peut s'at- tacher à l 'art. Matrice primordiale de la moderni té , figure inaugurale et prospective de la moderni té , l 'art est comme le remarque Adorno, le der- nier refuge de la subjectivité. Il porte une force novatrice que l ' industrie culturelle s 'efforce de dévoyer en divertissement. Ainsi donc l 'art offre à l ' intelligence théorique des indices plus pertinents que l 'occidentalisation ou l 'urbanisation. L'occidentalisation est le devenir-monde d ' u n e vision rationnelle du monde alors que la modernité, pour avoir été mise en évi- dence quelque part dans le monde, n'est pas la chose propre d 'une culture. C'est plutôt un appel de la raison à dépasser ses propres limites, ses propres normes et partant, celles de son environnement immédiat. L'enjeu d 'une théorie des arts africains se décide autour d ' u n e propo- sition centrale: L'Afrique a peut-être été «sous-développée» quelque part, sait-on jamais? Mais très certainement, elle ne l 'aura jamais été au plan des arts. Au fait avez-vous remarqué que les afro-pessimistes notamment Etounga Manguelle (1984) et Axelle Kabou (1990) qui font leur nid dans le cultura- lisme, disséquant à longueur de pages ce qu'ils conviennent d 'appeler la culture africaine, en disposent, sans jamais le long de leurs péroraisons écrire, ne serait-ce que quelques lignes, sur les arts et les artistes ! La cam- pagne de l ' inaptitude de la culture africaine au développement à partie liée 40 Art, Philosophie et Modernité: L'Afrique en Effet avec eux là qui commettent le tour de force de barder l 'Afrique d ' u n e cul- ture sans art et sans artistes. La reconnaissance de l 'Afrique par l 'Occident, Occident s 'ér igeant comme «le phallus du monde» (Derrida, 1990), tut laborieuse et tardive. Quoiqu 'e l le reste inachevée et peut-être bien qu 'e l le est de l ' o rd re de l'inachevable, son histoire révèle la présence de l'art et des artistes aux avant- postes de ce combat pour la reconnaissance. Cette reconnaissance ne se fit pas sans violence. Lorsqu'au XVIIè siècle, le marchand hollandais Dapper sans jamais mettre les pieds en Afrique se passionne pour les objets d 'ar t Afrique, les objets qu'il collecte sont déjà des objets volés ou arrachés. Cette logique du rapt et de la violence fonct ionne encore lorsque la mission Da- kar-Djibouti, conduite par Marcel Griaule et animée entre autre par Michel Leiris, parcourt l'Afrique dès 1929. Si bien que pendant que les cubistes font une fête aux sculptures noires des voyageurs opèrent à l 'ombre de la domi- nation. La reconnaissance de l 'art africain dans l 'art universel est le versant rassurant d ' une pratique d 'expropriat ion violente. Réelle au dépar t celle- ci s'est fait plus diffuse aujourd 'hui ; elle s'est fait économique, culturelle et symbolique. L'effectivité de cette réception plus ou moins douloureuse explique que les artistes d 'hier et la plupart de ceux d 'au jourd 'hu i ne pâtissent pas de ce nihilisme réactif qui sévit dans le débat intellectuel africain sous la forme du «nous aussi»: nous aussi nous avons une écriture, nous aussi nous avons une philosophie, une sociologie, une mathématique. Et pour l'attester, on monta des «ethno-philosophies», des ethno-sociologies, des ethno-mathé- matiques». Mais le savoir-faire et la virtuosité de nos chercheurs les plus émé- rites n 'arrivent pas à dissiper le scepticisme critique que nous réservons à ces ethno-sciences apparaissant toujours déjà comme des «sciences du pau- vre» sinon des fausses sciences. Là dessus le Nigérian Oruka (1972) nota brillamment: «On présente comme 'religion africaine' ce qui n'est peut-être qu 'une superstition, et on attend du monde blanc qu'il admette que c'est en effet une religion, mais une religion africaine. On présente comme 'phi- losophie africaine' ce qui dans tous les cas, est une mythologie, et une fois de plus, la culture blanche est invitée à admet t re que c'est en effet une philosophie, mais une philosophie africaine. On présente comme 'démo- crate africaine' ce qui a toutes les apparences d 'une dictature, et l 'on attend de la culture blanche qu'elle admette qu'il en est ainsi. Et ce qui de toute évidence est un anti-développement a-développement) ou un pseudo-déve- loppement est décrit comme le développement et, de nouveau, le monde blanc est invité à admettre que c'est du développement, mais naturel lement un 'développement africain'.» 41 Yacouba Konate Le pendant de cette philosophie au rabais c'est cette autre qui évitant de se rendre compte qu'elle a un contexte et que seuls les contextes don- nen t une tessiture aux textes de la pensée, se forclôt sur la litanie de préfé- rence ja rgonnan te des propositions générales invérifiables. Qu 'un profes- seur de philosophie élabore sur l 'art en général et de préférence sur l 'art chez Platon ou chez Hegel, qu'il s 'engage dans «les déserts glacés de l'abs- traction» pour deviser en bonne compagnie sur des idées générales, des notions et des concepts; qu'il se fasse «phonographe», citant ses maîtres en grec, en latin, en allemand en at tendant de penser par cœur en anglais. Il fera très philosophe. Mais ce philosophiquement correct, ce ronronnement qui donne l'impression d 'une machine qui fonctionne, les moteurs qui tour- nen t ronronnen t n'est-ce pas, cette musiquette des pensées qu 'on n ' a pas pensées et qu 'on agite, à la limite cela peut-être faire de la philosophie, mais très certainement ce n'est pas encore philosopher. Descartes en conviendra: garder les yeux fermés sur notre contexte pour se laisser conduire par des yeux autres ouverts sur un autre temps et un autre contexte, n 'est pas phi- losopher. C'est encore moins être moderne et nous ajoutons, tout au plus ce serait philosophier. Parce que les arts africains n 'on t à liquider ni passif ni mauvaise cons- cience de ce type, ils vivent leur africanité sans le poids du regard extérieur et sans zèle, sans triomphalisme et sans auto-proclamation. Par conséquent, ils accèdent plus sereinement à l'universel exprimant leur différence sans entrer dans la logique conflictuelle de la réfutation. Les bronzes d ' Ifé sont universels, les sculptures baoulés et sénoufos sont universelles, les musiques madingues, zaïroises sont universelles. Vous l 'aurez remarqué, on parle des «bronzes d'Ifé», pas de lguégua, sculpteur à Ifé au Xllè. On ne parle pas davantage du maître de la croix perlée, ni du Maître de la chaîne de Léopard, ni du Maître des casques gra- vés. De chacun de ces fabuleux créateurs du royaume du Bénin au XlVè, il existe des oeuvres de très grande facture. Mais qui se souvient encore d ' eux et comment a-t-on pu oublier leur nom? Pendant longtemps la théorie de l 'art africain aussi bien celle des afri- canistes que celle des africains dont des théoriciens de la négritude Senghor y compris, se pâma devant l 'excellence des œuvres africaines, passant sous silence les noms des artistes. Or pas plus qu'il n'y a pas de science sans sa- vant, pas plus qu'il n y a pas de philosophie sans philosophes, il n 'y a pas d 'ar t africain sans artiste africain et il n'y a pas d'Afrique réelle s'il n'y a pas d'Africains créateurs d'africanités. L'Afrique fantôme c'est aussi l 'Afrique «imaginarisée» de l'extérieur par des gens qui trop apeurés par ce que l'Afri- que réelle aurait pu leur révéler sur eux-mêmes, la mythifie et la mystifie. 42 Art, Philosophie et Modernité: L'Afrique en Effet Si notre mémoire et notre inconscient collectif restent surchargés de personnages et de personnalités qui confrontent les idées qui font l'Afrique, idées diffusées aussi bien par ceux qui se prévalent «d'avoir fait l 'Afrique» pour dire qu'ils ont résidé en Afrique, que par ceux qui comme Hegel la construisent à partir de leur table de travail, si donc nous ne risquons pas d 'ê t re en manque d'Africains «bâfrant, puant, suant», s'il est certain que nous ne serons jamais en panne de guerres tribales, de famines, de mala- dies insidieuses, de dictateurs aux petits pieds rappelant à la fois les intrépi- des commandants de cercle et les roitelets réputés sanguinaires de l'histoire nationale, en revanche, nous pourrions être en panne si nous ne le sommes déjà de sujets créateurs de cultures, de valeurs; de sujets qui par tent à «la conquê t e du m o n d e en tant qu ' image conçue (...); de sujets par qui «l 'homme lutte pour la situation lui permettant d 'être l 'étant qui d o n n e la mesure à tout étant et arrête toutes les normes» (Heidegger), 1962) ; de sujets restaurateurs de la conscience comme Cheikh An ta Diop qui recherchant une médiane entre synthèse et métissage culturels pense que «la plénitude culturelle ne peut que rendre un peuple plus apte à contribuer au progrès général de l 'humanité et à se rapprocher des autres peuples en connaissance de cause.» Nous pourrions manquer d'agents de notre moderni té car être mo- derne ce n'est point être bardé des ustensiles de la modernité, radio, télé, voiture, villa, té léphone et que sais-je encore?, à l 'image des tirailleurs sé- négalais, dont certains étaient ivoiriens, rentrant au village avec gamelle, cuillers, fourchettes, brodequins, treillis, français de tirailleur, toutes cho- ses admirablement décrites par Ahmadou Kourouma (1990) dans Monné, Outrages et Défis. La moderni té ne se donne pas dans des récipients ou des gadgets. C'est une attitude de convocation et de représentation du monde global en mon propre nom; c'est un compor tement qui consiste à rappor- ter le monde au sujet qui le re-fléchit, à nouveaux frais. Ce sujet n 'est plus un vassal soumis à un souverain tout puissant, mais un citoyen, c'est-à-dire un sujet de droits. La moderni té est un acte d'assomption de soi dans le monde et face au monde , tel que le citoyen éprouve sa liberté dans son émancipation de toute tutelle. Un tel sujet ne saurait être un individu, c'est une singularité en ce sens qu'il porte au maximum d'intelligence les aspi- rations d ' une époque autant que ses errances, ses peurs, ses angoisses et ses espoirs. Un tel sujet vaut par ses actes qui doivent en arriver à se décliner au profit de son nom, promu au rang de signature, de marque. Jacques Derrida (1984) montre à la faveur d 'une histoire autour de la déclaration d ' indépendance des Etats-Unis, comment une signature peut en arriver à se faire crédit et se fonder en droit. Jefferson le secrétaire ré- 43 Yacouba Konate dacteur de la déclaration d ' indépendance des Etats-Unis, Jefferson donc par- lant au nom des représentants du peuple américain à proclamer par ladite déclaration souffrait de se voir amendé, corrigé, amélioré, écouté par ses collègues. Franklin pour le consoler de cette désagréable situation lui ra- conte une histoire de chapelier. «Le chapelier, (The Hatter) avait d 'abord imaginé une enseigne (sign- board) pour son magasin. Au dessus, l ' image et en dessus un texte: 'John T h o m p s o n , Hatter , makes and sells hats for ready money ' soit: ' John Thompson, chapelier, fabrique et vend cash des chapeaux' . Un ami lui sug- gère d 'effacer 'chapeaux' . A quoi bon, en effet, puisque 'makes hats', est bien assez explicite. Un autre lui propose de supprimer 'makes hats', car l 'acheteur se soucie peu de savoir qui fait les chapeaux, dès lors qu'ils lui plaisent (...) Le troisième ami, et Derrida de noter, ce sont toujours les amis qui pressent d'effacer, l'invite à faire l 'économie de 'for ready money' car l 'usage veut alors qu 'on paie 'cash'. Puis, dans le même mouvement , de raturer 'sells hats'; il faudrait être un idiot pour croire que les chapeaux sont donnés ou abandonnés. «Finalement l 'enseigne ne porta qu 'une image et sous le s igne i con ique en f o r m e de c h a p e a u , un n o m p r o p r e , J o h n Thompson» (pp. 29-30). Un oubli du nom propre a pesé sur l 'art et la pensée traditionnels et il mous a paru important de contribuer à le conjurer tout au moins en ce qui concerne les artistes contemporains. Illustrer des noms tels Alpha Blondy, Christian Lattier, Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, Keita Fodéba, Souleymane Keïta, comme des moments critiques de la culture africaine, c'est situer quelques enjeux: de notre modernisation. Devant les noms ci-dessus certains pour- raient faire la moue et comme le héron de la fable dédaigner: est-ce là le dîner d ' u n héron ! Du menu fretin tout ça. A ceux là nous dirons: êtes vous certain de ne pas donner dans le réflexe du valet de chambre don t parle Hegel après Kant et en vertu de sa qualité de domestique ne voit que le côté domestique des personnages? Certes l ' important n 'est pas d'avoir un nom mais de l'avoir bon et comme le dit le griot «une belle chemise se prête, se prête un beau pantalon, mais un bon nom ne se prête pas». Par ailleurs, à f lanquer les noms de nos pères fondateurs de noms de philosophes, de sociologues, bref de noms de personnes curieuses des cho- ses de l'esprit, on indique que le temps des fondateurs en politique, en art ou en philosophie d'ailleurs est dépassé depuis le temps où la raison hu- maine dut renoncer à atteindre la pierre de touche. En même temps qu'elle reconnaissait ses limites à fournir les raisons suffisantes, la raison humaine depuis au moins le XlXè, a tiré les conséquen- ces de ce que «ce qui nous donne à penser c'est que nous ne pensons pas 44 Art, Philosophie et Modernité: L'Afrique en Effet encore (Heidegger)»; que ce qui nous donne à ordonner, à mettre de l'or- dre c'est le chaos; «que la bêtise (non pas l 'erreur) constitue la plus grande impuissance de la pensée, mais aussi la source de son pouvoir dans ce qui la force à penser» (Deleuze, 1968). Par ailleurs, f lanquer les noms propres d 'une Afrique larmoyante de ceux d ' u n e autre chantant , sculptant, inventant, créant , c 'est disposer d 'autres modèles à côtés du modèle hégémonique du politique. Ou i j eunes gens, on peut respirer en Afrique sans entrer en politique. Point n 'est be- soin d'avoir un grand nom. Au demeuran t on sait que les noms comme d'ailleurs les fétiches peuvent «se gâter». Le nom n'est pas un fétiche et il arrive qu 'on en change le contenu et la forme. L'identité non plus n 'est pas une essence mais une existence, une construction. Tout comme on n ' a pas à rester l ' identique de sa photo, on n 'a pas à se murer dans une identité identique. La moderni té c'est ainsi la faillite de la représentation comme identité et l ' invention de l 'identité de la non-identité. La moderni té porte une exigence de rupture. En cela, elle induit une crise des identités. Dans le même temps, elle recouvre d 'un voile de transparence et de stabilité, le mouvement irrépressible des exigences et des sensibilités nouvelles qui la t ransbordent et qu'elle recycle et rebaptise en modernités. Le dernier aspect de «la politique du nom» ainsi esquissée tient à l'ur- banité. Les artistes ci-dessus mentionnés sont comme par hasard des citadins. C'est le lieu de remarquer que pendant trop longtemps, la philosophie dite africaine a tourné autour tout en restant dehors... De plus en plus raidie sur son statut philosophique et sur son africanité, elle ne trouva que très rare- ment un chemin assuré à l'intérieur. Wolé Soyinka dirait: Elle en oublia de bondir. Et à ne pas conduire à l ' intérieur de la philosophie, cette insistance proprement méta-philosophique a sous-développé la philosophie africaine, la définissant comme une philosophie dont l'existence est à elle-même pro- blématique. La philosophie dite africaine se fourvoya aussi sûrement qu'elle se chargea du fardeau absolu de la rectification des bavardages de Kant, et surtout de Hegel et Levi-Bruhl sur l'Afrique. Lorsqu'elle n 'enroula pas in- définiment sa réflexion sur cette critique et son propre statut, elle se recher- cha dans les profondeurs improbables d 'une tradition constituée comme éternelle et chargée de lui projeter l'image rassurante d 'une pensée et d 'une raison bien à elle. Devenu contempteur de traditions, le penseur ne s'éveilla pas à la vérité selon laquelle «ce n'est pas dans les grands bois ni dans les sentiers que la philosophie s'élabore, mais dans les villes et dans les rues, y compris dans ce qu'il y a de plus factice en elles» (Deleuze, 1969). Cela dit, nos communications sont écrites et dites en français, avec des citations en anglais sans oublier les nombreux philosophes allemands convoqués et com- 45 Yacouba Konate mentés. Or il reste que le j ou r où il nous sera donné de nous acquitter de nos devoirs en langues nationales africaines, nombreux seront les haut-pen- seurs et les haut-parleurs qui perdront et leur logique et leur voix, et à ne point douter, des philosophes se retrouveront dans les petits souliers des philosophieurs. Parti pour discuter d 'ar t et de philosophie en Afrique, voilà que par endroits et no tamment devant le besoin d'illustrer des idées par des expé- riences vécues, le «je» a refait surface. J 'ai dû parler sinon de moi-même du moins de mes recherches et j 'a i parlé en mon nom propre. D'aucuns ont pu penser que j e voulais en faire une marque, une signature, un peu comme le chapelier. Ce que nous faisons chacun, ce à quoi nous consacrons notre vie et que nous visons à étayer par nos réflexions et nos engagements, ne gagne-t-il pas en clarté lorsque nous la proclamons à haute voix? Par ailleurs, j e voudrais méditer avec vous ce passage où Nietzsche détruisant la fausse massivité de son moi écrit: j e pense que je suis trop impie pour croire en moi même, j e ne parle jamais aux masses. Pour tenter de «ranger» toutes les hypertrophies du moi «au magasin des accessoires», on peut également suivre Sartre jusqu 'aux derniers mots des Mots au moment où l 'auteur se définit comme «un homme fait de tous les hommes et qui les vaut tous et que vaut n ' impor te qui» (Sartre, 1963). S ' interroger à haute voix, ici et main tenant suppose donc que l 'expérience singulière des recherches de l 'officiant qui ne croit pas trop en lui-même, rencontre par endroits l 'expé- rience de chacun. J 'espère avoir disposé dans ce laps de temps qui m'étai t imparti quelques thèmes, quelques problèmes tendant à prouver qu 'on peut parler en son nom propre, à propos d 'un contient entier, tout en contribuant à la clarification de la conscience de soi d ' une époque, l 'époque du village planétaire. Bibliographie Alain.- Système des beaux-arts, (Ed Gallimard, Paris, 1926). Deleuze (Gilles, 1968). - Différence et répétition, (P.U.F, Paris), p. 353. Deleuze (Gilles, 1969). - Logique du sens, (Ed. de Minuit, Paris), p. 307. Derrida (Jacques, 1984) . - Otobiographies, l'enseignement de Nietzsche et la poli- tique du nom propre, (Ed. Galilée) pp. 29-30. Descartes (1637).- Les Principes de la Philosophie, (Préface), (Ed. Gallimard, Paris). Dozon (Jean Pierre, 1995). - La cause des prophètes. Politique et religion en Afri- que Contemporaine, (Seuil, Paris), p. 152. 46 Art, Philosophie et Modernité: L'Afrique en Effet Heidegger (Martin, 1962), Chemins qui ne mènent nulle part, ( Ed. Gallimard, Paris), p. 123. Habermas (Jürgen, 1985), Le discours philosophique de la modernité, (Gal- limard, Paris), p. 9. Kabou (Axelle, 1991).- Et si l'Afrique refusait le développement, (L'Harmattan, Paris). Manguelle (Etounga, Daniel, 1991). - L'Afrique a-t-elle besoin d'un programme d'ajustement culturel? (Ed. Nouvelles du Sud, Paris). Nietzsche (1908 ). - «Pourquoi je suis un destin» in Ecce Homo, (Gonthier, Paris). Oruka Odera (Henry, 1972). - «Mythologies as African Philosophy», East Africa Journal , Vol. IX, n°10, octobre 1972, trad par Grâce et Paulin Huntondj i et publié sous le titre de Mythologies et Philosophie Afri- caines, Conséquence, n° l , janvier-juin 1974. Sartre (1963). - Les Mots, (Gallimard, Paris). 47 Germina Nagat Description and Explanation in Art Exegesis Motto: » Aesthetics is a reason giving activity. «' The topic of this paper, as implied by the title, is a question-beggar: it is assumed that there is a relation between description and explanation in art exegesis. Moreover, it is a topic that many aestheticians would be reluc- tant to accept as valid and necessary to their field, so one could believe from the beginning that it has a polemic mainspring. If we were to accept the traditional disparities of this century's philosophy, we could say that the theo- retical status of description and explanation would not be an interesting problem in a hermeneutical or metaphysical discourse, simply because in such a perspective description is held as an elementary, self-evident opera- tion, while the explanation of art passes for a nonsense. The conceptual pair 'description - explanation' announced by the title is obviously an analytic binomial. However, my intention is not to augment the dispute, choosing ab initio the analytic treatment of a problem that had a different career - namely, a wrong career - in the continental, outdated philosophy, but rather to enhance the benefits of pluralism, which can provide access to any series of concepts or method that indicates even the smallest clarification or progress in understanding art. The reason for designating the discussion of art by an ambiguous and eccentric term, exegesis, is that in my opinion both art criticism and aesthetics have to answer by specific means to two funda- mental questions, more or less explicit: why does the work of art exist, and how, and both questions are directly related to description and explanation. I said that the relation between description and explanation is a typi- cally analytic question. However, if we consider it strictly from the historio- graphic perspective, its connection with art exegesis seems fallacious or ar- tificial. From the very beginning, the leaders of analytic trend ignored or referred only indirectly to the problems of art, partly because those prob- lems did not seem essential to the clarification of the philosophical realm and knowledge, partly because its sources did not include art among the main issues.2 Even now, when it is said that we have entered 'the post-ana- 1 William Righter, Logic and Criticism, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1963, p. 22. 2 Arnold Isenberg thinks that the minor attention paid by the first analytic philosophers to aesthetics and art criticism is due to the fact that »none of the leaders of the analytic movement, such as Moore and Russell, have ventured into a field - i.e. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 49-58 49 Germina Nagat lytic era ' , analytic aesthetics does not enjoy more credit: on the contrary, it is rejected as a late syndrome, some sort of childish disease which is embar- rassing to experience as a grown-up. Despite this frivolous objection, I will try to show, using description and explanation as a guideline, that, on the one hand, analytic aesthetics is not at all excessive or tardy, and, on the other hand, that its general principles which took their classical form decades ago, can still be improved. * Looking back to the beginning of the century, when the »linguistic turn« emerged from the principles of logical atomism, it becomes clear that the theoretical status of description did not become any distinct for all its vacillations between the opposite limits of the same trend. It is true that in analytic terms description has been discussed mainly in its philosophical sense. Its connection with art came later, and only to the extent to which art was relevant as a source of examples in a specialised, logical context. Naturally, description proved to be a questionable issue for aesthetics only after it was admitted as a general philosophical problem. The logical starting point in the analysis of description had a strong influence on this concept's career, including its aesthetic implications. In his celebrated Theory of Descriptions, Russell stressed that description is the background for a distinct type of knowledge (knowledge by description), as distinct from knowledge by acquaintance, the latter being logically independent f rom the knowledge of truths. Knowledge by description, although appar- ently based on sensations, depends on the knowledge of particular truths that make the connection between the object described and sensory data. Despite the common impression that sensory data result from direct expe- rience, in fact objects and other people's minds cannot be known by acquain- tance, bu t only by description. Therefore , description is an essential se- quence in the knowledge of things, and, virtually, it becomes a prerequisite to any discourse that records this knowledge (be it philosophical, scientific or artistic). In his theory of descriptions, Russell was led to the conclusion that most of the nouns and proper names are, in fact, descriptions. More often than not we have the impression of talking about things we know contiguously, aesthetics - that was not shunned by Bacon, Hobbes, Locke or Kant.« See Arnold Isenberg, »Analytic Philosophy and the Study of Art«, in Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 46 (1988), pp. 125-36. Other authors, and among them Richard Shusterman, who particularly insists on this idea, count Moore as »a prototype of analytic aesthetics.« See Richard Shusterman, »Introduction: Analysing Analytic Aesthetics«, in Shusterman (ed.), Analytic Aesthetics, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1989, p. 4. 50 Description and Explanation in Art Exegesis but in fact our knowledge emerges f rom prior, implicit descriptions that we are not aware of. The leading part of description in the process of knowl- edge comes from the fact that it allows us to transcend the limits of individual experience and to communicate it to others by a meaningful language, re- stored by logic. In order to be accepted as part of this language, descriptions must be reduced to those elements that we know immediately, and take the form of a non-ambiguous, definite description. An object is known by de- scription when we know that »there is one and only one object that has a certain property.«3 The main thing about this definition is that this univo- cal relation works as a truth condition: if there is no real object which has the property mentioned by description, or there is more than one, that state- ment is false. As for the descriptions of imaginary objects (non-entities), they must be transformed into existential statements, whose truth condition - the correspondence with a real object - can eventually be verified by a non- mediated experience. The philosophical implications of the theory of description have been considered so influential that Russell's perspective was at first greeted as »a paradigm of philosophy«.4 If we were to accept this enthusiastic perception entirely, the consequences for aesthetics and art exegesis would be devas- tating: one can hardly imagine a situation in art where an aesthetic quality corresponds to a single object, in order to have definite descriptions for every work of art and to transform the language of art exegesis into a »meaning- ful language«. Subsequently, the critics rightfully stressed that Russell's de- mands against philosophical language are exaggerated, that he did not ex- plain how the description works in common language, and mainly that the univocity condition can be satisfied only in a logical, artificial frame. In most of the cases, the way in which we can refer to a particular object cannot be established except by particular circumstances: we leave it to the context to show which specific object we are referring to. Despite the restrictive char- acter that makes it unrealistic, among the advantages of this theory is that it shows the importance of the distinction between the grammatical form of a sentence and the logical form behind it, and that these two forms cannot be made to coincide, although the perfect overlap would be ideal. But what I think is an essential fact about Russell's theory, even if apparently it indi- cates nothing to art or aesthetics, is the accent on the idea of implicit de- 3 By this rule of denotation, Russell restores the principle expressed by Occam a few centuries ago, known as Occam's razor, which confines the philosophical entities to those which have a correspondent in the real world. 4 As an illustration of this enthusiasm, see F. P. Ramsey, The Foundations of Mathematics, p. 263. 51 Germina Nagat scription underlying proper names, and especially on the binding correspon- dence between description and object, namely, between description and reality. A completely different view has Ludwig Wittgenstein, the other founder of the analytic trend, this time with an explicit reference to aesthetics and artistic objects.5 Again, the premises are not favourable to art exegesis, but for different reasons and by different arguments. Wittgenstein found the traditional course of aesthetics ridiculous, and also its official justification, unchanged since the debut of this discipline: to define what is beautiful is as ridiculous as it is to define a tasteful coffee, so absurd that it cannot be put into words.5 Wittgenstein was convinced that art criticism and aesthet- ics are meant »to express a reaction«, usually emotional, but it can be a sen- sory one as well. For this reason, aesthetic experience does not have too many chances to transcend the status of a strictly individual affair, whose verbal transcription is so inconclusive that it becomes useless, a mere flatus voci. A gesture, a simple exclamation or, even better, its reiteration would suffice in order to share such an experience. If we try to describe God's expression in Michelangelo's Adam we will see that it cannot be formulated and that »we should paint it again«. It is easier to justify a negative evaluation of an artistic object, because it is easier to find reasons to motivate insatisfaction, than content. It is so difficult to share the impressions you have in f ron t of an art object, that the chances to be approved or understood are real only if your collocutor accidentally has the same reaction. In his essay Philosophy of Art after Analysis and Romanticism,7 Nicholas Wolterstoff highlights the idea that, although analytic philosophy emerged mainly as a reaction against romantic essentialism and »expressionism«, analytic aesthetics did not succeed to get rid of all the obsessions of roman- ticism and maintained some of its delusions, such as »the uniqueness«, »the gratuitousness« and »the autonomy« of the work of art. I would add to this list another prejudice, which I consider to be more discordant and incon- sistent with the analytic ideal: the emotionalistic view, which bears both on 5 I am talking, of course, about the later Wittgenstein and his controversial text Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology and Religious Belief (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1966). Here I would like to prevent the usual objection, which I take to be shallow and artificial, that these lectures are a doubtful record of Wittgenstein's sayings, so their credibility should be lesser. If we were to apply this rigour consistently, Wittgenstein's single work would be the Tractatus, because it is the only book he published during his lifetime. 6 Wittgenstein, op. cit., II, 2. 7 Nicholas Wolterstoff, »Philosophy of Art after Analysis and Romanticism«, in Shusterman (ed.), op.cit., pp. 32-58. 52 Description and Explanation in Art Exegesis the art making and on the art criticism. It assumes that emotions are the main source of creation and the only background of criticism, and that it is not the work of art with its real features, but the reactions of the perceiver that gives the topic of art exegesis. Unfortunately, this residual romanticism per- sists even in Wi t tgens te in ' s o p i n i o n a b o u t aes the t ics . A c c o r d i n g to Wittgenstein, the problems of aesthetics and the problems of the effects art has upon us are the same thing. In a footnote to Lectures, the subject of aes- thetics is even more clearly restricted to the emotionalistic outlook: the prob- lems of aesthetics, which are due to the influence art has upon us, do not concern the way these things are produced.8 The reason why the work of art cannot be described is that our personal feelings cannot be expressed, but only suggested by words, or ideally, by gestures. This substitution between the object and the emotional reaction to it is the core of Wittgenstein's view about description, and, eventually, about aesthetics. Wittgenstein also rejects the possibility of a psychology of art, given the fact that he rejects psychology in principle. Nothing about art would change as a result of this science's progress (even though there were many hopes set on it at that time), since it is doubtful we can talk about laws of mind which we can discover in the long run. The idea of aesthetics being a branch of psychology, as well as that of a happy time, when all the mysteries of Art (written with capital letters) will have been solved thanks to psychological experiments, seems to him totally idiotic." Under these circumstances, which obliterate the chances of both metaphysical and scientific approaches of art, the reach of art exegesis cannot be otherwise but insignificant to knowledge. If we confront Russell's and Wittgenstein's views on description, we can notice that analytic aesthetics obviously inherited from its forebearers noth- ing else but a dilemma, perfectly summarised by Shusterman as »descrip- tive accuracy versus prescriptive clarity«,10 and illustrated with a short, imagi- native f ragment f rom Philosophical Investigations-, »won't it become a hope- less task to draw a sharp picture corresponding to the blurred one? / . . . / And this is the position you are in if you look for definitions corresponding to our concepts in aesthetics or ethics.«11 But the analytic survey of description cannot stop to these two extreme options, because subsequently they pro- duced compound versions, more sophisticated, but more ambiguous as well. Between Russell's view, which ascribes description a major role in the pro- cess of knowledge and compels it to adequacy with the reality of the object, 8 Wittgenstein, op.cit., TV, 1. 9 Wittgenstein, op.cit., II, 35. 10 Shusterman, op.cit., p. 13. 11 Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, para. 77. 53 Germina Nagat and Wittgenstein's contemptuous notes, which forbid any relevance to aes- thetics and even the possibility of being verbally expressed, there are many other readings of the problem. The new elements involved are the connec- tion between description, evaluation and interpretat ion, and, for a less conformistic approach, its openness to explanation. A frequent assessment in art theory and criticism, as well as in the theory of argumentat ion and even in epistemology, is that description cannot be separated f rom evaluation (very much as observation is theory-ladden). The reason for this overlapping is the usual vocabulary of descriptions, which is almost identical with common language. Faced with a logical examination, art descriptions show a serious handicap, which I would call the adjectival handicap. Adjectives are not neutral, and more often than not to choose an attribute implies a positive or negative valorisation; when one describes a work of art, one implicitly states a value judgement . Moreover, the basic concepts of aesthetics themselves seem to be mere adjectives, abusively in- vested with a conceptual rank. Because of this adjectival source, some set all their hopes on analytic aesthetics, while others abandoned this field in favour of art theory,12 which is still regarded - probably by virtue of the natural philosophical elitism - as a »second order« discipline. Under these circum- stances, the question is: given its adjectival nature, what is the role of descrip- tion in analytic aesthetics? Is it compatible with its anti-subjectivist, anti-ro- mantic ideal and with the search for clarity? I think the answer to this question is favourable to description. It also pleads for the philosophical pluralism I ment ioned at the beginning of this text, and it contradicts the simplistic opinion that analytic aesthetics is an a t tempt to sterilise art exegesis. Even if description seems to depend on common language, it does not disturb the analytic ambitions at all: there is n o need to adopt an extreme position and to design a fictitious limit case, in which description is neutral and evaluation is absent, as Nor throp Frye suggested in his famous book of the late 1950s, where he calls evaluation »meaningless criticism« and «leisure-class gossip».13 Objections to descrip- tion and evaluation are due to the same confusion underlying Wittgenstein's Lectures, which reduces artistic effects to emotional reactions. If we follow this line of argument, we will be forced to adopt a paradoxical position and to assert that, because of its adjectival handicap, any attempt to justify a state- 12 A good example of this attitude is Ernst Gombrich, who explicitly made his choice for art theory, even if his work has a sufficient philosophical amplitude to lay claims as aesthetics. 13 Northrop Frye, The Anatomy of Criticism, Princeton: New York, Princeton Universtiy Press, 1957, p. 18. 54 Description and Explanation in Art Exegesis ment in art exegesis is pointless, and every criticism is a private, first-person affair which mysteriously tends to become public. However, a fur ther substitution emerged lateley, which dominates art criticism and especially literary criticism, and combines description and inter- pretation. If description is inevitably subjective and evaluation is implicit, the concept of interpretation covers both meanings and gives them a new se- mantic amplitude. But it necessarily adds reasons or motivations to descrip- tions and evaluations, sometimes in a confusing assortment (for instance, Morris Weitz makes a strange distinction between descriptive interpretations and evaluative interpretations).14 Interpretation has been abundantly debated in writing, especially in the theory of literature, without a clear guideline to- ward a unique model. But the main thing about interpretation is that, be it in analytic or hermeneutical paradigm, it relies on arguments, irrespective of their nature.15 Therefore, by interpretation, which stands as its counter- part, any description becomes a presentation of reasons. I hope this will make using of the word explanation sound more natural in a discussion about art. Again, if we were to follow the initial analytic direction and credit Wittgenstein's view on aesthetic reasons, the whole theoretical assessment of them would be restricted to the observation that they »are of the nature of fur ther descriptions«, that they equals »the description of defects«, and that their relation to evaluation is »neither an empirically causal relation, nor a logical necessary relation.«11' It seems an aleatoric relation, based on subjective experience; moreover, aestheticjustification by reasons can start f rom a mere insatisfaction, very much as description does. If this is true, there can be no progress as concerns the theoretical status of art exegesis, and justification becomes useless, as a mere rationalisation of personal impres- sions. Suppose that Wittgenstein and other analytic philosophers are right, and description is hopelessly subjective, because of its dependence on com- mon language and because of the adjectival handicap. Still, this basic sub- jectivism, which also extends on justification, does not change the need and the constraint of reasons at all. It is precisely because description cannot 14 Morris Weitz, »Interpretation and the Visual Arts«, in Theoria, 39 (1973), pp. 101- 112. 15 Despite the common dependence on arguments, it must be said that there is a major difference between these two types of argumentation: the hermeneutical discourse starts from an initial intuition and selects as reasons only the elements which confirm it (the procedure being known as hermeneutical circle), while the analytic one is grounded on a critical attitude which consists in confronting the pro and the counter arguments. 16 H. Morris-Jones, »The Logic of Criticism«, in TheMonist, 50 (1966), p. 219. 55 Germina Nagat stand by itself as a background of evaluation that reasons and motivations have been introduced in the analytic assessment of the language of art criti- cism. The emotionalistic perspective I mentioned before - which might be a fair evaluation of the discourse about art, of course, from a logical point of view - is a false impediment for analytic aesthetics to be entirely consis- tent and credible: it will always be a compulsory relation between the ob- jec t (in our case, the artistic object) and the word that describes, evaluates, or simply designates it. The object of art is a real object, and any linguistic or verbal approach of it must face at least the minimal conditions of truth and assertability. But the work of art is more than a real object, it is a public object, and I would like to enhance this fact in order to prevent the facile objection that the reality of the object cannot be a sufficient condition be- cause there are artistic objects whose existence is not material, but symbolic. If there is any difficulty in understanding Russell's idea about reality and existential statements, is quite sufficient to admit that works of art are »public and observable objects«. As Alan Tormey says, »one does not introspect, notice, observe, feel or detect that he judges that q. Critical judgements are formed, not found, and though the process of forming a critical j u d g m e n t may be private, the target of the judgment - the art work, the object j udged - is not.«17 Here, as elsewhere, if consistently stressed, subjectivism leads to the relativistic paradox, and a logical paradox is unacceptable in any theo- retical or at least non-fictional discourse.18 Therefore, reasons, as well as descriptions, cannot be entirely first-per- son affairs. If they were, art exegesis would be unintelligible and maybe even untransmissible. Probably, not even the polemics, which make the glory and the relish of art criticism would not be possible, for there would be no ob- jec t to quarrel about. The absolute subjectivity cannot be expressed: if it is, it means it surely hides intersubjective elements. To summarize, there are two things that become obvious from the analysis of description. They might sound as mere truisms, but they surely have the quality of the simple truths which restores the path to knowledge f rom time to time. First, we know that in common language description cannot be other- wise but adjectival. We also know that it never stands by itself and always needs a fur ther argument, which implies the use of reasons. Second, the adjectival handicap proved to be more like an advantage, because all the reasons, in- cluding aesthetic reasons, are tested. Two of the most common tests are the empirical t e s t - the confrontation of the critical statement with the real object 17 Alan Tormey, »Critical Judgements«, in Theoria, 39 (1973), p. 41. 18 For an excellent discussion on relativism and its internal limits, on fundamental philosophical topics, see Thomas Nagel's book The Last Word, 1997. 56 Description and Explanation in Art Exegesis - and the corroboration test, namely the test of the professional community, which always stands behind the word tradition. If it is true that we can test and justify our claims about art with no need to get outside the common language and to reject aesthetics or art exegesis as irrelevant to knowledge or futile, why would it be necessary to introduce the concept of explanation? Apparently, the analytic tradition itself seems to make this operation pointless, since it credits description as a perfect sub- stitute for explanation. For instance, in The Problem of Knowledge, Ayer shows that in philosophy description works as explanation, since philosophical problems cannot be settled by experiment . This position coincides with Wittgenstein's view that art cannot be »explained« otherwise than by the use of reasons (while science can use the explanation by causes or by laws). It is largely considered that justification by reasons is the only possible explana- tion in art, as it is seen as an instance of »human affairs« (as well as psychol- ogy, history, politics and so on) . And why wouldn't the presence of reasons be enough for analytic aes- thetics? I think the answer to this question implies different types of argu- ments. First, there is a methodological argument: we still don ' t have a mini- mal model of critical j udgement and its justification, and we still miss a ty- pology of aesthetic reasons, not to mention a model of accurate description. Maybe the use of this external model - namely the scientific model - would help, even if it is rightfully considered too »strong« to be uncritically trans- ferred to art exegesis. There are two major arguments against this transfer. First, explanation in science is symmetrical to prediction. Obviously, predic- tion in art is impossible, because each work of art is unique and its subjec- tive background is beyond any doubt. We can hardly talk about an accurate retrodiction in art exegesis (assuming that description and critical evalua- tion can stand for retrodiction).1'-' However, it must be said that the comparison with science is contested only because more often than not the image of science is naive and abridged. The doubtful character of the symmetry between explanation and predic- tion is a common place in epistemology, and in order to illustrate this I would like to quote Patrick Suppes's prophecy that »we shall never be able to move from good explanations to good predictions«.20 In science, it is a c o m m o n situation to face events that »are not predictable, yet in one sense explain- able«,21 and here Suppes is not talking about the sciences of man or »hu- 19 Michael Scriven, »The Objectivity of Aesthetic Evaluation«, in TheMonist, 50 (1966), pp. 159-87. 20 Patrick Suppes, »Explaining the Unpredictable«, in Suppes, Models andMehtods in the Philosophy of Science: Selected Essays, Dordrecht/Boston: Kluwer, 1993, p. 119. 21 Suppes, op.cit., p. 115. 57 Germina Nagat man affairs«. I would suggest that three of the types of explanations Suppes recommends as most plausible in science pose no problem to art exegesis: ex post facto explanation by reasons, teleological explanation, and explana- tion by randomness. (For instance, although I never saw an example of this last one, I think it could be very interesting to exercise it with regard to con- temporary aleamorphic art, and not only.) Another interesting proposal comes f rom Von Wright, who, in order to elude the problems of method- ological monism in the sciences of man concedes to a form of practical syl- logism which could eventually explain most of the human actions. There are many other arguments to support the need of explanation in art exegesis that I can mention here. Personally, I take the search for »an aesthetic counterpart of science«22 - which probably is a typically analytical syndrome - as perfectly legitimate, as long as Russell's observations about language and things are valid. After all, the work of art is a real object, it is a part of reality as much as a natural event, and all the statements about it must face the criterion of truth and adequacy. However, the major argument that I would like to bring in favour of explanation in art exegesis brings me back to the why- questions I have mentioned before. Despite their inherent problems, there is probably no reason why de- scription and interpretation cannot be accepted as an appropriate answer to the how-question about art. Still, this cannot replace the other major ques- tion which I think is unavoidable, here as much as elsewhere, because it is an essential element of the human mind. Description is not enough, and we will always need and look for explanations, even if this search is not al- ways explicitly assumed. Personally, I take any aesthetics to be mostly an at- tempt to answer the implicit wA)>-question of art. To answer this question, all we have to do is to return constantly to our fundamenta l concepts and problems, and to keep the critical spirit awake. 22 Shusterman, op.cit., p. 7. 58 Ossi Naukkarinen Philosophical Aesthetics and the Aesthetics of Everyday Life Introduction The central aim of the XlVth international Congress of Aesthetics was to illuminate the nature of aesthetics as philosophy. The theme inevitably makes one think about the other side of it as well. Then, the question is, what is non-philosophical aesthetics? The focus of this paper is the relationship between philosophical aes- thetics and other forms of aesthetic practice, and I believe that the nature of aesthetics as philosophy can better be understood comparing it with non- philosophical aesthetics. I will concentrate on non-philosophical aesthetics, especially on the aesthetics of everyday life, and outline its advantages and drawbacks. What can be done in and through it? What not? If we talk about everyday aesthet- ics', what should we pay attention to in the first place? I will illuminate the general question with the help of an example - what is »said« of an aesthetic nature through make-up, hair-dos, clothes and other things related to a person's appearance, and what kind of aesthetics can be manifested through such things? And how does this differ from philosophi- cal aesthetics? I It is clear that aesthetic conceptions and values can be manifested not only through verbal expressions but also through deeds and action. One can show what one appreciates simply by wearing a certain kind of clothes. In philosophical aesthetics as an academic discipline the typical manner of dealing with aesthetic issues and expressing one's ideas is to write and talk about them. One explicates in words how one connects one's thoughts with the earlier philosophical discourse. But this is indeed not the way one mani- fests one's aesthetics in everyday surroundings. There, non-verbal or tacit cases of aesthetics are dominant. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 59-64 59 Ossi Naukkarinen But if everyday aesthetics is to a large extent tacit, what does it mean and what does it reveal of the nature of such aesthetics? If ideas are not explained in words but shown through clothes or bodily movements and deeds, what does this indicate? And can something like this be philosophi- cal? What, indeed, can be done through this sort of aesthetics? I start with some obvious drawbacks of such aesthetics, and move on to its advantages in a moment . First, the drawbacks - al though we can discuss whether or not they actually are drawbacks after all. 1. Firstly, the messages one sends through, say, clothes are often fairly imprecise. Take a look at the accompanying picture, for example. It is easy to see that this attire has something to do with rather unconventional ideas about dressing up. But there are issues that are much more uncertain: what does this person actually appreciate, for example? This particular color? Cut? Material? Designer? How does she want to be understood? Does she like the dress, or is she being forced to wear it? Is her getup an aesthetic statement at all, or is it perhaps a sexual or political one? Tacit messages in everyday life are hints or clues ra ther than clear signs. Thus, they cannot be very philosophical in the standard meaning of the word, because philosophy, I think, should be as clear and precise as possible. (What kind of clarity and precision philosophy actually needs and what kind of clarity is possible is another, very tough question, of course.) 2. The second point is close to the first one or defines it, namely, such manifestations of aesthetics cannot be analyzed to reveal their nature, their relation to other sorts of aesthetic solutions or to their background. They cannot tell why they are what they are or why they are not something else, and they cannot present alternatives. They simply are what they are. The contrast to well formulated philosophical cases of aesthetics is striking. 3. Thirdly, tacit cases of aesthetics are unable to negate most things. They cannot reveal what is not valuable, what is not appreciated and so on. Tacit everyday aesthetics is dominantly affirmative. It accepts and empha- sizes the things it shows but it does not actually say anything about the things it does not show. A business suit does not deny the value of jeans since it does not take any stand on them. The point of departure of everyday aesthetics is not to question things and reflect ideas through that, in contrast to the point of view of philosophy. 4. The fourth point is the last one, and it is perhaps the most interest- ing one. Namely, it is obvious that one cannot reach many philosophically interesting questions and areas at all if one sticks to clothes and other such means of presenting one's aesthetic ideas. How could one say anything on 60 Philosophical Aesthetics and the Aesthetics of Everyday Life Ossi Naukkarinen ontology or how could one define anything through that? Such questions, however, are at the very core of academic philosophical aesthetics. It must be stressed, however, that this last weakness is very strongly cre- ated by the everyday context. Many artworks are quite as mute as normal attire but they can activate these problems because that is what we expect to hap- pen in the art world. Pieces of canvas that look practically the same as pieces of cloth can be seen as some sorts of definition of art or as ontological com- ments. Consider certain works of Malevitch and their relation to figurative art - they are philosophical, even if not quite in the same way as academic studies. Or what is even more appropriate here, think about Eva and Adele! They create their art through their personal appearance, clothes, make-up and behavior. All in all, tacitness itself is not an absolute obstacle for some- thing to be philosophical, but in everyday surroundings or contexts non- philosophicalness seems to be the case. Thus, many restrictions are largely due to the way we approach things in everyday life. The things »in themselves«, so to speak, are not as impo- tent as it might seem at the outset, but the everyday mode of dealing with them leads us to think so. But this, of course, is only functional: our every- day lives must rest largely on simple and unquest ioned conceptions about the world if we want to be able to do anything. If we pondered everything profoundly, we would soon starve to death. So much for the disadvantages of the aesthetics of everyday life. On the other hand, there are clear advantages in presenting one's aes- thetic ideas and values in the tacit everyday way - advantages compared to more philosophical and especially to traditional academic forms of aesthet- ics. 1. Firstly, in one sense, visual or »displayed« manifestations of one 's ideas are more precise than verbal or other conceptual approaches - even if they lack other sorts of precision. One can look like one's aesthetics, so to speak, and it is important to notice that such visual presentations are able to convey information on a nuanced level. I can say »She is wearing a black dress«, but that is not at all as exact as the information one gets f rom look- ing at her dress - then you see exactly what kind of black the black is. This kind of information is only attainable through the senses, not through ver- bal, conceptual descriptions, with which philosophers often are content . Moreover, if one thinks of what detailed comparisons, as regards colors, for example, one can make do with one's eyes and how poorly equipped we conceptually are in this regard, the difference becomes evident. There are always many perceptually different colors that are described and remem- bered through one concept only. (Note that even if we talked about non- 62 Philosophical Aesthetics and the Aesthetics of Everyday Life verbal, visual concepts, they are also rough instruments when compared to what we really see.) 2. Secondly, »wearable aesthetics« is very effective and rapid at convey- ing information. One can see surprisingly many things practically in a frac- tion of a second. I can see at least something essential of someone else's aesthetic ideas and show my own ideas to others without problems within a brief moment when we meet in the street. Compare this to the time you have to spend in reading an article or a book about someone's aesthetic ideas - not to mention the time that is necessarily spent on writing such works. 3. Lastly, everyday aesthetics is very swift to change and react to its sur- roundings. If one wishes to present another sort of aesthetic idea, one only needs to change one's attire, and that can be done within minutes. And if one wishes to react to anything in one's surroundings quickly, this is also easily done. Compare this, once again, to rigid academic/phi losophical forms of aesthetics. There, if one wishes to deal with aesthetic issues in a typical way, i.e. through writing, it is not easy to do it very quickly, simply for practical reasons. A profound analysis of any aesthetic question may take years if not decades to produce. There is hardly point in talking about »re- actions« here at all. II I have presented some of the drawbacks and advantages of everyday aesthetics. Of course I have simplified matters. What one should think about these aspects depends on what one wishes to say about aesthetic questions and to accomplish by certain aesthetic practices. If one's goal is to form a philosophically penetrating analysis about anything, one cannot do it just through wearing clothes. Then, muteness is a disadvantage; one needs words. On the other hand, the aesthetics of everyday life is much simpler than criti- cal analyses, and the place of philosophical aesthetics is not in everyday life. There, other forms of aesthetics are more vital and practical, and speed and simple, even superficial effectiveness count more than deep analyses or conceptual precision. And, of course, tacitness is not a flaw in any serious way. But different kinds of aesthetics need not be completely disconnected f rom each other. Philosophical aesthetics can analyze the crucial aspects of everyday aesthetics. It can - and should - analyze what tacitness, impreci- sion and affirmation mean, what speed or some sort of volatility means, and so on. At the same time, by studying practices that are not philosophical, 63 Ossi Naukkarinen philosophy would, through negation, deepen its picture of its own charac- teristics and capacities as well. Moreover, considering how art-dominated a field philosophical aesthetics has been up till lately, one should try to find out which concepts and questions of that kind of aesthetics are relevant in the context of everyday aesthetics in the first place. Is it, for example, im- portant to ponder what originality or creativity is, as it has been in the art world? I would suggest that it is not crucial simply because such phenom- ena are not very important in everyday life context. Rather, often their coun- terparts seem to be. A systematic map or even a comprehensive list of issues that are cen- tral and worthy of attention in everyday aesthetics cannot be presented here - I have tried to say something of that elsewhere - but it is clear that these issues are not quite the same as those that have been pivotal in art philoso- phy or in any other field of philosophy. The philosophical analysis of every- day aesthetics must be of its own kind. In any case, the most important thing to my mind is that it seems that philosophical analyses of everyday life could be a good way to make philoso- phy more interesting and understandable to more people. It would move philosophy closer to their daily lives. On the other hand, stretching philoso- phy beyond its traditional boundaries creates new kinds of problem for philosophers to ponder. And this, I believe, is the only way to keep philoso- phy alive in the long run. 64 Katerina Reed-Tsocha Dividing Lines, Impoverished Domains: The Aesthetic and the Artistic This paper is a preliminary investigation into the distinction between two concepts, the viability of the distinction, the precise way of drawing it, the motivation behind it and its general implications. The distinction I will be talking about is one drawn between the concept of the aesthetic and that of the artistic and is applicable to distinct kinds of judgement , value and appreciation. The distinction is widely acknowledged and drawn in many different ways with different purposes in mind.1 Therefore, when I refer to the motivation behind the distinction I do not mean a welcome desire for conceptual clarity but, rather, much more specific motives: such as consid- era t ions of puri ty at one e n d ( the kind of aesthet ic pur i sm f o u n d in Beardsley)2 and the need to do away with the artwork in favour of the 1 An overview of the different ways of drawing the distinction is given by Bohdan Dziemidok in his »On Aesthetic and Artistic Evaluations of the Work of Art« in Peter McCormick (ed. ) The Reasons of Art, Ottawa: Ottawa University Press 1985 and »On the Need to Distinguish Between Aesthetic and Artistic Evaluations of Art« in R.J. Yanal (ed. ) Institutions of Art: Reconsiderations of George Dickie's Philosophy, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press 1994. See also his »Controversy About the Aesthetic Nature of Art« British Journal of Aesthetics 28 (1988) 1-17 and »Aesthetic Experience and Evaluation« in J. Fisher (ed. ) Essays on Aesthetics: Perspectives on the Work ofM. C. Beardsley, Philadelphia: Temple University Press 1983. With entirely different motivation, the distinction is made out by David Best who links the artistic with the »possibility of expression of a conception of life issues«. See »The Aesthetic and the Artistic, Philosophy 57 (1982) 351-372, reprinted as ch. 11 in his Feeling and Reason in the Arts, London 1985, and »The Aesthetic and the Artistic«, chapter 12 in The Rationality of Feeling, London 1992. The same link is drawn by Graham McFee in »Art, Beauty and the Ethical« (unpublished paper given in Antwerp 1996), whereas in »The Artistic and the Aesthetic«(unpublished paper given at the Annual Conference of the British Society of Aesthetics 1998), McFee firmly locates the aesthetic outside the domain of art arguing that »to attribute (merely) aesthetic properties to artworks is to misperceive them« [p. 2]. See also »Basic Concepts« in G. McFee Understanding Dance, London: Routledge 1992. 2 M. C. Beardsley, Aesthetics, Indianapolis: Hackett 1980. Also Alfred Lessing, »What is Wrong with a Forgery?« in Dennis Dutton (ed.) The Forger's Art, Berkeley: University of California Press 1983 andR. Rudner »On Seeing What we Shall See« in R. Rudner and I. Scheffler (eds.) Logic and Art: Essays in Honour of Nelson Goodman, Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill 1972. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVI CA Supplement), pp. 65-130 121 Katerina Reed-Tsocha readymade at the other extreme (that occupied by some advocates of the institutional theory)3. My discussion is restricted in two ways: (a) by virtue of being prelimi- nary in the sense that I focus on what I take to be the »prehistory« of the distinction, and (b) by being narrow in scope. The main part of the paper is therefore concerned with Beardsley's distinction between objective and genetic judgements and its supporting secondary distinctions. Beardsley's distinction amounts to a dichotomy between the aesthetic as perceptual and to a narrow conception of the artistic as genetic, referring to the artist in the terms of the doctrine of the Intentional Fallacy. The polarised, schematic way in which the objective and the genetic domain are separated in the context of this approach characterises also various subsequent attempts to separate the aesthetic and the artistic, in particular when the distinction is invoked in order to resolve the problem of forgeries, one of the so-called »puzzles of Aesthetics« whose formulation relies precisely on the conception of the aesthetic that is consequently invoked in order to dispel the confu- sion. Thus in the concluding part of my paper I will discuss briefly the prob- lem of forgeries in relation to the distinction. In a sense, the paper remains inconclusive, so to speak, simply because the material I cover is highly se- lective in a biased way and thus perhaps insufficient in order to support the conclusion I would like to draw. This conclusion, which is implicitly present throughout my discussion, amounts to the expression of extreme skepticism with respect to the appropriateness of the concept of the aesthetic in defin- ing the character of our appreciation of works of art. This line of thought supports the idea of our appreciation of works of art seen as exactly this, i.e. a holistic, well-integrated response whose character is art-historically, insti- tutionally defined. On the other hand, a conclusion that can be supported by my material is that the sharp delineation of the aesthetic domain effected unde r the regime of considerations of purity leaves the aesthetic in a state of extreme impoverishment. Beardsley's conception of the aesthetic object as it appears in his 1958 Aesthetics may sound dated today. However, the debate his theory of the aes- thetic and the related anti-intentionalism stimulated is still very much alive. Moreover, his later, refined, theory of aesthetic experience and the aesthetic definition of art (involving the notion of an »aesthetic artwork« - a major concession to intentionalism) are still quite influential. 3 T. Binkley, »Piece: Contra Aesthetic« in J. Margolis (ed.) Philosophy Looks at the Arts, Philadelphia: Temple University Press 1977. For a discussion of the institutional theory leading to the distinction as a way of resolving what are considered to be its difficulties, see Carolyn Korsmeyer, »On Distinguishing Between Aesthetic and Artistic«, The Journal of Aesthetic Education 11 (1977) 45-57. 66 Dividing Lines, Impoverished Domains: The Aesthetic and the Artistic Going back to Beardsley's distinction between objective and genetic reasons (judgements), i.e. those that are genuinely attributed to the work itself and those that refer to the causes and conditions of the work and in- clude not only psychological processes but also the physical processes that b rought the work into being, I am not concerned with discarding, quite redundantly, an out-of-date distinction. Rather, I am trying to highlight the surprising (to me, at least) fact that the terms in which this distinction is conceived survive to some extent in later attempts to separate the aesthetic and the artistic. That is, although nobody would think of casting the artistic in Beardsley's simplistic terms, it is still thought of as something external to the work and it is often conceived in a schematic, polarised way. Which brings me to the second reason why I find it useful to look at Beardsley again, a reason that has to do with distinction-drawing strategies in general. For the objective/genetic distinction is supported by a number of other distinctions, some of them employing spatial metaphors like the distinction between in- ternal and external characteristics of the aesthetic object which in their turn define what lies inside and what falls outside the domain of the aesthetic. There is also the distinction between veridical and illusory characteristics of the aesthetic object, i.e. those that rely on direct sensory awareness (the aesthetic object is after all defined as »a perceptual object«) as opposed to the latter that involve the »obscurity« of inference. My claim with respect to all the above is that Beardsley is not able to maintain the distinctness of the dichotomies he proposes and that this fact renders his approach inco- herent . To see why this is so requires (a) making a preliminary point about translatability and (b) going through his list of genetic and objective reasons and structuring it somewhat by organising some of them in opposing pairs. First, translatability. Beardsley's project of objective criticism is correc- tive in character aiming at reforming criticism and shaking off even the last traces of the intentional fallacy. In this context, he proposes a specific way of correcting critical judgements by recasting them in objective terms. This amounts to the principle of translatability of genetic to objective judgements. But the mere possibility of translatability, involving as it would, the transfer- ence of semantic content, unchanged (i.e. without any loss of meaning) , f rom the domain of the genetic to that of the objective shows that the con- ceptual dichotomy between the two domains is not as rigid as Beardsley wants us to believe. For clearly, the meaning of the genetic statement would be pre- served in the objective one. So are we dealing with a cont inuum rather than a distinction here? The following observations should reinforce this impression. Thus re turning to the pairs of critical terms, we find that: (i) the s tatement »art- 67 Katerina Reed-Tsocha work x is well-organised« is accepted as an objective j udgemen t as opposed to »x is skilful« which is condemned as genetic, and (ii) the notion of style is accepted as objective while »technique« is rejected. The sharp opposition between the terms in each antithetical pair however can be challenged once some additional considerations are introduced. This is what I will try to do now. Thus starting with the first opposition: Beardsley's sharp opposition between »skilful«, construed as »being skilfully made« and hence involving the end-means terminology and thus ultimately being a hidden j udgemen t about the producer rather than about the work, and »well-organised« as an acceptable »purely descriptive« judgement referring to the unity of the work is easily challenged by pointing out that the latter has equal claims to being construed as »x was organised in a very efficient manner« and thus involv- ing the end-means terminology as well. This comes as no surprise: artworks are created according to some principle of organisation that functions as an ideal end to which various technical rules were employed as means. Artworks should be seen as products of intelligent action and this organising intelli- gence should always be inferred from their formal features. But even after we discard the claim that 'skilful' is an attribute of the artist rather than the work, we are still left with an opposition. However, we can draw an analogy between those judgements that refer to the internal organisation of the work and a class of judgements that attribute skill on the basis of the correct application of technical rules. Thus »well-organised«, a structural property, and »skilful«, a technical one, can be construed in an analogous manner by reversing an argument that Stolnitz4 gives in an at- tempt to subsume artistic judgements under the broader genus of aesthetic ones. The argument draws a link between attributions of skill and making decisions and is useful in this context because decision-making is not unre- lated to applying an organisational principle. Stolnitz's argument regards attributions of skill applied to what Stolnitz refers to as »the perceptual content of music«, taking as his example the, highly conventionalised, we should note, genre of the sonata. Focusing on the statement S : »the transition at the recapitulation f rom the second sub- ject to the first subject was skilfully made«, Stolnitz unfolds what he describes as S's »perceptual meaning«. Omitting the technicalities, it is enough to say that there exist a range of conventionally established alternative ways in which the transition can be effected. These vary f rom scale passages, i.e. simple acoustic fillers, to rather intriguing harmonic constructions based on 4 J. Stolnitz, »The Artistic Values in Aesthetic Experience«, TheJournal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 32 (1979) 5-15. 68 Dividing Lines, Impoverished Domains: The Aesthetic and the Artistic the interplay between the two themes. Since the transition follows at the end of the development of the second subject when the first subject returns, we are in a position, having listened so far, to anticipate the technical problem the composer is going to face. We can think of the various alternatives that are open to him. And yet, a technically perfect solution can still trigger our admiration as well as a reaction of surprise: this would qualify as a skilful solution. In other words, the tactical move that Stolnitz resorts to here is to place the perceiver in the composer's position and enforce upon him the prob- lem-situation that the composer is confronting. This amounts, for him, to a case of aesthetic enjoyment of the art-making activity. Thus listening to the work becomes a kind of composing it and, we may add, also the other way around, composing is a kind of listening. The distinctness of the two activi- ties is blurred as listening emerges as a cognitive exercise we engage in by reconstructing the composer's problem. The point that needs to be made however is that this reconstruction often has to be far more elaborate than the fill-in-the-gap situation that Stolnitz envisages. And here I can only refer you to Michael Baxandall 's excellent discussion of the technical problems that Picasso and Braque en- countered and the solutions they provided each other with.5 The implica- tions of the possibility of such intricate reconstructions are far-reaching and my time-constraints make it impossible to unravel them here. It is however enough, for the purposes of my argument, to retain the point that by nar- rowing down the genetic, hence artistic, and opening up the aesthetic, all on the common basis of a construal that would employ the idea of a recon- struction of the creative process even if this is recast as merely a series of choices between a range of alternatives, we see how the aesthetic and the artistic interpermeate each other. A different argument leading to the same conclusion can be construed with respect to the second antithetical pair that I singled out above, that is, style and technique. This would involve reforming the not ion of style as employed by Beardsley by opening it up and unfolding its construal into a discussion of technique. Beardsley defines style as »the recurrent features in the texture or structure of a painting«. This amounts to a narrow formal definition which reduces style to a statistical matter of counting repetitive patterns. The theoretical debate on style,15 however, is organised a round two major conceptions of style: (a) style as a matter of human disposition toward 5 Patterns of Intention: On the Historical Explanation of Pictures, New Haven: Yale University Press 1985. 6 See Berel Lang (eel.), The Concept of Style, Ithaca, N. Y.: Cornell University Press 1987. 69 Katerina Reed-Tsocha action7 and (b) style as a matter of choice among constraints set by the his- tory of art or by artistic technique.8 What both approaches share in common is the idea that some reference to the artist, either direct or implicit, can- not be eliminated. Reforming, as I put it earlier, Beardsley's conception of style would involve asking how stylistic traits contribute to the work's unity, how they funct ion together. In other words, it would amount to considering the sty- listic traits' organic function within the aesthetic object. This would involve invoking a background of alternatives in a way similar to the analysis of skil- ful above. Thus the formalistic definition of style would unfold itself into a discussion of the, unacceptably genetic, according to Beardsley, notion of technique. What is now required is an argument in the opposite direction that would recast »technique« in terms of the technical details involved in the produc- tion of the work and show how many of them directly determine our percep- tion. This argument is twofold: it involves construing technique as (i) related to technical characteristics (the choice of materials), and (ii) as referring to technical rules that were employed in the process of making the picture. The first part of the argument relies on the idea that certain materials are more appropriate than others in rendering a certain aesthetic effect, thus treating attributions of aesthetic effect, such as e.g. »delicate« as category-rela- tive. Noting that such terms are objective for Beardsley, this possibility leads us to the following situation: we have an aesthetic term that refers to the form of the painting and whose paradigmatic use is to be found within a category of paintings that are classified as such by virtue of the materials employed in producing them; thus our case amounts to an objective aesthetic term whose use is partly determined by a non-objective characteristic. Furthermore, and moving on now to the second leg of the argument , contra Beardsley, technical rules may govern our perception, esp. in cases where naturalism withdraws and the perceptual content of the work requires deciphering of an intensely cognitive character. The obvious example comes f rom cubism: a number of cubist devices or, otherwise, »modes of abstrac- tion« were employed with the specific aim »to represent reality as per- ceived«,'' that is from all perspectives. They involved, for example, the frag- 7 Cf. Wollheim's claim thatstyle has psychological reality, see »Pictorial Style: Two Views« in Lang (ed.) 8 A definition along these lines is given by Leonard Meyer in »Towards a Theory of Style« in Lang (ed.), p. 21. ,J For a very illuminating discussion of this point see Harold Osborne »Cubism, Cezanne and Perceptual Realism« in his Abstraction and Artifice in Twentieth Century Art, Oxford: Clarendon Press 1979. 70 Dividing Lines, Impoverished Domains: The Aesthetic and the Artistic mentation of objects, the analysis of their volumes into various types of ab- stract forms suggestive of their three-dimensionality, the combinat ion of different views of the same object (in profile, frontally, in elevation, in sec- tion) etc. These devices, which are all matters of technique, hold the key to our deciphering the representational content of cubist paintings; in fact, artistic factors though they may be, they determine our correct perceptual experience of the works. Thus now that the genetic/artistic attribution of technique has taken us back to the aesthetic/perceptual experience of the work/aesthetic object the inversion of the categories has been effected. The key tactical moves involved in this whole transition f rom the aes- thetic to the artistic and back consisted in (a) hypothesising about the al- ternative technical solutions open to the artist and (b) reconstructing the process of the work's production. These strategies lead us to posit the fig- ure of an apparent artist, a theoretical construction having the funct ion of a unifying principle. This conclusion would be sufficient to undermine the watertight distinction between the aesthetic and the artistic as it appears in Beardsley although the apparent artist is not a sufficient methodological tool for the purposes of a more developed philosophy of art since apparent pro- cess and actual production may diverge esp. in cases that involve elements of forging (either a forged aesthetic effect or full-scale forgeries).10 The figure of the apparent artist is invoked in order to help illustrate the idea that »we see in the work the action of producing it«.11 In both kinds of cases mentioned above, however, and perhaps more interestingly in those that I described as cases of forged aesthetic effect, such as Monet 's rapid brushstrokes that turn out to be carefully and meticulously worked out through thick layers of underpaint ing with just about zero real spontaneity about them, the apparent artist is not a sufficient methodological tool any- more. Such cases show that we need to move on f rom the idea of »apparent process« to that of »reconstructed real process«. Now the claim that we see in the work the action of producing it is stretched to its limits operat ing as a constraint on our reconstructions. In some cases, this amounts to the claim that there is nothing in what we see that contradicts the reconstruction of the artistic process as this has been effected with the help of means that lie outside the work: art-historical evidence, for example. Elsewhere, it has the 10 My example of what I refer to as a »forged aesthetic effect« relies on Rosalind Krauss' deconstruction of Monet's brushstrokes in »The Originality of the Avant-Garde« in The Originality of the Avant-Garde and Other Modernist Myths, Cambridge Mass. : M. I. T. Press 1994. 11 See Kendall Walton, »Style and the Products and Processes of Art« in Lang (ed.), p. 81. 71 Katerina Reed-Tsocha less problematic meaning that we discern the artistic action in the work af- ter we have reached a full account of that action because the visual evidence available was inconclusive. These last remarks represent a major advance in our discussion so far. In other words, up to this point my main concern was to refute Beardsley's dichotomies simply by showing that the aesthetic and the genetic/artistic interpermeate each other. This was sufficient as far as Beardsley's approach goes but it may seem that in doing so, I am leaving open the possibility of construing the aesthetic and the artistic in terms of the genus-species model, subsuming the one under the other. My ultimate aim however was to show that the artistic on its own is fully adequate to cope with the requirements that the appreciation of art poses. Thus by expanding the artistic into the grey area between that and the aesthetic, I do not intend to make it an overarching concept but rather the only concept that is appropriate in or- der to describe our appreciation of art. Having said this, I can now conclude with some final remarks pertain- ing to the problem of forgeries.The discussion of forgeries is cen te red a round the ra ther artificial paradox of the original and its perceptually indistinguishable fake, a problem which is often resolved in a facile man- ner by resorting to the distinction between the aesthetic and the artistic. It is then argued that such identical paintings would differ in artistic value but would be equal in terms of aesthetic value. This kind of reply has the disadvantage that it legitimizes the paradox by endorsing the possibility of perceptual indistinguishability between paint- ings as a genuine possibility. Still, let us resist the temptation to continue the argument along the lines of proving that the whole paradox of perceptual indistinguishability is a non-starter and let us go along with it. According to some proponents of the distinction, this paradox is dissolved by employing the terms of the distinction in the following way: the aesthetic is defined as pertaining to the visual qualities of the picture, i.e. the »actual« properties that are exemplified by the canvas itself. The artistic is seen as completely external to the work belonging to the domain of criticism or art history. This approach, defended among others by Tomas Kulka,12 is fur ther enr iched with a quantitative, school-textbook style model of measuring the aesthetic and the artistic value in a work in a scale from 0 to 10, and with additional links of the aesthetic to the pleasing and the beautiful. And it is precisely this kind of argument that led me to claim earlier that the terms in which 12 T. Kulka, »The Artistic and the Aesthetic Value of Art«, British Journal of Aesthetics 21(1981) 336-350 and »The Artistic and Aesthetic Status of Forgeries«, Leonardo 15 (1982) 115-117. 72 Dividing Lines, Impoverished Domains: The Aesthetic and the Artistic Beardsley casts his objective/genetic distinction survive in the aesthet ic/ artistic distinction as it is commonly used. For what are regarded as art-his- torical factors, such as originality or authenticity, are seen as so external to the work that they end up in the same league as the artist's biography. Once again we have to put up with the internal /external dichotomy. The conclusion I draw from all the above can be summarised as follows: there is a genuine distinction between the concept of the aesthetic and that of the artistic but their respective domains of application are very different f rom what they are usually taken to be, that is, the distinction can be made out with precision only if the aesthetic is to be excluded f rom the domain of art.13 It is of course possible, despite this, to insist that an original artwork and an identical looking fake have equal aesthetic value but we would only be able to secure that at a very heavy price: neither of them would then be seen as a work of art. Such an implication runs contrary to the whole spirit of attributions of aesthetic value. And even if it appears as appealing to those who are inclined not to regard fakes as art, it has the disastrous consequence that the fake »takes down with it«, so to speak, the original artwork as well. This way we end up with an artwork that is regarded as non-art, i.e. as a mere perceptual surface.14 13 For a similar conclusion arising out of different concerns see McFee, op. cit. My concerns in following McFee's radical line are much narrower, i. e. seeing the artistic in terms of the technical and the institutional. 14 I would like to thank Graham McFee for useful discussions on a number of occasions as well as for allowing me to see his unpublished work on the artistic and the aesthetic. G.W. Trompf Post-Modernism as Decadence On Aesthetics and the Philosophy of History En route to the Ljubljana conference, and as yet unsure what to present to it, I made for an historic library at the Stift Klosterneuburg, Austria. My taxi was blocked from delivering me, however, since I was enter ing the sa- cred city of St Leopold and the Babenberg house on the day that half its bodily upright inhabitants engaged in a mass running race f rom its precincts to the centre. I smiled. The competitors were all expensively clad in athletic outfits to disprove »in the long run« what the European originator of this »fitness enthusiasm« had first alarmingly bellowed: that Westerners were in danger of physical, let alone cultural, »Degeneration«. I refer of course to the well-known Jewish, indeed Zionist polemicist Max Nordau, who should be ra ther be t te r r e m e m b e r e d for writing a very widely read volume - Entartung (1892) - about the socio-cultural condition of the West á la fin du siecle, at the end of the last century.1 An early summary statement in that volume speaks loudly of Nordau's assessments. What, he asks, does the fin-de-sieclephenomenon amount to in his time? It means a practical emanc ipa t ion f r o m tradi t ional discipline, which theoretically is still in force. To the voluptuary this means unbr id led lewd- ness, the uncha in ing of the beast in man; to the withered hear t of the egoist, disdain of all cons idera t ion for his fellow-men, the t r ampl ing u n d e r foot of all barriers which enclose brutal greed of lucre and lust of pleasure; to the con t emner of the world it means the shameless ascen- dancy of base impulses and motives, which were, if no t virtuously sup- pressed, at lease hypocritically h idden; to the believer it means the re- pudiat ion of dogma, the negation of a super-sensuous world, the descent into flat phenomena l i sm; to the sensitive na tu re yearning for aesthetic thrills, it means the vanishing of ideals in art, and no more power in its accepted fo rms to arouse emot ion. And to all, it means the e n d of an established order, which for thousands of years has satisfied logic, fet tered depravity, and in every art ma tu red someth ing of beauty. O n e epoch of history is unmistakably in its decline, and ano the r is an- nounc ing its approach . The re is a sound of r end ing in every tradit ion, 1 For background, especially S.Avineri, The Making of Modern Zionism (New York: Harper, 1981), ch. 10. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVI CA Supplement), pp. 75-130 121 G.W. Trompf and it is as though the morrow would not link itself with to-day. Things as they are totter and plunge, ... because man is weary, and there is no faith that it is worth an effort to uphold them... The great majority of the middle and lower classes is naturally not fin- de-siecle ... The Philistine and the Proletarian still finds undiluted satis- faction in the old and oldest forms of art and poetry, if he knows him- self unwatched by the scornful eye of the votary of fashion... It is only a very small minority who honestly find pleasure in the new tendencies... But this minority has the gift of covering the whole visible surface of society, as a little oil extends over a large area of the surface of the sea... And thus it appears as if the whole of civilized humanity were converted to the aesthetics of the Dusk of the Nations.2 T h e question compels; have matters changed? or, colloquially, »so what's new?« Genuine pejorists and uninformitarians, of course, will have already constrained us from expecting anything better from most times. That reminds me, I did eventually get into the Stift Bibliothek, only to be de- pressed by the past. I worked on a late sixteenth century Latin text by Juan de Mariana about the history of Spain from her origins to the reign of Philip II. Covering page after page of the turbulence, intrigue and venality, how- ever, all preventing the outcome of a united Spain until nearer his own time, the liberal Jesuit is left gasping for a breath of explanation (and his continu- ator had to face the signs of Spain's decline following the failed, fabled Ar- mada) . The nearest de Mariana could come to a covering principle - a rather pessimistic one - is that humans are caught in an eternally conditioned web of causes f rom which they never really extract themselves and which the ancient Stoics called fate.3 Perhaps this may resign us to expect »more of the same« too concessively, for after all, there have always been voices of lament over social dilapidations through the ages, as the clanging of bells to slightly different tunes. Yet it is hardly a matter lacking interest that some very i m p o r t a n t intel lectuals in our t ime are s o u n d i n g notes very like Nordau's, in the twentieth century West's fin-de-siecle, fin-de-millenium situa- tion. Consider two recent and related treatises. One is by Ernst Gellner on the affects of cultural and existential relativism as indicative of the post- modernist condition: for him we are reaping expressions of fundamental- 2 The Nordau edition used: Degeneration (Heinemann's Empire Library of Standard Works 1) (London: Heinemann, 1895), pp. 5-7. 3 J. Mariana, Historiae de rebus Hispaniae libri triginta (ed. and add. J. E. Miniana) (The Hague: Hag. Comit., 1731 edn. ) , vol. 2, p. 377 (Bk. XX, 16). On pejor ism, uniformitarianism, etc., G. W. Trompf, The Idea of Historical Recurrence in Western Thought (Berkeley and London: University of California Press, 1979), vol. l , p p . 110-12, 248, 291-5, etc. 76 Post-Modernism, as Decadence On Aesthetics and the Philosophy of History ist certainty as a reaction, together with the loss of faith in ideal beauty and truth as a symptom of perplexing times.4 The other is very recent, and a daring attempt at a general history of Truth by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, eminent author of The Millennium. He decided that, given the yawning gap, the West desperately rerquired such an account, which includes tracing apprehensions of beauty, because a paradoxical combination of consumer- ism, pluralism and faddish intellectual trends are making it increasingly difficult to hold to any such profundities.5 Macrohistorically speaking, both analysts smell the corrupting of old socio-cultural cohesions. Between the brilliance of late Victorian England, or Dionysian Vienna, or Gustave Moreau's Paris, down to our own time there have been more than enough traumas, indeed global ones, to make the discourse of decadence continuingly viable, even world-wide, in its force. Somewhere in the chro- nological middle WB. Yeats summed it up poetically. Turning and turning in the widening gyre, The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, whilst the worst Are full of passionate intensity.1' And I am now beginning to ask myself, on your behalf in this context, whether »the beast« he imagined slouching »towards Bethlehem to be born« was: post-modernism. Or perhaps I should specify »the post-modernist con- dition«, because in a short space I will obviously have to disentangle con- cepts and terminology, in fact a lot of semantic confusion. I mean, I honestly cannot pinpoint the origins of post-modernity as a complex cultural trajectory. Each aesthetic and intellectual sphere will have to be revisited time and again to unravel that special issue. I am obviously more immediately concerned with post-War figures self-designating as minds reacting against the so-called »Enlightenment Project«, taken by them as axial modernity. A curiosity arises for me at this stage of the argument in that I have remained immensely challenged and mentally invigorated by the great protagonists for the post-modern - Lacan, Derrida, Foucault , Iragaray, 4 Gellner, Postmodernism., Reason and Religion (London and New York: Routledge, 1992), esp. chs. 1-3, 5. 5 Fernandez-Armesto, Truth: a history (London: Bantam, 1997), esp. chs. 5-6 cf. The Millennium: a history of our last one thousand years (London: Bantam, 1995). 6 Yeats, »The Second Coming« (1926) in Collected Poems (London: Macmillan 1958 edn.) , p. 211 77 G.W. Trompf Jameson, and the like. Quite often I feel as disjointed and as ontically lonely as Octavio Paz. I also revel somewhat in the imagic t ransformat ions of quirkish post-modern art, although the list of captivating Gestalten would be too inordinate to present here: Mark Kostabi's Princess Diana as virginal Madonna, a clothed Kate Moss as a beauty model posing in a feminist take- off of Manet's »Breakfast on the Green« with two male nudes, and so on.7 Why, I have to admit, I did not get aggravated enough to protest Andres Serrano's »Piss Christ«, let alone become implicated in the theft of Tania Kovat's »Virgin in a Condom« from the Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art.8 Like most of the people reading this paper I have to learnt to place such »developments« in the world of aesthetics (which I concede could ac- tually enervate one into a »lack of cultural conviction«), even if I do reserve the right to lament, as I believe you would, what I sense to be »monumen- tally bad taste«, or, to put a contentious matter cautiously, what is »uncon- scionably uglifying«.,J But here I stand as a scholarly cultural symptomatologist; and in my ongoing work on The Idea of Historical Recurrence in Western, and now more- and more non-Western thought, I become increasingly familiar with the reflective »sign reading« or »semeiology« of civilizational corruption, decay, decline, degeneration, decadenza, Untergang, even disintegration. All sorts of interesting things come out of comparative symptomatologies in relation to aesthetics. Pursue but one small avenue for an impression. Well before Theodor Adorno's analyses of mass culture, for instance, or our very own A r n o l d Ber leant ' s res i l ing over the world 's »Disneyficat ion«, Albe r t Schweitzer intuited one of the best indices for The Decay of Civilization to be the modern billboard.10 Pace my own uncle, Percy Trompf, who was clearly one of the world's greatest billboard painters, there is a lot to this assessment. You jus t have to travel in the central Canadian countryside, where the 7 I refer to Kostabi's 'The Sanctification of Virtue' (1997). For the latter case, see W. Klauser, »Das Model und die alten Meister: Kate Moss posiert in der neuern YSL- Kampagne nach historischen Vorbilden«, Gala 35 /4 (Aug. 1998): 30-1. This ploy can obviously be taken too far, as in the string of 'spoofs' on paintings in the great tradition of the West by the Australian painter Brett Whiteley. 8 For the latter altercation, The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 Oct., 1997: 1. 9 Here I preempt issues being raised in F. Speed's work in Aesthetics and Philosophy, »The Physics of Ugliness« (Doctoral dissert., University of Lancaster), Lancaster (forthcoming). 10 Cf. Schweitzer, The Decay and Restoration of Cilivization (trans. C. T. Campion) (London: Unwin, 1961), cf. Adorno, Ästhetische Theorie (eds. G. Adorno and R. Tiedemann) (F rankfur t , Suh rkamp , 1974 edn . ) ; Ber leant , The Aesthetics of Environment (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992). 78 Post-Modernism, as Decadence On Aesthetics and the Philosophy of History wretched things are banned from the landscape, to see the point. And now, of course, billboards are becoming trendily post-modernistic, so that even today in this very city of Ljubljana, »beautifully decadent« as it is, we have a monumenta l mini-piece of bad taste, with two crying so-called »Siamese« twins advertising a Pop group. But I suppose here we have to take stock of what is being meant by decadence, since there is as much a need to dispell confusion in its connec- tion as with post-modernity. Let us begin with nineteenth century France, with notions and artistic articulations of decadence yielding a kind of locus classicus, in the nineties, in that fin-de-siècle ambience Nordau sought to di- agnose. There, with Gustave Moreau and the »dreamers of decadence«, as Philippe Jullian introduces them, we find a kind of sickly poignancy that we sometimes still hear in more occult art circles. It entailed the conceit that Those who see Beauty in their eyes Are condemned to death, and Can serve no purpose on the earth. Wer die Schönheit angeschaut mit Augen.u The processes in French decadence theory, intriguingly, appear to run from an earlier mourning over the loss of cultural cohesion and moral fab- ric on to this kind of accepting indulgence.12 Of course focussing on that fin-de-siècle situation could bring up various difficulties in terms of paralleling the condition of early décadence with post- modernity. Certainly, we could take Charles Baudelaire as the great mid- century French poetic harbinger of the later decadence, and recognize in his disdain for his own times a rejection of modernity and its mediocrity. »Je deviens tellement l 'ennemi de mon siècle.« The trouble is, however, he him- self rejected decadence as a literary label, and his intimate fr iends knew of him that he completely accepted »l«homme moderne«, and that he was a »modernist« in the sense that he »preferred the artificiality and corruption of a decaying society to the more robust virtues of less degenerate civiliza- tions«. 13 11 Juillian, Dreamers of Decadence: symbolist painters of the 1890s (London: Phaidon, 1971), [p. 6 on the quoted 'Tristan' by A. Graf von Platen] et passim. Cf. (recently) L. Ingrisch, Das Leben beginnt mit dem Tod (Vienna: Verlag Österreich, 1997). 12 K. W. Swart, The Sense of Decadence in Nineteenth-Century France (Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Idées 7) (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1964), ch. 6. 13 Baudelaire, Correspondance générale (eds. J. Crépet and C. Pichols) [in Oeuvres complètes] (Paris: Conrad, 1947-53 edn.), vol. 4, p. 99 (first quotation); Théodore de Banville (1867), quoted in A.E. Carter, The Idea of Decadence in French Literature (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1958), pp. 55-6 (second): Swart, op. cit., p. 114, cf. p. 116. 79 G.W. Trompf Thus it is that tricky issues spring to light for one who would link post- modernity and decadence in our own latter-day context, when meanings and values put upon human developments can very easily slip f rom one side of the interpreter 's anvil to another. Why, amid post-War uncertainties of the Western bloc's future, did not the French political theorist Raymond Aron deem it respectable to defend a »decadent Europe«, if it meant that she happened to combine instability and the richness of civilization against the culturally-stable military powerful societies?14 Then there is the imputation, obviously begging attention, that decadence is a modern /modern i s t condi- tion. After all, if, as many tacitly deem him, Nietzsche was the first of the philosophic post-modernists, how resounding are his evocations against »the [current] decadents«, although one admits this only by also conceding that his views are highly idiosyncratic. Europe's Untergangis for Nietzsche extraor- dinarily deep-inured, a long-term wastedness reaped from imbibing Socratic metaphysics and Christian slavischeMorale.15 He denounces at a time, though, when others can use him as legitimation for indulging in death, or succumb- ing to neo-pagan temptations, and flout the rational Aujklarung.u' Nietzsche's peculiar orientations and context aside, it remains pal- pable that acclaimed protagonists of post-modernity through the last gen- eration have set themselves up as analysts of decadence, which inevitably entails them pronouncing over the inadequacies and demise of the mod- ern. Consider Jacques Lacan handling the malaise de la civilisation, or Michel Foucault's diagnosis of Western humanity as the product of totalizing struc- tures, both institutional and intellectual.17 And such scholars are good at guarding their own backs by evading the implication that, in deconstructing traditionalist and Enlightenment procedures for organizing societies, they may be part of the problem of decline they believe they comprehend. That last matter is the suspicion, to return to very recent critics, of Gellner and 14 Aron, »My Defence of our Decadent Europe«, Encounter 4 9 / 3 (1977): esp. 29. 15 Nietzsche, The Twilight of the Idols [1889] (trans. R.J. Hollingdale), Harmondsworth, 1968, esp. pp. 32-4, 39, 43, 45-6, etc. 16 Cf., e.g., W.J. McGrath, Dionysian Art and Populist Politics in Austria (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1974);Jullian, op. cit., pp. 32-4, 164. 17 For guidance, P. G. Gueguen, »Lacan and the Malaise of Civilization« (Seminar paper, Melbourne Centre for Psychoanalytic Research and the Department of General Philosophy, University of Sydney, 3 Aug., 1993) (Sydney, 1993); D. Eribon, Foucault (trans. R. Wing) (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1991). 18 Start with S. Morawski, The Troubles with Postmodernism (London and New York: Routledge, 1996), cf. B. Fetz and K. Kastberger (eds.), Der literarischeEinfall (Profile 1/1998) (Vienna: Profile, 1998 (on literature in particular)). 80 Post-Modernism, as Decadence On Aesthetics and the Philosophy of History Fernandez-Armesto; and it seems built into the reactions of the »New Aes- thetics« as well.18 Yes, even post-modernist decadence theorists can be very much part of the Western predicament. If influential provocative and profound-look- ing questions are ever asked of any encyclopaedic-globalist kind about »where we are at« - and most well known post-modernist thinkers hardly eschew macroscopic evaluations1 ' ' - we would be foolish not to consider seriously: »by whom« and »for whom« are these questions being put? Take one of the most fetching statements of perhaps the most gifted contempo- rary American post-modernist rhetoricians Frederic Jameson. »Never in any previous civilization«, he asserts, »have the great metaphysical preoccupa- tions, the fundamenta l questions of being and the meaning of life, seemed so utterly remote and pointless« (and he means aesthetic ideals as well).20 This seems like a sound recognition of a depleted sense of absolutes and the problem of the paradoxically subjectivist closure (which reactives Gellner and Fernandez-Armesto also cunningly identify); but for Jameson the new condition is the making of a philosophical agenda. And one must ask »by whom?« and »for whom?«, first, because the broad claim only makes sense in a very limited Western (ized) intellectual forum, and second, because for the overwhelming part of global humanity - and I say this as a published com- parative ethnohistorian - Jameson's statement is nonsense. Actually never before have so many people been posing traditional (and strikingly West- ern-looking) questions of Ultimacy and Existence than in our own time, and yet been so ill-deserved by irresponsiblyjargonistic and culture-bound philo- sophical »sets« in the West. The general implication of the argument has been looming enough. It is now necessary for philosophers and aestheticians to recapture basic and more traditional apprehensions of decadence while faced with the intellec- tual turbulence and conceptual muddles under our very noses. A sound philosophy of history in particular can hardly let the self-inscriptions of modernists, post-modernists and the like close them off f rom access to the extraordinary wealth of Western reflection on the causes of cultural demise developed through many ages. The Western tradition as an unt runca ted cont inuum waits to be tapped for truths and warnings. Admittedly some traditional models can drag entirely new sets of problems in their train. It is a shared value old military realists f rom Sallust through Machiavelli and 19 Start with F. Rella, The Myth of the Other (PostModern Positions 7), (trans. N. Moe) (Washington DC.: Maissonneuve, 1994). 20 Quoted in the introduction to R.P Scharlemann (ed.) Theology at the End of the Century (Charlotteville and London, University Press ofVirginia, 1990), p. 14. 81 G. W. Trompf beyond, for example, that societies enjoying too much external peace will dissipate their energies in luxuriating expressions of internal achievement, and both competing voices of theoretic discourse and aesthetic impetus, on this reading, will reflect and partly generate a threatening social dissonance (as they do now).21 The new problématique entailed here, I hasten to point out, is that social health only comes by a fostering a sufficiently strong de- gree of external aggression, which is a more persuasive stance than most contemporary philosophers and aestheticians would like to recognize, and rather too »close to the bone« when one considers the resurgence of eth- nic nationalism next to Slovenia and the over-readiness of a hegemonic United States to intrude into the Yugoslav region! The arresting and endur- ing external / in ternal paradigm has to be noted, nonetheless, as part of the rich repertory available to any traditionalist who wants to fa thom the con- nected lakes of symptomatologies (ancient, »Occidental«, even Eastern), and thus develop a more balanced perspective on our current dilemmas. Among the many aetiologies, one more per t inent and carrying less political burden concerns interests, that when private interests decidedly outweigh public ones, a society enters decadenza. This was an important in- sight of the Scottish Enlightenment,2 2 yet it has obvious twentieth century relevance. By the significant year 1918 the American sociologist Edward Alsworth Ross repeated the dictum, with the supplementary not ion that »decay sets in after the we-feeling [corporateness of a people] has died«. He also gathered up the complex French story of décadence into a covering state- men t of more conventional wisdom. Late in the last century the French passed th rough such a critical epoch , du r ing which artists relentlessly dissected, no t only all e lements of reli- gious faith, but , as well, all moral , social, and civic ideals. The result was a movemen t of unb r id l ed individualism cu lmina t ing in a widespread mora l disorganization, the symptoms of which were so plain early in the ninet ies that the French got the repute for be ing a »decadent« and neg- ligent people . About this time the g roup sense of self-preservation took alarm, the intellectuals realized that negativism had gone too far, and 21 Sallust, CatiL, ii, 1-iii, 2; N. Machiavelli, IstorieFlorentine (Rome: Blado, 1532), V, 1. 22 [A]. Ferguson, »Essai sur l'histoire de la société civile«, in (G. Deyverdun and E. Gibbon eds.), Mémoires littéraires de la Grande Bretagne pour l'an 1767 (London: n.p., 1767), esp. p. 68. 23 (Although Ross resorts to the external/ internal classical model by affirming that France's rebirth of solidarity was nowhere better illustrated than during the War!). Ross, »Social Decadence«, The American Journal of Sociology 23 /5 (1918): 6328-9, cf. 631 (earlier quotation). 82 Post-Modernism, as Decadence On Aesthetics and the Philosophy of History the re was a reaction in the direct ion of the bui lding u p of sound ideals in the rising generat ion.2 3 The awareness of the pitfalls in (over-, hyper-) critical theories and their disorganizing effects is strikingly relevant for the late 1990s;24 the no- tification that intellectuals and the creative avant-garde do and can acrtually intuit that they have gone too far (or become irresponsibile) is momentous. The intelligentsia, hopefully the least culturally forgetful lot in society, are supposed to be teachers, not nihilists. They do what they do so that others learn, and if, latterly, they are coming to abandon tradition in this sense, never will their social vacuousness have presented itself so terribly. Alexander Solzhenitsyn made a related point, in his Nobel Speech, about the passage of Art (even but »one word of Truth«) from one country to another. He had Eastern Europe on his mind in maintaining that art f rom one context can perhaps save a »second nation ... f rom taking an unnecessary, mistaken or even ruinous path ... Art can straighten the twisted paths of man's history«.25 But at the bare minimum one has to defer to the basic tradition that Cul- tural Artculaters do teach (even if some ostensibly spurn the didactic), and what they pass on will either aid the world constructively, or misdirect it in lessons it can ill afford. The »traditionist« position I hereby espouse (and it is not tradition- alism or reactive conservatism)20 involves a call to blunt the heavy accentua- tion of a contest between the Modern and Post-Modern, and engage with the extraordinary scope of the Western tradition as a whole (including its various interfaces with o ther socio-cultural zones). It is going to be the broadly-based capacity to tap various and relevant resources f rom far Antiq- uity up to the immediate present that will count for our future.27 It is hardly going to be productive for global survivaljust to »kill off the Enl ightenment Project« and read books published only after 1985. The positive reorienta- tion, indeed, will involve deliberately avoiding misreadings of the world that lack depth, though they have come to have such surprising, if superficial, 24 For the close connection between critical theory and postmodernism, e.g., M. Poster, Critical Theory of the Family (London: Pluto, 1978). 25 Solzhenitsyn, 'One Wordof Truth ... ' (The Nobel Speech on Literature 1970) (London: Bodley Head, 1972), pp. 14-15. 2r' Thus Trompf, »Croce and Collingwood on Primitive Classical Aesthetics«, Literature and Aesthetics 7 (1997): 131-6. 27 In aesthetics, E.H. Gombrich has set a useful tone for the future by avoiding as many arbitrary periodizations as possible, cf. R. Woodfield (ed.), The Essential Gombrich (London: Phaidon, 1996). On architecture, note intelligent conclusions by D. Erskine, »Democratic Architecture«, in D. Lasdun (ed.), Architecture in an Age of Scepticism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984), p. 73. 83 G.W. Trompf influence over a mass of people who do not understand them, like »a little oil«extending »over a large area of the surface of the sea«. Which brings my to point of a daring pedagogy, in conclusion, that circumstances are fast compelling aestheticians who have not lost their so- cial conscience and educative sensibilities to make a mature deference to- wards pert inent social scientific (or »social studies«) insights. To cope with, and avoid ent rapment in, what is sapping our vitals and wishing us away into an indulgent cultural narcissism and a defrauded spirituality, we need to do some »sociology of knowledge and aesthetics« to discover and plot jus t how rampant is the disjunction between Western intellectual or creative life and the world's social and environmental needs. There is too much in post- modernism that is despairingly irrelevant and irresponsible vis-à-vis the Third or Two-Thirds World. The extent of jargonism and the increasing lack of communicability have been clear symptoms of the disease. Aesthetic impov- erishment in the West has been bad enough: for, outside the photographic (and the »domestic-mediocre« genre), the landscape has all but d ropped out of painting, with nature rendered apparently boring. Recovering conti- nuity, or retracing humanity's ideas and techniques along the long »Rhodian Shore« has become a matter of imperative, as against wrecking the (cultural) dunes and paranoically always spotting dung in the water.28 We need to train ourselves in basic anthropology as well, to pinpoint that all too frequently appearing »intellectual set«, especially among post- graduate students, calling themselves post-modernists (in America of ten be ing dubbed or self-inscribing as »pomos«). I write as an exper ienced fieldworker, and inter alia as a well-seasoned traveller from one campus to another. I can only confirm what many fellow academics report a round the Western world: on a burgeoning of disaffected, arrogant, jargonistic, dog- matic, self-consciously troublemaking and everdispleased coteries of young people who, as »second-generation imbibers« of post-modernism, I have to imagine being among the intellectual leaders of the future. Perhaps I am getting old, but I expected better; and I look longingly to a newer and more inspiring breed: a »new Man«. To combine post-Nietzschean aggravation with post-post-modernism, I presume to direct the future with a bold ges- ture: Ecce homo. Exit porno. 28 See C. Glacken, Traces on the Rhodian Shore: nature and culure in Western thought from ancient times to the end of the Eighteenth Century (Berkeley and London: University of California Press, 1976 edn.) , cf. C. Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism: American life in an Age of diminishing expectations (New York and London: Norton, 1979). 84 Zhou Laixiang My Harmonious Aesthetics and Philosophy Since the 1960s, starting from the simplest proposition that beauty is harmony, I have inquired into the history of aesthetic categories, and sur- veyed the historical process in the germination, development, fission and transmutation of every concrete pattern of beauty (and art), f rom the study of the highest potentially complete and rich perceptual objects of logical analysis of abstract dialectical reason, and from the unfolding of the giant abstract thinking route to the concrete logic of the transformation of his- tory; here I have summarized this route. The direct perception tells us that in the colourful boundless universe everything is in everlasting motion; nothing is absolutely static, everything is moving. There exists nei ther static eternal beauty, nor eternal art, nor eternal aesthetics, but only motional beauty, motional art and motional aesthetics. There exists neither abstract general beauty, nor general art, nor general aesthetics; there are only historically particular beauty, particular art and particular aesthetics. Abstract general beauty, general art and general aesthetics exist only in abstract thinking; but grasping them in knowledge, the thinking abstraction should further raise to thinking particularity. There- fore, I think, in ancient times there existed ancient beauty, ancient art and ancient aesthetics; in modern times there is modern beauty, modern art and modern aesthetics; in contemperary times there is contemporary beauty, contemporary art and contemporary aesthetics. The eras have changed, therefore beauty is different, as is art and aesthetics. I disagree with the viewpoints which regard beauty and art as two sepa- rate entities, for I think they only differ in matter and consciousness, but are identical in their contradictory nature and structural principle. For this rea- son the essence of beauty and the aesthetic essence of art, as well as the his- torical formation of beauty and the historical formation of art are identical; the analysis of beauty virtually contains the analysis of art, for beauty and the intrinsic quality of art merge into an organic whole. The analysis of ancient harmonious art resembles my analysis of ancient harmonious beauty: in essence they are in perfect correspondence. The analysis of modern sublim- ity and sublime realism and romanticism, of ugliness and modernist art, the analysis of absurdity and of post-modernism, and the analysis of dialectical Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVI CA Supplement), pp. 85-130 121 Zhou Laixiang harmonious beauty and socialist art are all like this, without exception. For the same reason that aesthetics is the logical summary of beauty and art, ancient aesthetics is an aesthetics of simple and unadorned beauty; modern aesthetics is aesthetics of the sublime, and contemporary aesthetics is aes- thetics of dialectical harmony. The objects and contents of the study of aesthetics have developed along with the development of history, being dif- fe ren t in each era. Aesthetics in the general sense, will be a condensed mastery of the long process of history. Ancient beauty (and art) is a simple and u n a d o r n e d h a r m o n i o u s beauty; it is its contradictory quality and structural characteristics that make all the elements of beauty (and art) constitute an organic whole in a sequen- tial, stable, balanced and harmonious way. But the long river of history, some- times fortells rapids and dangerous shoals, sometimes emphasizes the weak- ened wind and subsided waves; analogously the harmonious whole also pre- sents the continuous development from the majestic via the graceful to the sublime. Majesty, grace and sublimity in the embryonic stage are the three forms of development of ancient harmonious beauty. But in ancient times, the sublime exists only in the stage of germination, in an immature form; strictly speaking, it was not until the modern day that it differentiated into an independen t category. For this reason the essential forms of ancient harmony are majesty and grace. »Zhuangmei« (majesty) emphasizes the contradictory opposition, while »youmei« (grace) emphasizes the mutual complementat ion and permeation of contradiction. But both of them have not broken through the ancient harmonious circle; the powerful and the free of Su Shi (1037-1101) and Xin Qiji (1140-1207), and the subtle and concise ofYanJidao (C.1030-C.1106) and LiuYong (c,1004-c. 1054), although they are »Yanggang« (masculine) and »Ymrou« (feminine), are the beauti- ful. In this sense, all the ancient arts are beautiful arts; the whole of ancient culture is aesthetic culture. It is suited to the ancient agricultural society of undivided subject-object, »zhonghe« (medium) cultural tradition, the simple and the unadorned thinking mode of dialectics, and the psychological struc- ture of the ancient people. There was no complete separation between the ancient subject and object, for they both still existed in simple and un- adorned harmonious relations. The ancient culture stresses the wholeness of the subject-object interdependence, and mutual complementat ion and transformation; man and nature are friends, and individuals merge in the community. These are the ancient characteristics, as well as the ancient merits and limitations. Speaking f rom the aspect of the subject, it depends on the object, is restricted by it, and is based upon it - and therefore can- not attain an independent development. Perception and reason present a 86 My Harmonious Aesthetics and Philosophy primitive balance and perfection in the subject, which is the reason why this kind of individual subject is often simplistic, and uncomplicated, abstract and not concrete, impoverished and superficial, and not rich or profound. It is characterised also by the lack of a subjective conscious awareness and the lack of an independent individual awareness. Viewed from the aspect of the object, in the eye of a primitive subject what is presented is not the purely essential truth of the objective world, but the typicality which not only lacks the concrete individual and perceptual characteristics, bu t is also deficient in its rationality and in complicated and rich connotations. In art and in the appreciation of the beautiful, it is often modelled and idealized, lacking contingency, individuality and ugliness. All these have not come into being until the emergence of modern society. Modern beauty is exemplified by sublimity (beauty in a broad sense). Its contradictory nature and structural principle combine all the elements of beauty (and art) into a whole in an opposing, disorderly, turbulent and inharmonious way. The most fundamental distinction between modern sub- limity and ancient harmony is that in the former the ancient harmonious circular motion of the latter was completely annihilated by the m o d e r n opposing principles. It is synchronous with the historical development in which capitalism replaced feudalism, metaphysics replaced plain and simple dialectics, and the modern people replaced the ancient people. The devel- opment of these contradictions has different stages, with modern beauty historically presenting the evolution from sublimity to absurdity via ugliness. The sublime, the ugly and the absurd are the three forms of the develop- ment of modern beauty (and art). Sublimity (in a narrow sense), realism and romanticism appear as the unfolding of the subject-object opposition on the subjective basis. In the sublime in its narrow sense imbalance is transformed into balance, opposite struggle into harmony, and constraint into f reedom and liberation, which is why its opposition is of a limited nature. Ugliness (and modernist art) carry fur ther the fission and the separation and push the limited oppositon to the extreme form of mutual repellency. The extrem- ity of opposition, the anti-harmony, becomes the fundamenta l characteris- tic of ugliness (and art). The absurd carries forth the extreme opposition of the ugly, and it places every factor and aspect of the oppositon in a para- doxical position. In ugliness there is anti-harmony between two opposite sides, while in absurdity every aspect, each side and its elements themselves are fur ther found in an anti-harmonious paradox. This is a kind of a more profound and more one-sided ugliness, thereby presenting absurdity and confusion, running counter to the normal, and deviating f rom logic. 87 Zhou Laixiang Modern sublimity unfolds three concrete forms of the sublime, the ugly and the absurd. Here I should explain that the category of »sublimity« has two meanings: the first is the broad one, which contains three concrete forms, i.e. sublimity, ugliness and absurdity. The overall features of sublim- ity are the subject-object opposition which is unfolded on the basis of the subject. No matter what differences the sublime (in a narrow sense), the ugly and the absurd themselves have, all of them are in opposition on the basis of the relation between the subject and the object. But sublimity in the nar- row sense differs f rom ugliness and absurdity, for its features are the combi- nation of opposition and harmony, arriving at harmony from opposition, unlike the opposite extreme of ugliness and absurdity. Its correspondent forms are only romantic and realist art, not modernist or post-modern art. The evolution f rom sublimity to absurdity is suited to the flow of f ree indus- trial society, monopoly industrial society and post-industrial society, and suited to the gradual extreme opposition and mutual negation of the sub- ject and the object, the rise of perceptual subject and the decline and fall of rational subject, and to the development of metaphysics, negative dialec- tics and paradoxical thinking. Between the modern subject and object there is a deep opposition and pronounced and complicated relations of conflict unfold on the basis of the subject. The first is the the rise of the subjective individual consciousness and of human liberation. Human beings as rational subjects confront the objec- tive reality of feudal theology; this is the era of the emergence of sublimity and the successive replacement of romanticism with realism. The rational subject is transformed into a perceptual subject; the objective world is thor- oughly negated, and the perceptual subject is broadened, for it attains the position of creating the world and dominating exclusively the earth beneath heaven. »God is dead«, »human beings still live« is that extreme opposition; the other is the opposition and change of symbolism and expressionism into naturalism. Once the perceptual subject parts from the object, or the indi- viduality breaks away f rom society, its extreme expansion, at the same time, is diminishing too. T h e deep contradictory oppositon and paradox pre- sented in the subject itself and between the subject and the object changes into absurdity through the extreme fission of the ugly; in art the creation of the theatre of the absurd, black humour and the New Novel appear. Along with the continuous changes and development of the contradictory struc- tures between the subject and the object in modern society, the subject and the object themselves reveal different characteristics. Viewed f rom the as- pect of the subject, modern aesthetics and art have covered a road which began by extolling the rational subject, changed to eulogize perceptual sub- 88 My Harmonious Aesthetics and Philosophy jec t and eventually led to the contradiction, paradox and the expiration of the perceptual subject itself. Compared with the ancient subject the ratio- nal subject of sublimity is complex and multi-faceted (polyhedral) and not simplistic; it is concrete, not abstract; it is abundant , not poor; especially, it is conscious, having a strong individual and independent consciousness, and does not attach itself to the object or the masses. But in the sensible subject of ugliness, human beings have changed into anti-rational beings and sepa- rated sensible life f rom reason; thinking and reason have changed into sen- sual desire; apparent consciousness and conscious awareness have turned into the subconscious, »sexual instinct« and »collective unconsciousness«. The subject of absurdity - what is left to a human being is only the »inter- nality«, as Ihab Hassan (1925-) has said, f rom the masters of the world fall- ing low to self-denying wandering ghosts; human beings wander about with no home to go to. Now not only »God is dead«, but also »human beings are also dead«. Viewed from the position of the object, the object in sublimity, espe- cially the object in realism is essential and inevitable, not experiential or typological; it is complicated, accidental, unique, and full of perceptual in- dividual characteristics, not idealized or modelled. In the object of ugliness, particularly in naturalistic art, it develops mainly in the direction of the in- dividual, the perceptual, the accidental, the detailed and the purely objec- tive. To the object of absurdity, the unity and the essentiality of objective n o u m e n o n are completely negated; all has become centreless, depthless, essenceless or meaningless. The process went from contradiction and para- dox to dispelling all oppositions and differences, among these also the hazy expectation of a new harmony and tranquility. Contemporary dialectical harmonious beauty and art, are the newest stage of the development of human beauty and art; this concept thoroughly negates the absolute opposition of modern metaphysics and returns to the unity of ancient harmony. In brief, ancient harmonious aesthetics is integrated with ancient simple and unado rned dialectical philosophy and modern sublime aesthetics is related to modern metaphysical philosophy. In it the development f rom sublimity via ugliness to absurdity is integrated with existential philosophy, negative dialectics and paradoxical thinking. In the future dialectical har- monious aesthetics will be integrated with conscious and scientific dialecti- cal thinking. Scientific and dialectical thinking are the philosophical basis of the system of my harmonious aesthetics and the development of the har- monious aesthetics f rom the ancient and the modern to the present. 89 Albert van der Schoot Rational Order in Tone Scales and Cone Scales The belief that nature must be considered as a standard from which art can derive its guidelines (natura artis magistra) was firmly established during many centuries. Not so firm were the reasons why art should apprentice itself to nature. The eighteenth century saw the transition from a neoclassical con- ception of nature as being regularly ordered, and therefore an example to mankind (as in Pope's Nature methodized) to the Romantic idea of man being overwhelmed by nature (following Burke's delightful sublimity). By showing two controversies in very different fields I intend to show how, in a more subtle way, also in other periods the idea of an intrinsically rational order in nature comes into conflict with a more practical, empirical attitude. In his Istituzioni Armoniche of 1558, Italian musical theorist Giuseppe Zarlino proposed to consider not only octave, fifth and fourth, but also third and sixth as consonant intervals. Historically speaking, this correction on Pythagorean thinking was long overdue. Thirds and sixths had gradually come to be accepted as harmonic shelters since the earliest forms of polyph- ony came into existence. But not before Zarlino did the major third acquire the prestigious position of being one of the cornerstones of the harmonic framework. Zarl ino 's cor rec t ion marks the e n d of the p r e d o m i n a n c e of the Pythagorean tetraktys as a theoretical basis for harmony: the tetraktys allows only those intervals as consonant whose ratios can be expressed by the first four numbers.1 Zarlino introduces a new concept in music theory: the senario, implying that six ra ther than four is the limit for the ratios that build up consonant intervals. Enter the major third ( 5 : 4 ) , the minor third (6 : 5) and their counterparts, the minor sixth (8 : 5, where 8 is considered the twofold of 4) and the major sixth (5 :3 ) . The Venetian maestro believed that just intonation could be achieved by basing all intervals in a tone scale on the fifth and the major third. That leads to the only type of intonation which Zarlino is willing to consider as natural.2 In other words: Zarlino did not so 1 That is: the octave (2 : 1), the fifth (3 : 2) and the fourth ( 4 : 3 ) - and, trivially, the prime (1 : 1). 2 fust and natural are still in use as synonyms for this particular intonation (in German: reine or natürliche Stimmung). Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVI CA Supplement), pp. 91-130 121 Albert van der Schoot much overthrow the Pythagorean way of thinking in terms of rational order based on numerical ontology, but rather saved it by extending the range of fundamenta l numbers to six. The attack on the ontological basis of this type of thinking was left to Vincenzo Galilei, father of the famous astronomer but also a pupil of Zarli- no's. Galilei does not accept his master's guideline of the senario. In partic- ular, he attacks the status of fifth and third as »natural« intervals. No such thing- says Galilei: all intervals, all tone scales have come to be established by human convention. Exact rational proportions (in the mathematical sense of being expressible as a ratio of integers) have no special meaning here. There is no principal difference, in this respect, between the intervals of music and the words of a »natural« language. Galilei's critical attitude towards his master's authority is fundamental . The idea that a consonant interval should be anything else but a rational number would have been considered absurd during the major part of European history. The foundation of that thought goes back at least as far as Plato's Ti- maeus, where the very ratios of the tetraktys are consti- tutive for the created order of the cosmos. Galilei's criticism clearly reflects more than just a musicologi- cal comment; it heralds the paradigm shift with which the name of his son will forever be linked. But before going deeper into the heated debate between master and pupil, we shall first take a look at a conflict in a completely different setting and time - not about a hu- man product, but concerning the production of na- ture herself. Towards the middle of the nineteenth century, a botanical debate flared up about the way in which nature accomodates certain primordia around a cen- tre - like leaves around a stem, scales on a pine cone, sunflower seeds on a flower head, etc. Though we use to wonder about the amazing spiral structures which these plants show, we often do not realize that these spirals were not there in the first place. They come into existence step by step; in fact, the birth certificates of all the sunflower seeds are issued one by one, in a strict order that can even be traced subsequently. The spirals we see are no more than an epiphenomenon of a spiral we don«t see, but which we can obtain by 92 Rational Order in Tone Scales and Cone Scales connecting the scales in the order in which they popped up. We shall call this the fundamental spiral (in the picture: 1-2-3-4 etc.), whereas the contiguous par- allels as they become visible are called parastichies (in the picture: 6-14-22-30, or 19-27-35-43 etc.). By 1830, German botanist Alexander Braun had the brilliant idea to use the precise order of these scales for the classification of coniferous plants.3 Classification being a favourite pastime for botanists, the subtle dif- ferences between the implantation of the scales in the different species of coniferous plants seemed to offer an ideal handle to come to grips with the differences between them, and to label these differences. In order to work out these labels, Braun introduced the notion of divergence in botanical par- lance. By notating such a divergence as, say, 8j"21 (as in the case of the pine cone on the picture), Braun meant that 21 scales were found when the fun- damental spiral had rounded the cone exactly 8 times.4 The presupposition of this project is that the position of (in this case) the 22nd scale is exactly above the first. B rauns conception implies that, apart from the parastichies, each cone also shows parallel orthostichies (in the picture: 1-22-43-64, or 9-30-51-72 etc.). Braun does indeed believe that af- ter a natural number of scales the fundamenta l spiral has come full circle, so that the ratio of the number of scales and the number of rotations can be expressed as an exact rational number. No such thing- say two French scientists who started investigating co- niferous plants a round the same time as Braun did. Auguste and Louis Bra- vais observe the same cones as Braun, but see something entirely different. In particular, they do not see a series of distinctly different ratios in the di- vergences of the plants. B rauns differentiation is but an illusion, or so they claim. Nature has found the opt imum angle for the implantation of every next seed or scale; that angle ensures that all the primordia have an opti- mum space to grow, and it remains the same at every turn: 137° 30' 28".r> That amounts to a repeated division of the circle according to the golden section, which is an irrational measure and can, for that reason, never lead to the rational classification that Braun pursued. It is, however, a constant measure - the only one that grants equal rights to all primordia. The whole organ- 3 A. Braun, »Vergleichende Untersuchung über die Ordnung der Schuppen an den Tannenzapfen als Einleitung zur Untersuchung der Blattstellung überhaupt«, in Nova Acta Academicae Caesareae Germanicae Leopoldinae, Nr. 15, 1830, pp. 199-401; reprinted in book form in Bonn, 1831. Page numbers in this article refer to the book edition. 4 Numerator and denominator of the divergence will generally relate as the numbers ( n - 1) : (n+ 1) from the Fibonacci series 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34 .... 5 L. & A. Bravais, »Essai sur la disposition des feuilles curvisériés«, in Annales des Sciences Naturelles, Seconde Série, t. 8ème, 1837, pp. 70/1. 93 Albert van der Schoot ism benefits f rom this equal division. Recent research0 has shown that this is, in fact, the way nature behaves; one does not need to involve genetical or teleological principles to find that the flower head of a sunflower is di- vided again and again, by each new primordium, according to the golden section. Both controversies, the one in the Renaissance about the alleged ra- tionality of tone scales and the one in the nineteenth century about the al- leged rationality of cone scales, find their origin in opposing conceptions of the value of rational order in nature. Of course, both pairs of opponents have a lot in common, due to the preconceptions that even opponents would share in a certain age. Both Zarlino and Galilei frequently call on »the an- cients« to substantiate their own point of view; both believe that the ancients had set an example, no t so much by their high standard of cultural devel- opment , but by their being closer to nature, that is, by their better under- standing of natural order. Zarlino believes that Mother Nature restricts herself to a well-consid- ered dose of perfection by differentiating between the individuals that be- long to the same species rather than just cloning the ideal archetype again and again. He praises the ancients for transposing that principle to music, where repetition of identical consonant intervals is to be avoided: »Thus they held it as true that whenever one had arrived at perfect consonance one had attained the end and the perfection toward which music tends, and in order not to give the ear too much of this perfect ion they did not wish it repeated over and over again. The truth and excellence of this admirable and useful admonit ion are confirmed by the operations of Nature, for in bringing into being the indi- viduals of each species she makes them similar to one another in general, yet different in some particular, a difference or variety affording much plea- sure to our senses. This admirable order the composer ought to imitate, for the more his operations resemble those of our great mother, the more he will be esteemed. And to this course the numbers and proportions invite him, for in their natural order one will not find two similar proportions follow- ing one another immediately ....«' Vincenzo Galilei is involved in a different battle. He is a member of the Florentine Camerata, the think-tank of humanist scholars and noblemen who paved the way for an entirely new form of art, a spectacle that would con- 6 S. Douady &Y. Couder, »Phyllotaxis as a Physical Self-Organized Growth Pattern«, in Physical Review Letters, Vol 68, Nr. 13, 1992, pp. 2098-2101. 7 G. Zarlino, Istituzioni Armoniche, in O. Strunk (ed.), Source readings in Music History, Vol. II-The Renaissance, New York/London 1965, pp. 44/5. 94 Rational Order in Tone Scales and Cone Scales quer European stages in the seventeenth century: opera. Opera is typically an art form that did not result directly f rom any development in musical practice, but was prepared on the drawing board. The main impulse came from the Florentine resistance against contemporary (»modern«) polyph- ony. Galilei's Dialogo della musica antica e della moderna8 is an ardent plea for a new type of music (»postmodern«, so to speak), that would do justice to the natural expression of human affections - a task which polyphonic mu- sic, with its intricate structure of simultaneous melodies giving voice to sev- eral texts at the same moment , could not possibly fulfil. T h e polyphonic music of Galilei's contemporaries is an insult to human nature (so he be- lieves) , and the music of antiquity is put forward in his writings as an inspir- ing guideline. Intrinsically, differences of opinion between Zarlino and Galilei are not as great as their personal feud might suggest. Galilei would have no trouble with the quotation given above, regarding the desired variety in intervals, and Zarlino would wholeheartedly agree with the Camerata's preference for words above melody when putting text to music. Those were in fact the cen- tral issues of the time, and both authors were well aware of them. But un- fortunately, both men were driven by ».... the desperate wish to contradict each other«.'1 The advantage of this for later scholars is that their different attitudes towards the importance of rational order received much empha- sis, and thus clearly expose the difference between Zarlino's neoplatonism and Galilei's more empirical approach. Empirical research, as it became to be practised by the investigative Renaissance minds, did not automatically imply a repudiation of rational proport ion. Galilei made a name for himself in the history of music theory by correcting what the Middle Ages had believed was an observation by Pythagoras himself: the discovery of the proportional relationships between the weight of the hammers used by the blacksmith, and the pitches of the sounds they produced. Every medieval music theorist knew that if a certain pitch was produced by tying a weight to a string, the octave of that pitch would be produced by tying the double weight to the same string, and a fifth with the help of a weight one and a half times the original, etc. In other words: these ratios were supposed to be the simple inversion of the (more easily measurable) ratios for string lengths producing the same intervals. Not so, says Galilei: to produce those intervals by tension, the weights would have to be in squared inverse proportion to the lengths of the strings. Their rela- tionships to the perfect consonant intervals are still perfectly expressible as 8 Florence, 1581. 9 D.P. Walker, Studies in Musical Science in the Late Renaissance, Leiden 1978, p. 16. 95 Albert van der Schoot ratios of whole numbers, but not anymore in the traditionally constitutive numbers of the Pythagorean tetraktys. How did Galilei find this out? Going by his repeated reference to ex- perimental method (con il mezzo dell«esperienza), we may safely assume: by trying out. Zarlino, as we saw, did not stick either to the tetraktys to express the ratios of the imperfect consonances, but his argumentational back-up is of a to- tally different order. Why should the senario rather than the tetraktys be con- sidered as the basis for our harmonic understanding? As if we could not have guessed: - God created the world in six days - six signs of the zodiac are always above the earth, the other six are invisible - there are six »planets« (to Zarlino's knowledge: Saturn,Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and the moon) - there are six directions (up, down, ahead, behind, left, and right; Zarlino calls on Plato to testify to this spatial insight) - the number 6 is traditionally hailed as the first »perfect number«; that is, it equals the sum of its dividends 1, 2 and 3; moreover, it is their product 10 See C.V. Palisca, Humanism in Italian Renaissance Musical Thought, New Haven/London 1985, p. 248. - in music, there are six »authent ic« a n d six »plagal« modes. Zarlino gives quite a few more reasons,10 bu t these six will suff ice to show the gap t h a t ex- tends between the men- tal world of Zarlino and that of his pupil. Galilei, who was an early pioneer of equal temperament, did not feel anything was lost by giving up the perfect- ly rationally o rdered in- tervals. Zarlino, on the o t h e r h a n d , cou ld n o t imagine jus t in tonat ion 96 Rational Order in Tone Scales and Cone Scales in any other way than by the numeri sonori of the senario, as this illustration from his book shows: a well-ordered world of musical intervals, with the se- nario in the centre. The controversy between Alexander Braun and the Bravais brothers is situated in a different age, against the background of different scientific strat- egies. Experimental verification had become part and parcel of regular sci- entific behaviour by the time Braun developed his theory, and he himself was no exception: thousands of pine cones were collected by him and his colleague, Carl Schimper, and meticulously sorted out and classified. And yet, Braun is steered by another drive than collector's mania or labelling neu- rosis: he wants to unravel the hidden principle behind natural order as this becomes visible in the arrangement of leaves, seeds, petals and scales along a stem. What Braun finds is fascinating, but much more fascinating is to know what he is looking for. Braun was, in his own words, chasing the »joyful pre- sumption of a law founded deeply in the life of the plants« [freudige Ahnung eines tief im Leben der Pflanze gegründeten Gesetzes).11 To this end, the exact de- scription and classification of the outer appearance of the cones was not enough. In looking for his hidden law, Braun believed he was following na- ture herself. And when he found the constitutive spiral, the row that dictat- ed the position of all the scales, he welcomed this »miraculous regularity of order« (wunderbare Gesetzmässigkeit der Anordnung) with an almost religious respect: »In this last, One Row, dawn- ing upon our expectation, we behold the true goal of our hope, the One Ground of phyllotaxis, on which all mult i tude and variety of rows must ^ rest.«12 Braun's drawing, within a circle, /, of a bo t tom view of the pine cone shows one layer of this rational order. It is almost reminiscent of the picture in Zarlino's book: a rounded way of thinking that always comes back to its point of departure. 11 Vergleichende Untersuchung, p. 3. 12 »In dieser uns in der Erwartung vorschwebenden letzten, Einen Reihe erblicken wir das wahre Ziel unserer Hoffnung, den Einen Grund der Blattstellung, auf dem alle Vielheit und Vielartigkeit der Reihen beruhen muss.« Vergleichende Untersuchung, p. 22. 97 Albert van der Schoot There is an intriguing tension between unity and variety in Braun's conception of natural order, comparable to the way Zarlino deals with the perfection of consonants and their necessary differentiation in musical com- position. The unity that is firmly established in the overall ruling of the fun- damental spiral serves as a condition to bring out a multi tude of differenc- es - differences by which the several species of cones can be distinguished and labelled. Braun's aim is a classification in the line of Linnaeus, arrived at by means of empirical observation, but his regulative conception is that of an overall rational order. In other words: Braun treats divergences as if they were musical intervals according to a traditional system of temperament, and he does so on the basis of a deeply rooted inner conviction that this is how nature behaves. Braun's phyllotaxis reflects an order of just intonation. It is to this preconception that the Bravais brothers oppose. There is no discrete classification of different divergences; when trying to attribute one of Braun's rational labels to a specific plant, the choice between, say, 8{21 or 13j34 often seems quite arbitrary. None of Braun's alleged obser- vations is as precise as the exactitude of the rational measure suggests. The brothers carefullyjustify this statement with a number of illustrations. What they object to is in fact not so much the validity of Braun's equally careful observations, but the very status of the starting point which led these obser- vations to result in the conclusions that Braun presented. That starting point is the concept of orthostichy, which, to continue the metaphor I have jus t in- troduced, in Braun's system of just botanical intonation fulfils the role of the octave, the point of reference for all the other intervals. The strong im- pact of Braun's conception becomes clear when we read that Carl Friedrich Naumann considered the orthostichy as »the real essence« (das eigentliche Wesen) and parastichies as »a mere phenomenon of phyllotaxis« (ein blosses Phänomen der Blattstellung) The alternative which the Bravais b ro thers present comes down to granting identical rights to primordia in the same way tones have identical rights in equal temperature - with the proviso that in the case of the plants, this equality is granted by nature. Apart f rom carefully explaining their own theory, the Bravais brothers make a stand against Braun's position in a separate article.14 The tone of this article is (as opposed to Galilei's tone towards Zarlino) mild and respectful; Braun and Schimper are given ample credit for their research, and the opposition against the notion of orthostichy is very carefully presented. Braun 13 C.F. Naumann, Über den Quincunx als Grundgesetz der Blattstellung vieler Pflanzen, Dresden/Leipzig 1845, Vorwort. 14 Attached to the German translation of their work: L. & A. Bravais, Uber die geometrische Anordnung der Blätter und der Blüthenstände, Breslau 1839. 98 Rational Order in Tone Scales and Cone Scales is less attentive in his reply to the brothers in a later book.15 In order to coun- terdict the French criticism, Braun tries to find a theoretical peg f rom an area where rational order had come to be understood and generally accept- ed: crystallography. As this happened to be Auguste Bravais's field of exper- tise, and as he had even been one of the pioneers in establishing which class- es of crystals were morphologically possible, Braun seems to beat his oppo- nent at his own game when he claims that wiping out the differences between the several rational divergences would amount to saying that all crystal forms are not really different because they all have the sphere as their limit.16 This argument sounds stronger than it is. Crystal forms are different for constructive reasons; as opposed to phyllotaxis, each specific form is the result of a different chemical build-up that is discretely established f rom the beginning. Whatever possibilities there are, the sphere is no t among them. But it is an excellent illustration of Braun's way of thinking. He wants to see his covering law as a regulative principle, no t as a generalisation of empiri- cal data. Transcendent unity must appear to the senses as phenomena l vari- ety. The realm of truth is not to be found in experience, but in the mind: »All truth is mental«, says Braun; »all facts become recognized truths only when we can mentally construct them«.17 It is almost touching to read how Nees von Esenbeck, the author of the introduction to the German translation of the Bravais writings, tries to unite the contribution of both parties in one encompassing reconciliation: hav- ing made clear that it was his compatriots Braun and Schimper who led the way and who took care of the essential discoveries, he compliments the Bra- vais brothers for their mathematical fine-tuning of the issue. The discovery of the »essentially irrational proportion« (das wesentlich irrationale Verhältniss) involved in the divergences, leads in his eye to the »ideal infinity of the fun- damental spiral« (die ideale Unendlichkeit der Grundwendel). And he contin- ues: »both these significant results are redeeming features not only for the metamorphosis of plants, but indeed for the philosophical contemplat ion of the organized world. It confirms the conviction that even the originally rational arrangements of leaves are subjected to the fundamenta l law of ir- rational [phyllotaxis], and are recognized as mere multiples of them«.18 15 A. Braun, Betrachtungen über die Erscheinung der Verjüngung in der Natur; Leipzig 1851. 16 Betrachtungen, p. 126. 17 A. Braun, »Dr. Carl Schimper's »Vorträge über die Möglichkeit eines wissenschaftlichen Verständnisses der Blattstellung«, in Flora, Jg. 18,1. Band, 1835, p. 146. 18 There seems to be a word lacking in the German text; maybe the dash after irrationalen in the manuscript was meant to repeat Blattstellungen: »diese beiden bedeutsamen Resultate sind Lichtpuncte nicht allein für die Pflanzenmetamorphose, sondern für die philosophische Betrachtung der organisirten Welt überhaupt. Man sieht mit 99 Albert van der Schoot This is a surprising point of view. It combines the mathematical con- clusion of the Bravais brothers concerning phyllotaxis with Braun's philo- sophical idealism concerning the fundamental order that prevails in nature — and yet manages to squeeze in the idea that these arrangements are »orig- inally rational«. It is not very difficult to round off empirical data concerning musical intervals or botanical primordia in such a way that the rationality hypothe- sis is confirmed. Both tone scales and cone scales come very close indeed. But this rationality comes about as a result of human evaluation. Whether, in the end, nature does or doesn«t show rational order, depends - not on the nature of nature, but on the nature of our conception of natural order. verstärkter Ueberzeugung, wie selbst die ursprünglich rationalen Blattstellungen der Pflanzen sich dem Grundgesetze der irrationalen - unterordnen, und als blosse Vielfache derselben erkannt werden (....).« L. 8c A. Bravais, Uber die geometrische Anordnung der Blätter und der Btüthenstände, Breslau 1839, pp. V/VI. 100 Christian G. Allesch Aesthetic Experience — a topic at the cross-roads between philosophy and psychology To deal with the topic of aesthetic experience on a congress dedicated to »Aesthetics as Philosophy« provokes some critical remarks f rom a psy- chologist. I think that, due to the subjective nature of experience, it cannot be grasped adequately by a mere philosophical explanation. This is the rea- son why I want to contribute to this congress and in particular to the discus- sions of this section dealing with aesthetic experience some critical reflec- tions on the role of philosophy and psychology in investigating aesthetic experience. At this point I want to stress that this should not be unders tood as an attempt to renew the controversy dominating the aesthetic discussion at the beginning of our century, namely whether aesthetics should be grounded on a philosophy of values or on the base of empirical psychology and whether it should be regarded a philosophical or a psychological discipline (cf. Allesch 1 9 8 7 ) . Such »questiones iuris« usually remain unsolved, as Richard MUELLER -FREIENFELS stated already in 1 9 2 5 , however voluminous volumes might be published about them. It is not my intention to declare whether aesthetics should be part of philosophy or psychology, however, I want to stress some arguments why aesthetics should be conceived as an interdisci- plinary project, and why I think that aesthetic experience is a distinctive topic to exemplify this suggestion. Let me start with a question that has been a central topic of aesthetic discussion since aesthetics exists as a particular discipline, namely: What makes an experience an aesthetic experience? You know that there are two types of answers in the history of our discipline: The one, more objectivistic answer, points to the particular aesthetic nature of the aesthetic object. This means that the psychic or mental processes by which an aesthetic object is perceived do not essentially differ from other processes of perception. Thus, psychology that tries to explain the nature of these processes would not be able to contribute any substantial evidence about the aesthetic aspect of aesthetic experience. The other, more subjectivistic answer, points to the fact that it depends on the intention of the beholder or listener whether a perceived object may be experienced as an aesthetic object. In this case, psychology has to be Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVI CA Supplement), pp. 101-130 121 Christian G. Allesch regarded as a key discipline for the understanding and explanation of aes- thetic experience since it actually refers to these subjective intentions and motivations which will enable or impede the realisation of an aesthetic ex- perience. This was the reason why Theodor LIPPS, one of the most engaged par- tisans of psychological aesthetics at the beginning of our century, claimed aesthetics to be a psychological discipline at all since, as he argued, its duty was to explain under which circumstances any object might be recognised as beautiful and this is actually what a psychological theory of experience was to achieve. You know that this extreme argumentation in favour of a psychologi- cal conceptualisation of aesthetics is not held any more in recent theorising, no t even in the contemporary psychology of art. On the one hand, also psy- chology of art accepted that there exists a certain kind of autonomy of aes- thetic objects which cannot be explained by the particularities of subjective experiencing. On the other hand, it was in particular the contribution of phenomenological theories in aesthetics - 1 want to stress the work of Moritz GEIGER as a paradigm - which revealed the complex structure of aesthetic experience and convincingly suggested that what we call an aesthetic object is formed by the activity of a subject but constitutes a relation to a reality that itself constitutes the possibilities of the subject to face and to experience reality. However, I think that it is not possible to outline a theory of aesthetic experience without regarding some fundamental evidence of psychology on the nature of human experience. I concede that it may depend on the kind of psychology which is taken into consideration whether this interdiscipli- nary approach will lead us to a satisfactory result. I think that some mistakes and resentments of aestheticians against a psychological interpretation of aesthetic phenomena does not result f rom an essential incompatibility of psychology and aesthetics but from the fact that they have dealt with a wrong or incompatible psychology. Thus I concede that a psychological theory which is constructed in the classical behavioristic manner or in that more modern way of information processing theories will not be able to cover the particularities of aesthetic experience. But this is a type of psychology the capability of which to explain the nature of human experiencing should be questioned in general, that means not only with respect to aesthetic phenomena . I think that experi- ence as per formed by a human being living in a cultural context and con- scious of its historic nature, that means being able or even forced to reflect on where it comes f rom and where it is to go, is totally different f rom the 102 Aesthetic Experience - a topic at the cross-roads between philosophy and psychology kind of experience that can be modelled by those information processing activities as performed by a computer, however perfect and complicated it may be. Modern psychology has become more and more aware of this fact during the last two decades but not all theoretical approaches have realised this development to the same amount . I want to outline now what kind of psychology would be necessary in order to cope with the particularities of aesthetic experience and in what manner a psychological theory of experi- ence could be helpful for investigating this type of aesthetic problems. Let me start with the argument that, if you consider aesthetics as the science of aisthesis, that means, of sensorial experience and not in the tradi- tional sense as the science of art and beauty you inevitably will cross the border l ine to the central domain of psychology. It points to the crucial ambiguity of the discipline denoted by the term »aesthetics« that, in order to emancipate from a theory of »experience in general« (as per formed, for example, by KANT in his transcendental aesthetics as a part of his Critique of Pure Reason) it was to focus, in its historical shaping as a scientific discipline, its interest to a certain aspect or type of experience, namely what we refer to by the modern wording »aesthetic«. I think that aesthetics has to find its proper position between two ex- tremes: It can neither be conceived as a science of sensorial experience in general, nor should it stick to the traditional concepts of beauty and the arts as, for example, Wolfgang WELSCH convincingly argued in his plenary lec- ture on »Aesthetics beyond aesthetics« at our last congress in Lahti. It is exactly this focusing on a certain 'aesthetic' type of aisJhsiV that leads us back to our central question: what makes an aesthetic experience an aesthetic experience, or: how shall we pragmatically define the term 'aes- thetic' in order to denote a type of experience which meets what we intend by the recent understanding of the realm of our discipline? Now I would like to change my point of view again to that of a psycholo- gist and ask for a useful psychological concept such as »experience«. The behaviorist doctrine which excluded all mental phenomena which cannot objectively be observed from the realm of science was not able to conceive and was not even interested in a concept like »experience«. Whatever ex- perience might be and whatever might happen in our mind was reduced to the 'response' as the observable outcome of inner processes. The cognitive turn in psychology which started in the early fifties of our century, rejected the anti-mentalistic ban and made the mental processing which had been excluded by the behaviorists the central subject of psychology. However, until the seventies cognitive psychology understood perception as »information 103 Christian G. Allesch processing«, i. e. in that mechanical sense in which information is processed by a technical system, since the booming information technology nur tured the expectation that mental processes could be modelled by the same kind of information processing which a computer performs. It was a Gestalt psychologist who was also very engaged in aesthetic investigations, namely Rudolf ARNHEIM, who already in 1 9 6 9 , in his book Visual Thinking, stressed his conviction that human experience fundamen- tally differs f rom computerised data processing since it starts f rom the field of conscience, i. e. it proceeds f rom the whole to the parts and not f rom single data to a mechanically »computed« result. In the same way, but as early as 1935 another scholar of the Gestalt psychology school, namely the psy- chiatrist Erwin STRAUS in his important book The sense of the senses had sug- gested that »man thinks and not the brain«. It is exactly this question for »the sense of the senses« that leads psychology beyond the limits of a nar- row-minded mentalism which would not be able to conceptualise »experi- ence« in other than mechanistic terms. In his famous outline of semiotics, La struttura assente, Umber to Eco distinguishes between »the world of signals« and »the world of sense«, where the world of signals is characterised by that type of information processing which can be carried out also by machines while the shift f rom the world of signals to the world of sense reflects the progression from the mechanical processing of a machine to the subjective world of a human being. This shift leads to another type of representation of the perceived outside world or even to another type of perception which is much closer to the meaning of the term »experience« than to a term such as »mental representation« as preferred by the cognitive psychology of the eighties. Although we have to assume that what we phenomenologically denote with the term 'experience' is based on a certain physical representation as pe r fo rmed by biochemical processes in our brain, there is no evidence for the existence of phenomena comparable with human experience on the level of technical systems. And there are a lot of reasons to assume that this is no t a problem of complexity but the result of a fundamental difference between biological systems created by evolutionary processes and technical systems designed by man. You may realise the difference between technical signal-detection and human experience also by reflecting the meaning of aesthetic concepts like musicality. A sophisticated technical system like a high-tech tape recorder may achieve much more precise results in analysing frequencies than hu- man beings but we would not assess this perfect ion as an outcome of its rriusicality. What we expect f rom a perfect tape recorder is not musicality 104 Aesthetic Experience - a topic at the cross-roads between philosophy and psychology but high fidelity: it would, in fact, be an awful experience if a tape recorder did not represent the acoustical structure of music by a perfectly determined representation but, for example, amplify the volume of the cello part accord- ing to its immanent aesthetic interpretation. This is the reason why psychological theorising on human perception during the last decades increasingly startrd to abandon the use of technical models of information processing for the explanation of the processes of human experience. The PDP-model of human percept ion (where 'PDP' stands for »parallel distributed processing«) as proposed by RUMELHART & MCCLELLAND in 1986, explicitly asked the question: »What makes people smarter than machines«, thus starting f rom the difference and not f rom the analogy between computer and human mind. However, also these most recent branches of cognitive psychology can- not actually meet the particularity of aesthetic experience since they do not differentiate between perception as an objective funct ion of the human mind and that subjective becoming aware of our personal existence in a meaningful world which may be better designated by the word »experience« than by the term »perception«. If we recur to this »humanistic« or »experi- ential« approach as GIFFORD called it in his outline of Environmental Psychol- ogy (1987) we have to realise that the cognitive approach widely ignored some essential aspects of human existence, namely the impact of emotions, the complexity of man-environment relations and man's involvement in cul- ture. It is, to my opinion, in particular the recent development of psychol- ogy of culture that offers a plausible solution for these deficiencies but, in addition to that, leads to a concept of human experience in cultural con- text that might be regarded as a useful psychological contribution to an in- terdisciplinary theory of aesthetic experience. I want to oudine two examples in order to support this statement. The first example is the symbolic action theory as developed by Ernst E. BOESCH, the nestor of German cultural psychology. Already in 1980, in his book Kultur und Handlung, BOESCH coined the formula that culture is »the biotop of man«. In 1991, BOESCH reformulated his theoretical concept in an English reader enti t led »Symbolic Action Theory and Cultural Psychology«. BOESCH conceives the cultural environ- ment as a »limiting system« which, on the one hand, stimulates, and, on the other hand, impedes a certain type of action. This cultural significance of actions is, mainly, mediated by the symbolic meaning of the objects that form the action field of a concrete situation. Strictly speaking, BOESCH argues, we do not perceive objects as physical objects, but as options for real (BOESCH 105 Christian G. Allesch says: praxic) or imagined acting, which may have objective purposes as well as subjective-functional meaning (for example the remembering of similar personal experiences). The objects of the human »field of action« are, »from a psychological point of view, not objects per se but representatives of sys- tems and processes that go beyond the object itself«. "What we perceive as the »form« of an object, is no t ju s t something »formal« like height, volume or texture but something that is »formed« by cultural traditions of perceiv- ing as well as by subjective desires and potentialities of action. In this con- text, aesthetic objects play an exceptional role. It was in a small essay, Zwischen Angst und Triumph (Between anxiety and triumph), published in 1975 that Ernst BOESCH for the first time explicitly tried to apply his symbolic action theory to the phenomenon of aesthetic experi- ence. In this essay BOESCH argues that the aesthetic plays an important role in the process of the self which, in its lifelong attempt to cope with itself and the world, oscillates between encouragement and discouragement. What- ever makes the world more familiar to us is an encouraging experience. Aesthetic experience means, according to BOESCH, recognising our self within a world of symbolic forms which is »by no means to be limited to the work of art« but »may be stimulated by our fellow-beings, by nature, or even by an idea of particularly pregnant potency« (1975, p. 73). In order to explain that, BOESCH sets up a rather risky but typical anal- ogy between listening to music and skiing: Both activities have in common the pleasure of following an external structure by adequately reproducing and responding to the »figures« perceived. It is the stimulating experience to cope with reality, of being able to transform a formal idea into an ad- equate, harmonised movement of body and mind, that makes both activi- ties in a comparable manner a possible subject of an aesthetic experience. Another interesting suggestion was outlined by BOESCH in his book The magic and the beautiful in 1983, where he characterises the magic and the beautiful as contrasting cultural attitudes to face reality: While the magic attitude towards objects expresses a distancing function, the empathic dis- position, which has a particular relation to the aesthetic, stresses being in harmony with the world. The aesthetic attitude thus tends »to expand the validity of the inner images« and »to transform counter-world into I-world«: The »beautiful object« perceived by the aesthetic empathy, as a »symbol of intended order« refers at the same time to the realisation of this order, func- tioning thus »as a corroboration of the self in much more pivotal and time- encompassing a sense than the merely momentary and concrete success of action« (1983, p. 316). 106 Aesthetic Experience - a topic at the cross-roads between philosophy and psychology In Symbolic Action Theory and Cultural Psychology, BOESCH introduces the metaphor of »the trace« as a crucial concept in order to conceptualise the essence of aesthetic activity: »The trace extends the impact of owr action into the external world, and ... it derives its attraction f rom this ... subjectivizing the external reality.« This means that the aesthetic object forms »a 'bridg- ing object' in the sense of spanning the cleavage between person and mat- ter, and between individual and group; it will, over time, even bridge the gap between present and past« (1991, p. 223). I think that the metaphor »tracing reality« is a very good expression in order to illustrate how aesthetic experience is conceptualised by the Sym- bolic Action Theory of BOESCH (cf. Allesch 1 9 9 3 ) , since it connotates that this kind of experience - and even human experience in general - is more than just »facing reality« and much more than »information processing«. If we interpret our capacity to trace the possible ways of changing, trans- forming and transfiguring reality as an essential prerequisite in order to cope with all the more or less important problems of our life, we will unders tand then why aesthetic experience is able to excite and to gratify by reinforcing our self and, fur thermore, as BOESCH puts it, why men »put up with remark- able prices beauty fetches either by direct expenses or by time-consuming activities like ornament ing or dressing«. I will not go into fur ther details but I hope that you can agree with me that this concept offers very interesting topics for an interdisciplinary dis- cussion on aesthetic experience. Another interesting concept which I want to outline in a few words is the semiotic-ecological perspective as developed by Alfred LANG, a disciple of BOESCH who, until recently, held a chair for psychology at the University of Berne, Switzerland. LANG (1992) tries to overcome the traditional sepa- ration of the individual-related theorising of psychology and the object-re- lated concepts of historical and cultural sciences. For him, culture is »exter- nal mind« in the same way as mind is an internal reflection of the cultural world outside. Therefore he tries to conceptualise a semiotic interpretation of the functional circle of the individual and the cultural environment. What happens outside the individual part of the world, namely the development of culture, may be interpreted as a semiotic process as well as what happens in the internal world of the individual, namely building up and restructur- ing of memory or shaping of habits and attitudes, and the processes of trans- fer between individual and culture, namely perception and acting. Thus, we may differentiate four aspects of sign formation which form the functional circle between individual and culture, namely 107 Christian G. Allesch •IntrOsemiosis or perception which denotes a semiotic relation be- tween cultural reality and its inner representation shaped by individual per- ception and cognition, •IntrAsemiosis or internal mental organisation which restructures ex- perience according to previous experiences and builds up the representa- tion in memory. This may also be interpreted as a semiotic process; •ExtrOsemiosis or »action«, which means external formation of struc- tures by man influencing and forming his cultural environment. This type of sign generation also includes creative processes like creating a work of art or executing a scenic or musical performance; • a n d finally ExtrAsemiosis which denotes the presence of created struc- tures in and the permanent changing of the cultural environment which are not caused by direct influence of individuals. It is what LANG calls the »ex- ternal soul«, the pe rmanen t traces of human activity and creativity in the cultural environment. We may derive f rom this model that we will not have to face only what has its place in the external culture as a work of art or the beauty of a land- scape but that we may deal with the aesthetic aspects of perception and of creative acting too and even, on part of the internal formation of structures, of fantasy in terms of semiotic processes. I think that this model is much closer to some theoretical developments within aesthetics than most former and traditional concepts of psychology. You, as aestheticians, may be best suited to assess these theoretical ideas. I hope you will agree with me in the view that these are impressive examples in support of my theses that aesthetic experience forms a crucial topic at the cross-roads between aesthetics and psychology and that the investigation of aesthetic experience should be conceived as an interdisciplinary project. It was, also with respect to the limited time, not the aim of this paper to present an elaborated interdisciplinary theory of aesthetic experience, but I hope I was able to convince you that it is an interesting project to be developed in fu ture co-operation. References Allesch, Christian G. (1987). Geschichte der psychologischen Ästhetik. Göttingen: Hogrefe. Allesch, Christian G. (1993). The Aesthetic as a psychological aspect of man- e n v i r o n m e n t re la t ions , or: Ernst E. Boesch as an Aes the t ic ian . Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 52 (2), pp. 122-129. 108 Aesthetic Experience - a topic at the cross-roads between philosophy and psychology Arnheim, Rudolf (1969). Visual Thinking. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press. Boesch, Ernst E. (1975). Zwischen Angst und Triumph. Bern: Huber. Boesch, Ernst E. (1980). Kultur und Handlung. Einführung in die Kultur- psychologie. Bern: Huber. Boesch, Ernst E. (1983). Das Magische und das Schöne. Zur Symbolik von Objekten und Handlungen. Stuttgart: frommann-holzboog. Boesch, Ernst E. (1991). Symbolic Action Theory and Cultural Psychology. Ber- lin: Springer. Eco, Umber to (1968). La struttura assente. Milano: Bompiani. Gifford, Robert (1987). Environmental Psychology. Principles and Practice. New- ton, Ma.: Allyn & Bacon. Lang, Alfred (1992). Kulturals 'externe See le ' - e ine semiotisch-ökologische Perspektive. In: C. G. Allesch, E.Billmann-Mahecha & A. Lang (eds.), Psychologische Aspekte des kulturellen Wandels, Wien: V e r b a n d de r wissenschaftl. Gesellschaften Österreichs. Müller-Freienfels, Richard (1925). Psychologie und Kunst. Philosophische Monatshefte, 4, 162-166. Rumelhart, David E. & McClelland, James L. (1986). Parallel Distributed Pro- cessing. Explorations in the Microstructure of Cognition, 2 vols. Cambridge, Ma.: M.I.T. Straus, Erwin (1978). Vom Sinn der Sinne. Reprint of the 2'"' ed. 1956. Berlin: Springer. Welsch, Wolfgang (1995). Aesthetics beyond Aesthetics. Regarding the Contem- porary Relevance of the Aesthetic and Recharting the Field of Aesthet- ics. Plenary lecture at the XIII th International Congress of Aesthetics, Lahti. 109 Vaidas Matonis Artistic Experience as a Construct of Multifaceted Cognitive Sub-Systems Social instability and different systems of values entail deep spiritual anxiety which, in turn, influences everyday experiences, including artistic ones. Issues such as global terrorism and environmental degradation, eco- nomic recession and religious intolerance, psychological paralysis and chemi- cal addiction which nowadays have reached epidemic proport ions make it difficult for cultures to welcome emerging counterforces. As art is under- stood — by its content — as a kind of an imaginable being in life, it, conse- quently, seeks to find some dialogical contacts between contradictions of artistic manifestations. Artistic ideas as the artist conceives of them are just manifested by adequate artistic means and are expressed by some artistic form. The present article offers reflections on two aspects of multiart expe- rience, namely on the problem of the main artistic domains and their for- mal relation to lifestyle elements or, using the phrase of the Renaissance thinker Nicholas of Cusa, »Artis omnia formatis« (the art forms everything), and the main characteristics of artistic manifestation, their interrelations and unity or, according to ancient Greek thinkers, »Unitas in varietate« (unity in the variety). Artis omnia formatis Recent theorists of multiartistic experience and policy makers in arts education have pointed out the necessity of a unified system of education based on aesthetic and humanistic foundations, one of which is a compre- hensive approach to the teaching of the arts. In my opinion, the compre- hensive arts program proposed by Bennett Reimer offers a sound basis for effective action. The general principle on which all aspects of his program are based is summarized in the following premise: »A successful approach to arts study must accomplish two essential tasks of cooperative endeavors - to preserve the integrity of each art while illustrating their nature as a fam- ily.«1 1 Bennett Reimer, A Philosophy of Music Education. Second Edition (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1989), p. 238. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVI CA Supplement), pp. 111-130 121 Vaidas Matonis We find that there are four basic artistic domains on the whole. They are: verbal, auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. These subdivisions are based on essential principles of space and time. In the first part of his Critique of Pure Reason, entitled »The Transcendental Aesthetic,« Immanuel Kant has persuaded Western Culture that »Time and space are (...) two sources of knowledge,« that »Time and space, taken together, are the pure forms of all sensible intuition,« and »Lastly transcendental aesthetic cannot contain more than these two elements, space and time.«2 In our case auditory and verbal artistic domains are based on the substance of time, while visual arts are based on the substance of space, and kinesthetic arts are spatio-tempo- ral. According to this classification, we have essential domains of artistic activity. The domains manifest themselves differently due to artistic views and according to instrumental purposes. The main artistic domains (verbal, auditory, visual, and kinesthetic) as a foundat ion for multiarts experiences, in turn, are evidently closely con- nected with the main elements of lifestyle. In sociology, for example, lifestyle is understood as some common cultural form for different social groups. Hence youth culture is subdivided into four subcultures. They are: respect- able youth, delinquent youth, cultural rebels (or bohemians), and politically militant youth (or radicals). All these subcultures have their specific symbolic use of a style which, according to professor of Carleton University Michael Brake, consists of three elements: »image« (appearance composed of cos- tume and accessories such as hair-style, jewelry and artifacts), »demeanor« (made up of expression, gait and posture), and »argot« (a special vocabu- lary and how it is delivered).3 Singled out stylistic elements are based on firm philosophical and psy- chological principles. Thus, image and demeano r are the at tr ibutes of visuality and they have the same ontological axis of space, i.e. they are co- axial. The difference between them is found only in the area of mobility: spatial images are nearly static while demeanor is astatic. In contrast, the stylistic e lement of argot is based on an audible psychological ground and its ontological attribute is not space, but time. A special vocabulary such as argot, and even speech as a whole, is a very broad phenomenon of culture. Nevertheless, the linguistic area cannot completely express a way of life. In 2 Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, transl. By Norman Kemp Smith (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1965), pp. 80 and 81-82. (Second Printing. Originally published in 1929.) 3 See: Michael Brake, Comparative Youth Culture: The Sociology of Youth, Culture and Youth Subcultures in America, Britain and Canada (London and New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1987). Originally published in 1985. 112 Artistic Experience as a Construct of Multifaceted Cognitive Sub-Systems T I M E VOCABULARY Verbal arts S P A C E IMAGE — Visual arts (spatiotemporal movement) -DEMEANOUR Kinesthetic arts SOUND INTONATIONS Auditory arts Fig. 1. Ontological attributes of lifestyle elements and basic artistic domains. my opinion, it would be beneficial to add to the three ment ioned elements a fourth one - the element of sound intonations. Now an axis of time would be coaxial, too, like an axis of space. It is clear that musical surroundings and vocal intonations represent an inner cultural world of the individual (and social group) along with hair-style, clothes, decorations, and other as- pects of his or her appearance. In a few words, some kind of music fulfills the same symbolic function for distinct subcultures as does vocabulary, ap- pearance or gait. The most fascinating thing is that all four lifestyle elements (argot, image, demeanor, and sound intonations) are of the same nature and ori- gin as the different kinds of artistic media (verbal, auditory, visual, and ki- nesthetic). They convincingly express the life attitudes of one or another (delinquents, bohemians, radicals, respectable youth) subcultural group or the individual. Visuality and audibility function as sign systems which obtain appropriate public forms. Consequently, according to the principle of con- tinuum, the main forms of artistic manifestation find their direct connec- tion with the most intimate forms of an individual's cultural expression. It is these four elements of style that really help to know people (espe- cially young people) better and to establish their relevant subcultural de- pendence. I noticed an excellent example of such insight in fiction when I was reading Chapter IV »A Queer Character« in Maine Reid's novel The Land Pirates to my younger son before his bedtime. This writer presented a mar- velous fourfaceted description of the lifestyle case which fully conveyed a character of the horseman met on the road: There was someth ing in the style of the man we me t - both in his speech and demeanor - tha t provoked a feel ing of indignat ion ( . . . ) I could see 113 Vaidas Matonis tha t h e was what, in the Southern States, is called a »bully.« Its b r o a d arrow was u p o n him - unmistakably impressed on his countenance, as well as in the way in which he carr ied himself . T h e r e was a swagger tha t seemed in tended to conceal the coward ( . . . ) It was the sight of these ugly insignia, carried so ostentatiously, that had p roduced my first feel ing of aversion - soon s t rengthened , however, by the ban te r ing tone in which he talked to my young compan ion ( . . . ) 4 It is striking that the expression of the face (»countenance«) is men- tioned in this discourse along with all four elements of the lifestyle. The whole pedagogical enterprise considered f rom the perspective of the existing social order is charged to keep in touch with young people, especially with young people at risk, in order to maintain both their visibil- ity and audibility related to the dominant normative system. Democracy as a condition for developing human beings to be free and capable of creativ- ity, of course, should become stronger and stronger. One of the most im- por tant assumptions of this condition is to increase the civic activity of the young generation. A highly influential way of doing this is participation in students ' everyday life. On the other hand, young people in a democratic society are more or less free to express their inner world by those external means which they like or pre tend to like. Thus, their lifestyle can inform us to some extent of their identification with different cultural youth groups. Such information could be used for taxonomic aid (for example, point ing to the set of cultural values which could indicate dependency on one or another subcultural group), as well as for observation of subcultural tenden- cies of the young generation. Arts education, especially one which is based on the comprehensive multiarts approach, could in turn influence both the elements of lifestyle and the cultural life of subcultural groups. Unitas in varietate Similarly, the present artistic culture entails the urgent problem of ex- tending a sphere of artistic being according to the possibilities of aesthetic perception and artworks interpretation. It means that attention of investi- gators should relevantly be focused, along with traditional art, both on prac- tically oriented and postmodern artworks (artifactual art, conceptual art and the like). Contemporary philosophy of art is already in the process of ful- filling this task. As was suggested by Arthur Dan to, »a philosophy of art must 4 Mayne Reid, The Land Pirates: or, The League of Devil's Island (New York: Beadle & Adams, 1886), p. 5. All italics added, except »insignia.« 114 Artistic Experience as a Construct of Multifaceted Cognitive Sub-Systems be consistent with all the art there is and ever has been« and fur ther added that »an adequate philosophy of art straightaway entails pluralism, for it would be wholly adventitious that there should be only one kind of art.«5 It seems to me that a philosophy of arts education is preferable if it is consis- tent with all the arts, too, including »transitional« spheres of artistic activ- ity, which manifests itself between the artworld and material and ideal worlds. Though history observes constant changes in the forms of artistic mani- festation and their varying degrees of importance, time reveals that some characteristics of that manifestation have common traits in every art domain. The characteristics about the way an individual experiences the aesthet ic/ artistic world might be classified into three relative sub-systems (groups). The first sub-system contains pure artistic characteristics which show various fac- ets of artistic manifestation (form, representation, expression). They are highly discussed in a contemporary philosophy of art as well as philosophy of arts education. The representative and expressive characteristics of artistic manifesta- tion are closely connected with the characteristic of formal artistic manifes- tation. It is characterized by prevalence of the total contextual ar rangement of elements of some stuff in order to achieve a certain result. Sometimes form is considered as such type of property on which most other aesthetic prop- erties depend. Priority of form is characteristic of abstract fine arts, pure dance, experimental drama or movies, absolute music. The artistic representation is characterized as mimetic, imitative, natural- istic, programmatic, referential, realistic, hyper-realistic and so forth. This facet has been observed in the evolution of art, revived each time in a new shape. With the decline of precision in depicting the world, each artist in- terpreting the object in a different manner, artistic representation should eternally remain as a certain evidence of the aesthetic relation between the subject and the surrounding world. Different kinds of art in the represen- tational characteristic are known in the history of the arts as imitative visual arts, realistic literature, drama and cinema, thematic dance, and program- matic music. Lastly, the characteristic of artistic expression is presented in literature in a rather different way. In some theoretical trends it is considered to be the expression of the creator's emotions; in others, mainly the result of the creation process; in still others, the art's power to evoke emotional responses of the recipient or to be a basis for interpersonal communication. The ex- pression characteristic consists of various kinds of the arts which have rel- 5 Arthur C. Dan to »Art after the End of Art,« in Artforum International (April 1993),p. 67. 115 Vaidas Matonis evant names, such as highly expressive works of drama, dance or music, lit- erature or visual arts. The distinction between representation, expression and form in arts calls for different distribution of the perceiver's attention and determines a variety of artistic experience. Gene H. Blocker successfully divided all three artistic characteristics as oppositions of heteronomy and autonomy. So the idea of abstract form is opposed to the organic sense of formal composition; the imitation theory is criticized in favor of artistic representation; to the interpretation of artis- tic expression as the venting of human emotion, he preferred a view of ex- pression as embodied emotion.0 In this paper I prefer the concept of expres- siveness which was recently elaborated in aesthetic theory. I am going to use it as a contrast to the concept of expression. The secondsub-system contains applied artistic characteristics (utilitar- ian and pragmatic criteria). Bifunctional (aesthetic and useful) nature of these characteristics determines their relevant place in the arts system and artistic experience. Thus, oratorical art (some artistically created and occa- sionally per formed under various circumstances, such as congratulations, funeral speeches, sermons, anecdotes and so forth) and artistic expository writing are closely related to pure verbal arts; commercial visual arts, con- nected with consuming culture (pragmatism), and applied visual arts (utili- tarianism) are related to pure visual arts; artistic sports are related to pure dance. Even music is commonly exploited for its concomitant (perceived in passing) role. As shown by investigations, nontradit ional music instruction coupled with background music gives, for the most part, negligible results and cannot be a substitute of any kind for formalized music instruction.7 Nevertheless, background music is effective in a variety of settings for an array of uses. The purpose of artistic surroundings is mainly the emotional unity of people in various life situations. This refers to both commercial art (prag- matism) and traditional applied art (utilitarianism). The artistic pragmatism has appeared in recent historical period as a result of development of con- sumer culture. Advertising art and relevant verbal texts, commercial music and dance, drama or sports shows, advertising theatrical series on TV and the like represent this characteristic of artistic manifestation. If the main funct ion of the applied arts, along with athe esthetic one, is utilitarian (i.e. to use applied arts or ritual actions practically), the main function of artis- 6 See H. Gene Blocker, Philosophy of Art (New York: Charles Scribners, 1979). 7 Deborah A. Sheldon, »Between Classes: The Effects of Non-Traditional Instruction and Background Music on Music Learning and Preference,« in Contributions to Music Education 22 (Ohio Music Education Association, 1995), pp. 24-39. 116 Artistic Experience as a Construct of Multifaceted Cognitive Sub-Systems tic pragmatism, along with the aesthetic one, is to make commercial profit f rom various artifacts or entertainments. Thus, two different and to some extent opposite areas of the respondent's relation to arts have been observed. In modern literature the way of perceiv- ing artworks intentionally, mainly concentrating on them, is called percipience. Artworks, however, can also be perceived concomitantly, that is perceived in passing, while the observer is participating in some other activity. This includes musical background and ritual music, accidentally seen works of art and ar- chitecture, theatrical performances in everyday or religious rites or on mili- tary and festive occasions. Both these areas of art perception are relatively autonomous, whilst their limits are sometimes exceeded. Lastly, the third sub-system contains art-like artistic characteristics (aes- thetically intentional human activity). It contains aesthetic characteristics of the surrounding reality (naturalism), on the one hand, and hermeneut ic manifestation of arts, on the other. Some examples of artistic naturalism are expressively used natural sounds and words of natural (sometimes also artificial) speech, natural things, p h e n o m e n a and movements. When they are regarded for their aes- thetic meaning they may serve as examples of artistic naturalism. Herme- neutic characteristic (interpretation) is one of the newest tendencies in the development of the artistic mind, which is essentially connected with post- modernism. The crucial feature of this characteristic is an emphasis on sub- jective associations and cultural context in contrast to high modernism which emphasizes artistic form and artistic autonomy.8 The last dozen years have, in effect, raised, in addition to applied forms of art, such forms of artistic activity as found art, conceptual art, performance art or electronic art which extended the boundaries of the artistic field. Incidentally, such a limiting edge has been achieved even dur ing my intro- ductory discussions with students-future teachers of Lithuanian. One of the answers to the question »When is art?« was rhetorically reformulated in the form of a question: »Well, but how to ascertain when life is already a life and when it is not a life? The same pertains to art.« Using the method of deconstructive activity it is possible to show key artistic characteristics (concepts) of every sub-system in their interrelationship. So the privileged artistic characteristics at a certain stage of their historical de- velopment make either some suppress the opposite ones or the privilege is 8 More detailed description of these characteristics in terms of visual art education can be found in Dalia Siaulytiene, Vaidas Matonis »Toward a Relationship between National Homogeneity and Multiculturalism in Visual Arts« in Canadian Review of Art Education: Research and issues, forthcoming. 117 Vaidas Matonis replaced by equality or, lastly, primacy is assigned to the formerly suppressed characteristics. Similar interrelations (vertically or diagonally) seemingly might be noticed among all above mentioned characteristics as well. Characteristics of artistic manifestation Pure artistic characteristics Abstract formalism - Organic formalism Representation - Imitation Expressiveness - Expression Applied artistic characteristics Pragmatism - Utilitarism Art-like artistic characteristics Interpretation - Naturalism Distinguishing and cultivating the above-mentioned artistic character- istics in training practice is important because they consistently fill the me- dium between objects a n d / o r phenomena and ideas and thus partly solve the problem of dualism of material and ideal. The fact that along with the pure arts the most popular ones are mixed domains of aesthetic and artis- tic activity (such as artistic gymnastics and figure skating, applied arts and design, oratorical skills and artistic expository writing, background and ritual music, highly theatralized forms of cultural life and the like) and that they are included in artistic training, testifies to the consistent filling of the vacuum between the ideal and the material. Nevertheless, in every respect the mature artistic manifestation sphere (pure art) should have the great- est masters' works as the main object of artistic cognition. As the outcome of the action of different sub-systems, the articulation of the artistic experience can promote understanding of the cont inuum of the artistic field and can fur ther development of the arts curriculum. The multifaceted approach to the arts experience presented in this paper is es- pecially beneficial for extensional comprehensive arts education the main focus of which is concentrated on prospects of an extended arts education cur- riculum. The general idea is based on the principle of cont inuum and re- veals the possibilities of unifying all characteristics of the arts and of the aesthetic manifestation. The main emphasis is put on the rejoining of aes- thetic, applied, interpretative, and natural properties of artistic/aesthetic activity which were fatally disconnected for a long time within the eighteenth- century philosophical thought. However, the aesthetically intentional human activity and achievements of the institutional theory of art, as well as post- 118 Artistic Experience as a Construct of Multifaceted Cognitive Sub-Systems institutional conceptions, were not overlooked. Applied and intent ional aspects of different arts domains (verbal, auditory, visual, and kinesthetic) are in close interaction with the experience of major characteristics of the pure artistic characteristics, including the neighboring aesthetic character- istics in the unified field of arts education. This extends significantly the possibility for a more reliable, comprehensive arts curriculum strategy. At the same time, arts education comes into proximity of everyday life practices in various meaningful realms of culture. Simple participation in everyday cultural phenomena could induce the process of education (including arts education) to achieve its goal and help implement the ultimate purpose of a curriculum which is to enhance individual unders tanding and develop personal identity. 119 Raffaele Milani The Aesthetic Exploitation of Landscape The aesthetic discovery of landscape in Europe is fairly recent and dates back to the 18th century when the threat of industrialisation became visible and tangible. To put it succintly, landscape is the overall view an observer (immobile or in motion) has of his surroundings f rom a given angle. How- ever the focus on the landscape in its varied forms, like the pleasure one derives from observing it, delineates a complex shift in sensibility and think- ing f rom a historical and cultural viewpoint open to p ro found and meta- phorical meanings bound up with being. The landscape thus can be seen as a concept concerning numerous disciplines. If we restrict our analysis to the area of aesthetics, to the taste for nature which developed dur ing the Age of Reason, the scene which immediately unfolds before us presents the picturesque as a vision of nature. Historically the concept of the picturesque has been interpreted as the reappraisal and view of nature f rom the point of view of an aesthetic reflec- tion on beauty. Signs of this research on landscape and the environment can be traced even prior to its theorization in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century to Vasari when this term was used merely to indicate a tech- nique in painting »alia pittoresca«. Even then these signs were highly par- ticular ways of depicting life and objects in relation to the perceptual and psychological activity of the subject. During the 17th century and above all during the 18th century the picturesque progressively developed into a taste through a pressing visual strategy by virtue of what was »proper to painting and painters«. Thus in the complex transition f rom the classical to the ro- mantic, we witness the aesthetic discovery of landscape parallel to the posi- tive discovery of the natural sciences. Moreover, because of the reasons ment ioned above, a fertile exchange between the eye which observes and contemplates (the natural eye) and the selective eye of painting (the picto- rial eye) can be discerned in these pathways. This exchange is also extended to the relation between creation and utilization, between painter and ob- server. Since psychological processes are linked to the evolution of taste, seeing (I am referr ing to the historico-perceptual strategies of the pictur- esque) implies a view; whereas contemplating and representing are seen as Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVI CA Supplement), pp. 121-130 121 Raffaele Milani promot ing a poetic broadening of perception, giving rise to an aesthetic emotion and an authentic vision. In its search for effect and its taste for ruins the picturesque marks the passage f rom the baroque to romanticism as it distances itself f rom reason and f rom the rules of classicism relying on freedom of invention. It does not convey a profound authentic feeling, but a suggestive staging of curiosities and impressions from which unusual and powerful images of wild and spon- taneous nature arise. During the 18th century in Great Britain the pictur- esque mingled with the sublime theorized by Burke, with the gothic and with the pastoral tradition of literature. It is a plural concept in which beauty in painting merges with beauty in nature. This can be seen in the visual arts, ar- chitecture, gardening, literature (visual descriptivism) and the taste for travel and faraway places. In this investigation the picturesque is probably also the first important theory concerning the landscape. Outside Europe, in China for example, the aesthetic interest in the landscape flourished much earlier - about a millenium earlier - and led to the view of man and nature conjoined within a cosmic, spiritual design. Behind its evolution and its visual discovery seen as a frame- work of observation, composition and points of view (lights, panoramas, scenes) a description unfolds which in time selects, improves, orders, estab- lishes criteria, sets up comparisons, and elaborates ideas. From the feeling of wonder experienced by John Dennis (1693), John Addison (1705), Anthony Shaftesbury (1709) and George Berkeley at the sight of overhanging rocks, roaring torrents, rugged cliffs and waterfalls, and shadowy forests to the re- search conducted by William Gilpin, Uvedale Price and Richard Payne Knight anticipating romantic, frenzy, an aesthetic theory emerges, halfway between our imagination and the pleasure of sight and of the senses. It is a reasoned sensibility founded on the value attributed to the irregularity, variety, intricacy and roughness of a wild and disorderly nature, an aesthetic pleasure which relies on spontaneity and caprice. Nature is a spectacle, a theater of the un- usual, the stage of our imaginings, a point of departure and of return. The astonishment expressed by Goethe (1779) and Hegel (1795) before the view of the Bernese Alps can easily be read as a romantic passion emerging from a pleasure typical of picturesque taste. The traveller of the picturesque was guided towards solitary and uncommon landscapes, architectural ruins and tangled vegetation. The description of landscapes becomes a composition of selected images, a classification of events and impressions, conjoined judge- ments made explicit, an elaboration of general concepts and of practical in- terventions, a path of analogies and memories, a project of variable patterns, a focus on particular knowledge to attain a heightened sensibility. In the writ- 122 The Aesthetic Exploitation of Landscape ings on the picturesque at the end of the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century a broad and systematic interpretation of the world around us and of vegetable, animal and human life began to take shape. What we find interesting today, despite the differences between the various authors and their cultural and temporal backgrounds, is the strategy adopted in the observation of nature, the measures to improve its arrangement and the pleasures that this arouses also in relation to spectacular outcomes, effect and feeling. It is a reordering that follows the laws of nature and the work of man, an illusion worth returning to in order to reformulate our attitudes. This illusion was to appear again in the observations of Schinkel and Constable and later ex- panded in a project for a new sensibility in philosophy. Many things have changed since the end of the 18th century, but this profound feeling for nature has not died out, for we still seek an intimate contact with the landscape, seen and experienced as a whole by our minds and bodies. Between the world of nature and the world of art which reflects it, beauty, grace, the sublime, the picturesque and other aesthetic ideas con- tinue to spread their seeds and suggest infinite forms to the imagination. To perceive the landscape undoubtedly brings into play an aesthetic act which forms our culture and history in general. In this connection the teachings of Rosario Assunto in Italy were decisive in pointing out how the landscape and its interpretation promote a high degree of civilization in the evolution of taste. He reminded us that the landscape contains the traces of the identity of nature and of the spirit in proposing sensibilities illuminated in turn by various aesthetic categories. Contemplation, he asserted, is not pure fantasy, but an exercise in feeling. Certain morphologies of landscape can become traces of poetics, or ideal indications. Beneath these analyses and the senti- ment of nature lies a criticism whereby material being is the result of a work- ing process equal to aesthetic being. Landscape is an aesthetic institution by virtue of itself, of literary and travel testimonies, of visual arts and of the subject's imagination. This takes us back to the relation between nature and culture within which the ecological comparison falls. In Assunto's thought landscape is the form of culture and history, the form in which culture and history have been absorbed. As for the problem regarding the value of natu- ral beauty, he opposes the views expressed by Croce (Aesthetica in nuce) who reiterated the traditional separation between natural and artistic beauty. Assunto (Introduzione alia critica del paesaggio, 1963) also proposes to estab- lish whether it is possible to elaborate a »landscape criticism« comparable to art criticism. This would give rise to a landscape criticism centering on the feeling of nature involving philosophical reality, culture, and the vision of the world in a connection supported by the aesthetic ideal. This ideal 123 Raffaele Milani underlies the discovery of nature and transforms man into an artist. As the mediator between nature and history, man today must flee f rom the city of Prometheus founded on economism, technical rationalism and scientism and seek shelter in the city of Anfione who softened the rationality of build- ing with music and song. In recent years the attention has been focused not so much on the com- parison between aesthetic sensibility and artistic production, on the aims of philosophy and the »objectivity« of natural beauty as on the fact that nature itself may be perceived as a work of art. As a result one needs to go beyond the perspective of a study of landscape in art, as Kenneth Clark did, or con- versely, of art in landscape, as the theoreticians of the picturesque at the end of the 18th century proposed. Moreover, even the difference between gar- dens and the natural and cultural landscape, the latter being the result of the work of man who molded it, is for the most part interpreted today as an art of nature capable of encompassing garden and landscape. The landscape (natural or rural) of the entire world could be viewed as a garden, and all the gardens of the world, even the smallest ones, could be considered land- scapes in relation to the world in its totality. An aesthetics of landscape is thus delineated which, beyond the debate on the system of the arts, appears to be far removed from the principle of »aimless finalism«, of the »disinterested pleasure« of art elaborated by Kant. The broadened notion which is presented allows one to consider both theo- retical and practical aspects ranging from the fields of philosophy to art, f rom psychology to anthropology, from agriculture and geography to biology and ecology: in short, aesthetic Utopia becomes also an ethical project. The aesthetics of landscape is based on the fact that we are the ones who have created the image of what surrounds us, both on the plane of feel- ing and of the representation of things, in history and through history. The very myth of the wilderness, fueled by the fathers of modern environmen- talism, should be reconsidered in the light of our vision of nature, even the wildest landscape very often bears the signs of man and, in any case, the wilderness once again expresses the search of the imagination, the will of creative insight to discover the intimate genius of the world a round us. Nature and human perception (undoubtedly oriented and heightened per- ception), like the relationship between object and subject, are not two dis- tinct kingdoms and cannot be separated. A panorama is formed by the vari- eties of the given materials of which it is composed, but also by the memo- ries which have built up and overlapped over the centuries in a process con- temporaneous to writing. As Simon Shama asserts, it is our perception that creates the difference between raw material and landscape. 124 The Aesthetic Exploitation of Landscape The landscape therefore is a product of man's work and mind. It is in this way that we may comprehend how the sight of nature arouses the imagi- nation. The imagination, as we know, is strictly linked to percept ion in con- templating the landscape. The genius of a single artist is replaced by the genius of the earth and of our meeting with nature when, voluntarily or involuntarily, we are prompted to assign the value of art to it, bearing in mind that history and memory must never be seen as distinct f rom man's living experience. As Maurice Merleau-Ponty aptly put it, the landscape is situated between the gaze cast by the observer and the flesh of the world. It is the result of a synaesthetic act and is at one with us. Psychological time, connected to the fruition of what surrounds us, ex- panding and suddenly contracting, is no doubt important from the viewpoint of aesthetic reception and artistic creation, but movement is also central be- cause of the variation of the points of view it produces. With respect to the aesthetic perception of landscape, movement automatically involves other senses: besides sight, a fixed gaze and its particular vertigo of feeling, hear- ing, smell and taste as well. Movement exerts an all-embracing grip on the world and involves the whole body. At a more careful examination what emerges is a continual in- terplay of viewpoints in time and space according to different speeds and means. Walking, dancing, swimming, riding, cycling, travelling by motorcycle, car, train or plane are, in our case, ways of experiencing the landscape aes- thetically. As described by literature, painting and other arts and as we can directly experience ourselves, the landscape changes its appearance. We live in the wonder of feeling, ranging f rom a solitary stroll, reminiscent of Rousseau, to a journey by plane. The landscape alters its appearance thanks to our movements, but also thanks to other factors - atmospheric, climatic and seasonal variations of light, color, wind and temperature - to variations caused by natural phenomena (vulcanic eruptions, earthquakes and so on) or to contact with different materials such as sand, earth, water, grass, marble, etc. The perception of movement, time and space is condit ioned by the changing landscape. In this connection it must be pointed out that today man's interventions are not restricted to cultivated land and woodlands, but also comprise those of contemporary art such as land art, earth art, environ- mental art and ecological art. These events are the concern of environmental aesthetics which, on the one hand, observes and theorizes artistic processes linked to the environment, and, on the other, launches the idea of safeguard- ing nature in the same way as one does works of art. At any rate, environ- mental aesthetics and the aesthetics of landscape may be usefully integrated. 125 Raffaele Milani The evolution of taste for an aesthetic categorization of our surround- ings in a perception of both distance and closeness must not be seen as fo- cusing exclusively on the past or on purposes of conservation and restora- tion, but also on the future. Among the landscapes that this aesthetics com- prises (natural, cultural, urban) , those provided by space exploration must also be included. Within a few years human beings will colonize various points of our solar system, and it will no longer be a question of observing privileged landscapes; we will have the thrill of a new Grand Tour. How then will sensibility respond amid virtual reality, new media and adventures out- side our planet? We will soon find out by undergoing rapid cultural changes. However we must take note of the fact that our sensibility expands between the universe of communication and space exploration as homogenization advances (the number of species is diminishing as well as the number of languages and cultural habits). The appraisal of nature can reach and is already reaching borders undreamed of even a few years ago. The aesthetics of landscape is an organic rethinking of the sentiment of nature, a product of the outcomes of civilization and art. It is at the same t ime history, criticism, cu l ture , conservat ion, educa t ion and work; it t ranforms man, capable of seeing, contemplating, respecting and promot- ing, so that he may be conducted from a plane of mere reception to one of active, p rofound participation, beyond the consumption of green space, beyond a logic linked to the use of leisure time, beyond simplistic solutions of environmental impact along a path originating in ancient Greece and leading to the present. Along this path we are invited to consider certain morphologies of landscape as traces of a poetics, as ideal suggestions, and to detach ourselves from a ravaged space-environment in order to relaunch an aesthetic and ecological project on a vast scale. Because a place is not only a set of physical and geographical features, but an irrepressible, symbolic, unconscious, individual and collective memory. Besides the authors and ideas usually associated with the aesthetics of landscape, two further considerations must be added. The first one concerns the cathartic effect of a »beautiful view« in Arthur Schopenhauer, the sec- ond is the motif of illusion in Jurgis Baltrusaitis. In Book III of the Supplements (1844) [Ergänzungen: Vereinzelte Bemerkungen über Naturschönheit] to The World as Will and Idea, Schopenhauer dwells on the observations regarding the beauty of nature and states that every modification, even the slightest, which an object undergoes due to its position, shortening, distance, illumination or linear and aerial perspective is infallibly given by its effect on the eye and taken into exact account; the Indian proverb »every grain of rice casts a shadow« is thus validated. In this 126 The Aesthetic Exploitation of Landscape chapter the assertion »how aesthetic nature is« refers to the variety and spon- taneity of nature and praises its wildness. However, what strikes one most about these pages is the consideration that thought pursues the method of nature after receiving its first impulse. He explicitly declares: »A beautiful view is therefore a cathartic of the mind, just as music according to Aristotle is of the feeling, and in its presence one will think most correctly« [Eineschdne Aussicht ist daher ein Kathartikon des Geistes, wie die Musik, nach Aristoteles des Gemiites, und in ihrer Gegenwart luird man am richtigsten denken]. These reflec- tions are influenced by several passages in paragraph 39 of The World as Will and Idea where the sentiment of the sublime and of the variety of nature in the representation of our mind is discussed. Despite the difference between the motifs, the beautiful view as a 'cathartic of the mind ' (Supplements) ech- oes a passage in The World as Will and Idea where consciousness is described as dissolving into nothingness, like a d rop of water in an ocean: we are one with the world. Schopenhauer observes that many objects of our intuition arouse the sentiment of the sublime in us because, by virtue of their great extension and antiquity, in other words, of their duration, we feel reduced to nothingness in their presence, yet we are inebriated by the joy of contem- plating them; high mountains, the Pyramids and the colossal ruins of ancient times belong to this category. It is in this sense that nature is the aesthetic manifesting itself as art. The cathartic effect and the principle of annulment are valuable in aiding our understanding of the very quality of feeling and contemplating. Equally valuable in Baltrusaitis' view according to which the garden is a place of illusion (a term already employed together with reinvention), not only in the sense of a fantastic microcosm, but also as the sum of the most diverse forms of experience and knowledge, from plants to animals, f rom water to minerals, in an infinite broadening of horizons. Natural history, acheology, the history of civilizations and technologies take part in this evo- lution of the garden in the perspective of a new encyclopedia. As an image of the world, the landscape, like the garden is revealed to be a terrain of illusion, totality, eternity and beauty in a surge of nostagia and melancholy. The landscape is a completed vision, endlessly entwined and fluctuating in the depths of spirituality and pervaded by the inexpressible: it is an inter- nal vision which corresponds to an external vision in a mutual disappear- ance of nature and man. This vision can be understood as spiritual form and work of art (in a process) of styles capable of dissolving into an original, es- sential, oneiric nothingness. Baltrusaitis develops his theory of illusion through affective elements in a becoming of recognition of object and sub- ject. 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Weillacher U., Betiueen Landscape Architecture and Land Art, Birkhauser, Bos- ton 1996. Weiss A. S., Unnatural Horizons: Paradox and Contradiction in Landscape Archi- tecture, Princeton Architectural Press, New York 1998. Whitehead A.N., Natura évita (1934), It. tr., by G.M. Crespi, Bocca, Milano 1951. Yi-Fu Tuan, Mountains, Ruins and the Sentiment of Melancholy, »Landscape«, Fall 1964, pp. 27-30. 130 Joosik Min Fengliu, the Aesthetic Way of Life in East Asian Culture I. Fengliu as a Basic Concept of East Asian Aesthetics Generally the name of aesthetics is given to a branch of philosophy which has been shaped and developed in European countries, and its main subjects have been beauty, fine arts and sensual cognition. However, there is no guarantee that the concepts of beauty and fine arts for Western people is necessarily in accord with those for Eastern people. Moreover the concepts of beauty and fine arts in the West were not fixed, and have been changing continuously in history. Therefore when we East Asian people study our own traditional aesthet- ics today, it is more fruitful not so much to pay attention to the translated words of beauty or fine arts used in the Western language as to find out our own concepts equivalent to the Western concepts in the role. We cannot assert that the words such as beauty and fine arts are the main concepts in East Asian aesthetics. At least in Korean traditional thought the values and phenomena of beauty and fine arts were not dealt with separately, but treated and regarded as relating strongly to other values and phenomena. They were especially linked to morals or ethics, and, fur thermore, sometimes subordi- nated to them according to circumstances. In this paper I would like to discuss fengliu as a methodological con- cept of East Asian aesthetics which comprises three main aspects of aesthetic studies such as beauty, fine arts and sensual cognition. In Eastern thought the concept of fengliu is able to integrate various aspects of aesthetic issues. It has had an important and continuous role in the historical development in East Asian classical aesthetics. For this reason fengliu could also be called the basic founding concept of East Asian aesthetics. Fengliu (or poongryu in Korean and furyu in Japanese) means »the stream of wind« in the literal sense of the word. It implies giving full play to one's free-spirited and extravagant mind. Once, when Confucius asked his pupils about their hopes for the future, the pupil Zi-lu replied that he hoped to rescue the country from danger as a politician, Ran You hoped to raise the wealth of the people as a person working in the area of economy, and Gong-Xi Hua replied that his hope was to become a government official. Filozofski vestnih, XX (2/1999 - XIVI CA Supplement), pp. 173-179 131 Joosik Min Only Zeng Xi didn ' t reply, so the Master asked him again. Zeng Xi said that at the end of spring, when the making of the Spring Clothes had been com- pleted, he wished to go with five or six newly-capped youths and six or seven uncapped boys, to perform the lustration in the river I, take the air at the Rain Dance altars, and then go home singing. The Master heaved a deep sigh and said, I am with Zeng Xi.1 The case of fengliu in Zeng Xi meant breaking off relations with the trivialities of ordinary life. This free and extravagant spirit can be displayed not only in the atti- tudes on politics and society, but also in the realm of literature and taste. Furthermore, it can be displayed in relation with the opposite sex and in the way of life. In short, the life of a free man, sharing the benefits of an unrestraining attitude towards the environment and a personal loftiness is to be called fengliu. To enjoy a hermit 's life and to be excellent in »quin- tan« or the clean discourse are good examples of fengliu. The disposition of the clean discourse became »xuanxue«, or the profound philosophy, as combined with the tradition of Buddhism; later the profound philosophy developed as Zen-Buddhist philosophy so that it placed the tradition of fengliu on the side of the mind. Fengliu has a tendency to raise the ordinary life to the aesthetic state or the world of art. Therefore the full content of fengliu is nothing but the aesthetic way of life. II. The Origin and Transition of Fengliu The implications of fengliu have been interpreted differently with the change of times. The original meaning in China implied simply a custom handed down from the preceding king. In the Han period (206 BC - 220 AD) the meaning was changed to become a laudable and beautiful custom in politics and education. Later on it has been used to judge the merit of a person, to qualify the attitude of life and to designate the doctrine of artis- tic beauty. Still later it implied, on the one hand, the beauty of natural scen- ery or a person's appearance and, on the other hand, aesthetic life in rela- tion to taste or amorous life. The concept of fengliu as an expression of aesthetic consciousness was widespread in the period of Wei Jin (3rd century - 4th century). According to Yuan Hong's book Description on Post-Han Dynasty, the word »feng« means moral influence which spreads outside, and »liu« means fidelity which in- clines toward the inside. Similarly, the concept of fengliu, comprising a moral 1 The Analects of Confucius, translated and annotated by Arthur Waley, Vintage Books, New York, 1938, pp. 154-160. 132 Fengliu, the Aesthetic Way of Life in East Asian Culture meaning, such as personality and fidelity, was advanced in the Jin period. It was moreover ment ioned just after the description of an event that was at- tributed to an upright group of university students who struggled against the arbitrariness of eunuchs. The apostle of fengliu according to Yuan Hong was none other than this upright group. This kind of fengliu was called »fengliu of a celebrity« in the book Shishuo. In the Jin period the fengliu of a celebrity took on the »fengliu of a hermit«. Furthermore, fengliu implied the character and the tune of poetry. In the usage »fengliu of poetry«, »feng« sig- nified the elegance of poetry and »liu« its uniqueness. Hence fengliu in the Jin period which was grounded on fidelity, began to signify both the spirit of Taoist sequestered life of standing aloof of politics and business, and the artistic spirit t inctured with the taste of the nobility. It is natural that fengliu should be influenced by Taoism, which was very influential in that period. Many Taoists have elucidated the aesthetic way of life. An example can be found in the famous chapter »Let Fancy Roam« by Chuang Tzu. Fengliu came close to the aesthetic idea of an artistic and tasteful life, which was supported, formed and developed by the luxurious life of the clan. In this way in the Jin period the concept of fengliu acquired the meaning of an aesthetic idea. The meaning of fengliu became almost the same as that of the word »ya« or elegance which is opposite to »su« or vulgarism. In the sixth century the meaning of fengliu changed again to designate voluptuous beauty. We can find many examples in the poems entitled Yu Tai Xin Yongji which was one of the best anthologies compiled in those days. In the fifth century there emerged a new meaning, for they would call fengliu a man who was untidy and slovenly. From the usage »dissipated fengliu« at that time, we presume that the concept fengliu and dissoluteness were difficult to separate. As King Jianwendi of the Yang dynasty in the sixth century said, »if the writing is dis- solute, it is better,« the excessive movement of feeling was considered to be valuable. The implication of voluptuousness soon began to imply a lewd man as is known from the usage of »fengliu talent« which appeared in the Tang poems. In the end, the word fengliu was used to designate a voluptuous beauty and suggested especially thoughts of a sexual nature. As we can see, the meaning of the word fengliu has changed many times. Nonetheless, in composition sentences it always accompanied the feeling of yearning and recollection, this being true from the Tang period to the modern ages. This was so because it is derived from the meaning of hereditary customs and character. The Chinese dictionary Pei Wen Yun Fu lists most of the usages of fengliu that appeared in Chinese classical writ- ings. The usages are rearranged into seven groups in the modern dictionary 133 Joosik Min Ci Yuan. They are as follows: (1) the remnants of a beautiful custom; (2) the physical appearance and atti tude of a man; (3) grace or dignity; (4) the brilliance of beautiful scenery; (5) to go against etiquette, to make one's own style and to express something different from ordinary people; (6) unusual spiritual ability; and (7) to call at prostitutes' quarters. If we reexamine the above contents, we find that the first usage denotes the flowing of beautiful customs made by the preceding king. It means the tradition of morals and customs which aim at the realization of a moral and political culture based on »the Way of a King«. In short we interpret it as good customs among the people or as beautiful customs of the world. The second and third usages signify the individually preeminent character or dig- nity, and, further, the visible appearance in which the character and the dignity were manifested externally. Consequently it denotes the attitude of life which shows human merits in a broad sense. In some cases we can re- gard it as the grace of work of art in general because it designates the style or norm of music. The fourth usage denotes the existence of the aesthetic qualities which can be discovered in the attributes of natural things. For example, the aesthetic quality of elegance in the long drooping branches of a willow tree is such a case. The fifth and the sixth usage refer to the spiri- tual state which is extraordinary, lofty and graceful. It is the aspect of cul- tured elegance free from the trammels of ordinary life. It signifies the great- ness of not only a moral mentality but also artistic and literary cultivation. In short, it is a refined and graceful literati taste. The seventh is a transferred meaning in particular which implies amorous feelings. The general usages of fengliu are the ones mentioned above. The basic meaning support ing those usages, in brief, signifies the existence of a spiri- tual value. The content was mainly political and educational at first, then it gradually spread into the sphere of moral and aesthetic value, and eventu- ally to that of customs, individuals, natural things and works of art all over the world. III. The Contents of Fengliu 1. Fengliu and Individuality In Wei Jin and the Nan Bei Chao period (4th century - 5th century) the pressure of traditional conventions was diminished, and instead a new tendency toward individualism appeared, which was linked to fengliu. There was a kind of romanticism which emphasized the importance to be conscious of one 's own nature and of emancipat ing one's own individuality. It was 134 Fengliu, the Aesthetic Way of Life in East Asian Culture entirely different f rom the rigorous courtesy or decorum of the previous period which emphasized formality. There had been a period like this giv- ing priority to fidelity. To attach great importance to fidelity and h o n o u r in this new moral etiquette had a strong connection with an emphasis on the individual or the self. The discovery of beauty in the individual was one of the peculiar characteristics of the thoughts of fengliu in the J in period. 2. Fengliu and Nature The Taoist philosophy of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, which is the basis of Chinese thought, gave reliable ground to the people who lived in the midst of great political and social upheavals. The art of living for Taoists meant to »return to nature.« The representative poets in this period Dao Wenming and Shi Lingwin tried to re turn to pastoral na ture in order to achieve the emancipation of one's own nature. Many people sought truth and beauty in nature. The people who escaped from corrupt society were able to achieve goodness in nature. For them nature was the only environ- men t in which they were able to emancipate their individuality freely and to regain their original goodness. They looked for Arcadia in nature in which they could forget real society. The idea of the return to nature and to eman- cipate the individuality was gradually colonizing the notion of the hermit 's fengliu. In this way the idea of fengliu, which had regard for the impressive beauty of individuality, came to imply the beauty of nature. 3. Fengliu and the Fine Arts Both music and dance have their own structures and offer unique im- pressions. They have peculiar characters and norms, respectively. This also holds true in the case of poetry. The idea of fengliu is similar to that of fine arts, for it enables us to discover the uniqueness of and recognize the indi- viduality in various kinds and types. We can find the expression »one per- sonality has one school« which used the word fengliu in the chapter of Bi- ography of Shi Lingwin by Wen Shen. This usage informs us that fengliu has the attribute of individual items. The beauty of individuality in music and literature has two sides. One is the individuality of the author or the per- former, while the other is the individuality of the work of art. According to Gu Kaizhi, the most important thing in figure painting is to animate the individuality of a person by tracing the divine energy. He also maintains that the expression of the divine principle is vital in landscape painting. Fengliu is a synonym of the word such as divine energy or spiritual brilliance, which is the expression of the divine principle. 4. Fengliu and the Playing Man Chinese culture had flourished in the period of Wei J in, especially in the period of Dongjin. The persons leading the prosperous culture were the 135 Joosik Min hermit and the nobility of that period which were generally called the »sons of noble birth«. Many fengliu men from Shi Shuo Xin Yu were the youth born in purple, i.e. nobility. The power of the nobility was great and their sons had the opportunity to take an active part in the life of the time. Un- der such social circumstances fengliu developed rapidly among the sons of noble birth, and consequently the aesthetic way of life formed a specific feature of the intellectual class. At such a time the character of fengliu shifted f rom the sequestered life to the fashionable taste of the aristocratic youth living in flourishing towns. The moral fengliu such as fidelity became the aesthetic fengliu of aristocratic youth in the Jin period. IV. The Korean Thoughts of Fengliu The first Korean usage of the word fengliu or »poongryu« (in Korean) is in A Foreiuord to the Monument of Aengrang written by Choi Chiwon in the late ninth century in the Shilla period. According to the record, »the way of poongryu« was the main practical idea of education. Its contents include the thoughts of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. It originally came from the Korean ancient traditional thought and was afterwards combined with those three foreign traditions. Some scholars called the ancient tradi- tional thought »bargor brightness thought«, others called it »buru (archaic word for poongryu) thought«. In Korea the idea of poongryu had been established in conjunction with the »hiuarang« corps which was an educational and military organization meant to train and cultivate the youth. Perhaps it was called »the Way« of poongryu in the sense that it was the educational idea of hiuarang to bring up an aesthetic man. Its main contents are as follows: firstly, to learn morals and beautiful customs; secondly, to enjoy fine arts in daily living; and thirdly, to appreciate beautiful nature. The first one came from the original mean- ing of fengliu, signifying that we could contribute to the realization of moral and political culture by continuously observing the traditional beautiful customs of the preceding king. The second one implies that Shilla people, especially the hiuarang, enjoyed poetry, music and dance, aiming at a subli- mation of the human mind into unworldliness and harmony. The youth hiuarang purified their hearts by artistic life, obtained inner harmony of mind, and experienced the infinite f reedom of spirit. The third designates the method of cultivation which trains the mind and body by wandering over hills and waters. The hiuarang foster faith and reverence to majestic nature through visiting mountains and rivers and enjoying beautiful scenery. They 136 Fengliu, the Aesthetic Way of Life in East Asian Culture contemplated the beauty and sublime of nature and prayed to nature. They breathed the ether of nature and indulged in it. At last they constructed the unworldly and lofty spirit world within themselves. The way of poongryu was a principal idea in Shilla culture, especially as an educat ional idea for hiuarang; and it contributed largely to national prosperity. The thought of poongryu established in the Shilla period has played an important role in forming the tradition of Korean aesthetics. For Kore- ans the poongryu helps seek the refined and harmonious sublimation of the human mind. It has been always supported by moral consciousness. In some cases it was supported by the magnanimous spirit of reconciliation, in oth- ers by the spirit of fidelity or constancy, and in some cases by the spirit of transience. There is an image of »a stream of wind« that comes about unde r the influence of the consciousness of fengliu as we know it in its literal mean- ing. While a stream of water is controlled by the configuration of the ground, a stream of wind experiences no restraints. At the bottom of fengliu there is a vigorous spirit which stands aloof of the trivialities of life and wanders around the empty sky. This stream of wind is differentiated by strong and weak currents, and fast and slow ones, depending on the time and place. There is a soft breeze in spring, on the one hand, and a refreshing breeze in autumn, on the other. A rough typhoon accompanies a storm, while a blizzard accompanies a snowstorm. If we look in retrospect at the history of Korean aesthetics f rom the viewpoint of fengliu, it appears sometimes as a stream of wind raised high and sometimes raised low. Jus t like the wind becomes warm or cold, according to seasons and topological circumstances, fengliu became mild (or »fengya«, a kind of elegance) or severe (»fengci«, a kind of satire). In other words, there exists a positive and an affirmative fengliu, on the one hand, and a negative and rebellious fengliu, on the other. When Koreans discuss the characteristics of their own culture and art they frequently use the word »meot«. Meot is one of the representative words conveying the Korean aesthetic consciousness, and cannot be written in Chinese characters. Although it is used in some cases to indicate the beauty of nature and work of art, it mainly implies the beauty expressed in human personality, attitude, behaviour and way of life. In this sense it possesses a peculiarity in contrast to other aesthetic categories. It is no t only one of the norms of aesthetic judgment but also an idea of human cultivation. Meot has developed as a norm of life to Koreans more than as an artistic implication. It denotes nothing more than spiritual f reedom and a mode of life unre- strained by practical life. In this sense meot is inseparably related to poogryu. In other words meot is another name for poogryu in modern times. It is a 137 Joosik Min kind of meot to live freely in the rural environment, leaving behind fame and wealth and distancing oneself from the numerous everyday events in the current time of confusion. But meot is different f rom the life of a re- cluse, for it is connected with optimism. We don ' t know exactly when the word meot was used for the first time. We presume that it indicates the poongryu which permeates the life of com- m o n people, while the word poongryu signifies the aesthetic consciousness or way of life of the nobility or the educated literati. We may say that meot is a new Korean version of fengliu. It is notable that meot is one of the main aesthetic categories in Korean culture. At the same time it is the educational idea to foster »seonbi« or literati who have both learning and morality, as well as sympathy and generosity. Just as the idea of human cultivation of hiuarang in the ancient Shilla period was poongryu, the idea of human cultivation of seonbi or literati in the modern Choseon period was meot. Both meot and poongryu share the »hung« or attractiveness and the »shinbaram« of exulted spirits. Both share the optimistic playfulness, on the one hand, and mettle, fidelity, vigorousness, and broad-mindedness, on the other. For Koreans »to live with meot« or »to know poongryu« is the highest praise. Meot a n d poongryu are concepts of the aesthetic way of life. It should be noted that recently the word poongryu or meot has be- came less used than in the past. In modern society it seems to be gradually withering away, for everything is becoming »average«. In this period of in- ternationalization of culture its meaning and thoughts are being lost little by little. Indeed, nowadays it is more significant to inquire into the aesthet- ics of fengliu. We have defined the fengliu concept as follows: it means to give full play to one's free and extravagant spirit which stands aloof of the trivialities of life, in spite of having connection with reality. In such a case the nature offers an open place in which the free spirit is not restricted in its movement. Poetry, music and liquor are the intermediate items in order to give full play to the free spirit effectively. Fengliu is a way of behaviour or life which has aesthetic and moral character. V. Conclusion Recently aJapanese writer Fujiwara Shigekazu wrote a book on fengliu} He tried to suggest fengliu as a model of environmental life while inquir- ing into the structure of fengliu. According to him, the factors support ing 2 Fujiwara Shigekazu, The Thoughts of Fengliu (Furyu no Shiso), Hosokan, Kyoto, 1994, pp. 263-266. 138 Fengliu, the Aesthetic Way of Life in East Asian Culture the structure of fengliu are as follows: an unrestrained posture, play, sur- plus, an open mind and body, and detachment. At the bot tom of these fac- tors nature is permeated deeply. Consequently fengliu signifies a come-and- go approach to boundaries and one's pleasure unrestrained by both the subject and the object. It is a borderless reconciliation that is not involved in the distinction between the subject and the object. It is a correspondence with all things in nature through a sense of playfulness. It is a way of living, i.e. a free de tachment which is always employed to establish contact with things and leave its direction to wind, opening the mind and body to all things. It is just the time that we have to make a new life model or life man- ners grounded on the ethics covering the whole ecosystem which consists of all living creatures. At this time I hope that the manners of fengliu, which can be called the poetics of correspondence with all the things within an ecosystem, will be resuscitated. I think that in the present time the environ- mental implication of fengliu is very important. I expect that the idea of fengliu will play an important role as a model of environmental life and still more as a model of the way of life which is able to cultivate our personality grounded on the true subjectivity of human existence. 139 Christiane Page Une expérience esthétique: Le travail du grotesque dans la formation de l'acteur Parodier, briser les apparences, provoquer, remettre en cause les con- traintes et la force de l 'ordre, démasquer la vérité, exagérer, telle est la fonc- tion du grotesque au théâtre, et le spectateur assis dans son fauteuil et té- moin du »scandale esthétique1 « est violemment provoqué. Au contraire, dans le cadre de la formation du comédien, le grotesque devient une expérience d 'une qualité différente, puisque vécue sur un mode d 'ê t re actif par la personne dans sa globalité : A partir d ' u n e recherche physique passant par la déformation de certaines parties du corps, il s'agit de construire un corps différent, d ' en chercher la puissance dramatique et d ' en percevoir la force parodique en prenant appui sur l ' approche du gro- tesque tel qu'il apparaît dans le domaine de la peinture et de la littérature. Ce travail provoque chez l 'acteur une façon de sentir son corps, de le vivre et de l'utiliser pour mieux parodier, mieux jouer, mieux signifier dans un contexte culturel où le rapport au corps est codifié de manière rigide. Il permet d 'explorer des voies, de découvrir des pistes et de travailler sur les limites pour développer l 'être. Si dans la création artistique le but est l 'oeuvre, le but de l 'atelier de formation est le processus de développement de la personne du comédien. Le travail sur le grotesque s'inscrit dans cette logique, comme composante essentielle du parcours de formation. Meyerhold affirmait: «Tout théât re au then t ique ne peu t pas ne pas être grotesque, qu' i l soit un drame, u n e comédie , u n e tragédie, u n vaudeville, u n e farce.» 2 Tous les grands hommes de théâtre se sont penchés sur le grotesque, mais, actuellement, peu d'écoles y consacrent un temps de recherche im- portant (en France, l 'école de Jacques Lecoq fait exception, tout en restant extérieure à l 'esprit du grotesque tel que j e l'envisage ici). 1 Pour M. RIBON, !e monstrueux dans l 'art est un scandale esthétique, car l'accueil que nous lui faisons est mêlé «d'attrait et de répulsion» : «Le monstre a le pouvoir d'installer notre jouissance au coeur de notre répulsion.» L'archipel de la laideur, Essai sur l'art et la laideur, Paris, éd. Kimé, 1995, p. 132. 2 PICON-VALLIN (B), V. Meyerhold, Le grotesque au théâtre, 1905-1926, Paris III, 1987, p. 596. Filozofski vestnih, XX (2/1999 - XIVI CA Supplement), pp. 173-179 141 Christiane Page Elaboration du corps grotesque En préalable au travail p roprement dit sur le grotesque, il s'agit de mettre en place les conditions de la jouissance de l 'exagération et de son incarnation à partir d ' une expérience conduisant les comédiens à s'enga- ger totalement. En effet, si au Moyen Âge le grotesque, assumé par la col- lectivité était intégré à la vie dont il exprimait et révélait des aspects vitaux, sa conception en est de nos jours essentiellement satirique et dégradante, donnan t une représentation caricaturale des aspects refoulés de la vie, sans les prendre en charge, dans un «spectacle grimacier», un «faire semblant» don t la caractéristique principale est le désengagement par rapport à l 'acte représenté3 . Comme le souligne Bakhtine, (auquel je me réfère, plutôt qu 'à Kayser, car son approche positive est un des points d 'appui qui permet aux élèves comédiens de faire corps avec la démesure), si l 'auteur satirique se situe à l 'extérieur de l 'objet de sa raillerie, il s 'oppose à celui-ci et son dis- cours devient moralisant. Cette évolution, selon lui est à mettre en relation avec l 'avènement d 'un corps idéalisé, fermé : «un corps par fa i t ement prêt , achevé, r igoureusement délimité, f e rmé , m o n t r é de l 'extérieur, non mêlé, individuel et expressif.»4 Pour incarner le grotesque, retrouver un corps ouvert en relation avec le monde , le comédien doit se préparer à chercher et à assumer dans son corps et avec son corps, une idéologie différente. «Le corps grotesque est u n corps en mouvement . Il n 'es t jamais prê t ni achevé : il est toujours en état de construction, de créat ion et lui-même construi t u n autre corps; de plus ce corps absorbe le m o n d e et est ab- sorbé par ce dernier.» 5 La première étape du travail consiste donc en une exploration corpo- relle de la déformation pendant laquelle l'élève essaye différentes possibi- lités en garnissant de mousse1' l 'espace entre son corps et son vêtement de manière à modifier la forme de son corps. Seules les mains et le visage sont nus, les cheveux recouverts d 'un chapeau ou d 'un bonnet . À ce stade, l 'élève se sent co rpore l l emen t p ro tégé par la mousse (comme par des coussins) dans son contact avec le milieu (sol, murs) et avec 3 PAGE (C), Du jeu spontané au jeu dramatique, in Pratiques corporelles n° 116, sept 97, 18000, Bourges, France. 4 BAKHTINE (M) L'oeuvre de François Rabelais et la culture populaire au Moyen âge et à la Renaisssance, Paris NRF, Gallimard, 1978, p. 318. 5 BAKHTINE (M), opus cité, p. 315. 6 Je ne m'attarde pas, ici, à développer l'aspect technique de construction du corps du personnage grotesque, ni les exercices. 142 Une expérience esthétique: Le travail du grotesque dans la formation de l'acteur le regard des autres (élèves) qui ne le voient pas lui, mais seulement cette forme à l ' intérieur de laquelle il se trouve et se cache. Les bosses le protè- gent sur ses arrières et ceci est d 'autant plus important que le dos est la partie de soi qu 'on ne peut voir, dont on a difficilement une représentation et qui par là est vulnérable. Les bosses ventrales protègent la partie centrale de son corps for tement investie : Le ventre, siège de la maternité en est aussi le symbole; centre des plaisirs de toutes natures -amour, bonne chère- il est le symbole de la prospérité, de la plénitude; à l 'opposé, symbole de la misère, de la maladie, du manque il est aussi le carrefour des angoisses. L'élève construit l 'équivalent d ' une enveloppe maternante au sein de laquelle il se sent en sécurité. Les premiers corps des personnages ainsi ébauchés oscillent souvent entre l ' informe et le difforme, ce qui est à la fois la preuve des résistances au déverrouillage des frontières et la conséquence de la peur du regard de l 'autre, car l'élève travaille ici sans miroir, à défor- mer son corps dont la perception est livrée aux autres élèves de l'atelier, qui contr ibuent à le construire. À ce stade, en laissant de côté tout j u g e m e n t qui pourrait menacer la suite du travail, on permet la découverte d ' un corps dont les frontières ne constituent pas un donné définitif, mais sont au con- traire le point de départ de l'acte créateur. Car, si à la beauté on attribue des valeurs positives, la laideur physique provoque la répulsion, est assimilée à une laideur morale et ses manifesta- tions sont fantasmatiquement assimilées à toute cette part de noc turne de nous-mêmes, proches des contes fantastiques et de nos zones d 'ombres ex- plorées par la psychanalyse. «Nous sentons confusémen t que la menace qu 'el le (la laideur) fait pe- ser sur le confor t de not re identi té se fait soudain intér ieure, c o m m e si le spectacle qu'el le nous imposait risquait, pour peu que nous accordions que lque du rée à la percept ion que nous en avons, de réveiller en nous la part maudi te ou la part de détresse de ce que nous sommes intime- men t : cette part de monstrueuse altérité que nous nous refusons d ' abord à voir ou qui, dans un premier temps de no t re être, est l 'objet de no t r e dénégation.» 7 C'est pourquoi dans l'atelier la forme est d 'abord prise dans une fonc- tion de protection. Chaque élève a investi physiquement, psychologique- ment et affectivement le corps transformé. La laideur et la monstruosité qui en résultent, en sus des résultats recherchés, représentent un aspect secon- daire qui est perçu, accepté mais sur lequel on ne s'attarde pas puisque l'es- sentiel, le sentiment d 'ê t re en développement et en conquête de soi-même est vécue positivement : 7 RIBON (M), opus cité, p. 99. 143 Christiane Page «Je m e sens si bien avec mes bosses, mais c'est te l lement contraire à tous nos critères de beauté...si j 'é tais vraiment comme ça, pe r sonne ne vou- drait de moi, et ils aura ient tort, car l à j e suis ce que j e suis réellement.» (une é tudiante de l ' Insti tut d 'é tudes théâtrales) Ici, la conquête du monstrueux estjoyeuse et retrouve ses liens mani- festes avec l'esprit de renouveau du carnaval du Moyen-Age. «Le carnaval c 'est avant tout l ' avènement d ' un temps joyeux, qui inter- dit à l 'ancien de se pe rpé tue r et ne cesse d ' e n g e n d r e le nouveau et le j eune .» 8 La difformité devient la marque d 'une renaissance possible ainsi que d ' u n e liberté et d 'une jouissance à être que le (la) comédien (enne) gagne. »L'homme masqué du carnaval c'est l 'homme social démasqué« 9 en même temps, le masque est un écran le dissimulant au regard des autres. Cette double fonction du masque permet aux personnes de s 'exposer en toute sécurité. De même, dans ce travail de recherche autour du corps grotesque, l'élève découvre le masque corporel; il va d 'abord l'essayer, puis s 'en servir à l'insu croit-il des autres (mais souvent, aussi de lui-même). Petit à petit, par la construction, puis par la mise en action de cette nouvelle enveloppe corporelle, il va joue r à faire comme s'il était un autre, alors qu'il se j o u e lui-même et qu 'en ce faisant, il extériorise des éléments de sa réalité psychi- que interne, sans forcément en avoir conscience. La frontière entre le moi et le non moi, entre la réalité psychique interne et la réalité externe est toujours imprécise et c'est elle qui est mise ici au travail pour une meilleure connaissance et perception de soi. Dans sa recherche l'élève comédien tend vers l 'accomplissement (toujours en devenir) de son être en même temps que de son personnage et son corps masqué donne naissance à un monstre inventé qui l 'exprime dans sa vérité singulière.Comme dans les fêtes du Moyen-Âge, «le masque social est ici ôté, non pas pour retrouver l ' innocence d ' u n e na tu re originaire que cherchai t Rousseau, mais au contraire pour ren- dre manifeste l 'opaci té de l 'être, la force et le désordre de ses pulsions, et, comme chez Sade, la hantise d'obsessions jusqu 'a lors inavouées.» 10 Le masque qui en toure son corps, loin de le limiter, lui pe rmet de découvrir ses frontières pour les travailler et de développer les forces en lui qui sont centrifuges. Découvrant les limites qui le définissent, il (re) découvre ses ouvertures qui permet tent la communication avec l 'extérieur : trous du 8 PICON-VALLIN (B), opus cité, p. 131. 9 GAGNEBIN (M) La fascination de la laideur, l'en-deça psychanalytique du laid, Seyssel, éd. Champ Vallon, 1994, p. 33. 10 RIBON (M), opus cité, p. 145. 144 Une expérience esthétique: Le travail du grotesque dans la formation de l'acteur visage, trous du corps. Ces lieux de passage entre le monde extérieur et son propre intérieur sont alors mis en j eu dans une exagération positive. On retrouve là aussi bien la truculence bien connue de Rabelais que la verve de Tabarin11 qui demande: » Quelles sont les différences de l'amour ?« 12 »pour f inalement conclure devant le Maître scandalisé (qui tient un discours em- phatique sur »l'Amour carnatif de la race des Dieux« et »l 'amour mangeatif qui est terrestre«) qu ' en t r e l ' amour carnatif de l ' h o m m e a m o u r e u x et l ' amour mangeatif de l 'homme affamé, la différence n'est pas plus grande que la distance qui sépare les yeux de la bouche, puisque l 'un entre par les yeux et sort par la porte de devant, l 'autre entre par la bouche et sort par la porte de derrière, et qu 'ent re ces deux portes la distance n'est pas plus grande qu 'ent re les yeux et la bouche. La constante mise en équivalence du haut et du bas, caractéristique du grotesque est (re)découverte, conscientisée puis sciemment utilisée par les élèves comédiens à partir de ce corps inventé, »fictif«. Plutôt qu 'un abaisse- ment »moral« de l 'humain, c'est la mise à j o u r des pulsions qui s 'accomplit et quand on pense aux conflits entre les forces vives de l'individu et les im- pératifs sociaux auxquels il est soumis on ne doit pas être surpris des che- mins détournés et des formes que les pulsions emprunten t pour se révéler. Le problème n'est pas ici de juger de la moralité, de la vulgarité ou de la violence, mais bien d 'expérimenter des formes extrêmes. Cette première expérience de métamorphose volontaire permet aux élèves de se libérer de la honte de leurs propres formes. Leur conception des relations du corps au monde se modifie. Ce premier travail les sollicite aussi bien d ' u n point de vue physique que psychologique et imaginaire et leur permet de décou- vrir la richesse des formes hypertrophiées ainsi que leur puissance métapho- rique. Puissance dramatique du corps grotesque Après cette étape, dont le but était de pouvoir aborder le grotesque de façon positive et de l'assumer, l'élève travaille à la déformation de parties du corps choisies en fonction de ce qu'il veut alors explorer. Il s'agit d'ac- centuer (ou de déplacer) des parties du corps réel ou fantasmé (avec des mousses). Le plaisir de faire l 'expérience de ce qu'il est possible de tirer de la forme ébauchée par l'association inattendue, parfois involontaire et for- mée en dehors de toute idée préconçue est un des moteurs de l'atelier qui 11 Tabarin : troupe de trois farceurs qui tr iomphèrent à Paris de 1618 à 1626. 12 AVENTIN (G), Oeuvres complètes de TABARIN, Pa r i s j anne t , 1858, tome 1, p. 66. 145 Christiane Page permet à l'inventivité propre à l 'esprit grotesque de s 'épanouir dans des corps et des attitudes extra-quotidiens. «La nouveauté ina t tendue , la fantaisie prolixe et la l iberté capricieuse d ' u n e imaginat ion d o n t l 'oeuvre de J . Bosch à la Renaissance offr i ra la plus éclatante floraison.» 13 Pour cette partie du travail, afin de construire leurs corps et pour en explorer les potentialités dramatiques, les élèves comédiens disposent d ' une iconographie sur le grotesque comportant des reproductions de peintres aux oeuvres violentes, théâtrales, comme par exemple J. Bosch, Brueghel et Goya, avec lesquels Artaud voulait que le théâtre rivalise. «Toutes ces peintures sont à double sens, et en dehors de leur côté pu- r e m e n t pictural elles compor t en t un ense ignement et révèlent des as- pects mystérieux ou terribles de la na ture et de l'esprit.» 14 Les particularités physiques du grotesque telles qu'elles sont explorées dans l 'atelier se répartissent alors en plusieurs catégories : - Les déformations, qu'elles soient digestives (hypertrophie du ventre et des fesses, parfois accompagnée d 'un épaisissement de toute la silhouette), sexuelles (hypertrophie des caractères sexuels), motrices (difformité de la structure osseuse : bosses et corps prolongé). - Les déplacements, additions ou suppressions d 'organes ou de parties entra înant une modification des proportions normales du corps : tête dans le ventre, corps siamois, corps sans cou, corps avec des organes virils à la place des bras ou des seins, jambes commençant aux genoux avec un ventre arri- vant, lui, aux genoux, etc. Après avoir construit, sculpté un nouveau corps, l'élève travaille à sen- tir imaginairement ses déformations, ses aberrations, à explorer ce corps au niveau de ses fonctions motrices (pousser, tirer, tenir), digestives (avaler, rejeter, retenir), sexuelles (pénétrer, engloutir, expulser), nourricières (ap- pel à la sexualité comme agent de fécondité) et de leur manifestations. La démesure physique s 'accompagne d 'un travail d 'accentuation du mouve- ment, de la voix, de l'action et de la manière dont l'action est traitée (rythme, forme de l'action, style). La démesure, recherche et conquête de l 'absolu, exalte la réalité de l 'appétit physique, porteur de grande cruauté (au sens où Artaud l 'entendait) et est un des thèmes privilégiés du travail corporel sur le grotesque. Ces corps grotesques, langues tirées, yeux écarquillés montrent la vita- lité d ' u n besoin qui tient peu compte de l 'objet requis pour son assouvisse- 13 RIBON (M), opus cité, p. 111. 14 ARTAUD, Le théâtre et son double, Paris, éd. Gallimard, col. Idées, 1983, Lettres sur le langage, p. 187. 146 Une expérience esthétique: Le travail du grotesque dans la formation de l'acteur ment. Les yeux exorbités semblent ne pas voir, mais ne sont-ils pas poussés de l ' intérieur par une force trop longtemps contenue et qui cherche à se libérer ? Soulignée à propos de l 'oeuvre de Bosch l 'absence de communi- cation avec les autres est un aspect essentiel du personnage grotesque. Cha- que personnage est seul, ignorant son voisin, semblant ignorer m ê m e l'ac- tion qui se déroule autour de lui. «Ils (les yeux) expr imen t la vie p u r e m e n t individuelle, et en que lque sorte i n t e rne , ayant son exis tence p r o p r e , de l ' h o m m e , laquel le n e compte guère p o u r le grotesque. Celui-ci ne s ' intéressant q u ' a u x yeux exorbités( ...), puisqu' i l s ' intéresse à tout ce qui sort, fait saillie, dépasse du corps. (...) de plus les yeux exorbités intéressent le grotesque parce qu' i l at testent u n e tension p u r e m e n t corporelle.» 15 Des images surgissent, montrant l 'ambivalence de l 'être : image de la maternité paternelle, à côté de celle de la mère phallique, image de corps mi-humain/mi-animal, image du corps absorbant jusqu 'aux limites de ses capacités, dont Ubu est un exemple fort. «Ubu a conservé le besoin de satisfaire sans délai ses instincts. C'est u n ventre qui absorbe tout ce qui se trouve à sa por tée au p r o p r e c o m m e au figuré, l 'or aussi bien que la merde , l 'un étant le substitut de l 'autre , comme l 'enseigne Freud.» Ir' Le travail du grotesque permet l 'engagement de la personne dans sa réalité non pas psychologique, mais pulsionnelle, revendicative, exigeante et cruelle. Il touche aux limites corporelles et mentales, décale et révèle la pensée, privilégie l 'irrespect des conventions et permet ainsi d 'accroître la possibilité de liberté et de j e u nécessaire au comédien qui doit pouvoir penser et vivre de manière ouverte pour découvrir et connaître toutes les virtualités humaines, lui, dont c'est la tâche de les représenter y compris dans leurs aspects les plus noirs. Dans ce travail le fantasme de toute puissance est à l 'oeuvre, ce qui explique d 'une part lajouissance du comédien qui ent reprend cette recher- che et d 'autre part l ' inquiétude du non initié, car la difformité suppose la référence à une forme qui est pervertie et dont le résultat remet en ques- tion l 'ordre des choses. Pour lesjeunes comédiens, l'aspect transgressif, qui leur pe rmet (le temps du jeu , dans un cadre s tructurant de recherche) d'exister en libérant leurs pulsions, abordant tous les interdits, se riant de la »père mission« , est un élément important du travail si l 'on comprend bien que la transgression es t jouée et non réelle. La fonction cathartique du tra- 15 BAKHTINE (M), opus cité, p. 315. 16 BEHAR (H), La culture potachique à l'assaut du symbolisme, revue Europe, mars-avril 1981, p. 28. 147 Christiane Page vail théâtral, telle que Moréno17 l'a mise en oeuvre à partir du cas »Barbara« , officie et conduit les comédiens à développer une conscience plus aigûe d 'eux-mêmes à partir de personnages. Le corps grotesque dans l 'art (et peut-être davantage dans l 'art théâ- tral, où le corps est présent en chair et en os) questionne non seulement la conception de l 'homme, mais aussi l'esprit qui a sous-tendu son évolution depuis la renaissance et a modifié la conception de son rapport aux autres et au monde. Ainsi que l'écrivait Artaud, «la créat ion et la vie elle-même ne se définissent que par u n e sorte de rigueur, donc de cruauté foncière qui m è n e les choses à leur fin inéluc- table, quel q u ' e n soit le prix.»18 Capable de restituer avec force tous les conflits qui dorment en nous, le corps grotesque au théâtre assume la fonction du théâtre tel qu'il la défi- nissait «Le théât re bouscule le repos des sens, libère l ' inconscient compr imé, pousse à une sorte de révolte virtuelle et qui d'ailleurs ne peu t avoir tout son prix qui si elle d e m e u r e virtuelle, impose aux collectivités rassem- blées u n e att i tude hé ro ïque et dificile.»19 Paradoxalement, en ex iban tun corps aux formes hypertrophiées, qui semble tout exprimer de ses pulsions, le corps grotesque crie son manque à être, car un être n'existe aux autres qu 'en vertu d ' une part de lui qu'i l refuse de livrer, et qui, défiant toute prise, déclenche le désir. Or le corps grotesque se livre : il révèle une »vérité« qui pousse à la réflexion. L'artiste du grotesque signifie par son oeuvre l 'opposition entre la réalité et l ' idéal et il la magnifie. Par la déformation de l 'apparence de l'être, l'essentiel surgit et cela ébranle car la corporéité, située du côté de l'inavouable est révélée soudain comme étant synchroniquement légitime et obscène. Ce n'est pas la difformité qui est obscène, mais le regard porté dessus, car l 'émergence de l'animalité dans l 'humain réfléchit l 'inadéquation de l 'homme à son désir et cela est insupportable. Toute extériorisation paroxistique est dérangeante, voire obscène. Mais au bout du compte, c'est le regard du spectateur qui en décelant l ' innommable sera en position d'obscénité. Il ne sera pas alors question de soulagement cathartique, mais bien plutôt d 'un choc violent le met tant à découvert sans complaisance, et ce qui est aussi très intense et angoissant, sansjugement . Il ne lui restera plus qu 'à accepter cette vérité, à moins de fermer les yeux et de se trouver dans la position des aveugles de 17 MORÉNO (J.L.), Théâtre de la spontanéité, Paris, éd. Épi, 1984. 18 ARTAUD (A), opus cité, Troisième lettre sur la cruauté, p. 160. 19 ARTAUD (A), opus cité, p. 40. 148 Une expérience esthétique: Le travail du grotesque dans la formation de l'acteur Ghelderode2 0 qui veulent ignorer la vérité, rester dans leur état d 'e r rance et refusent ainsi l 'aide du borgne Lamprido. 20 GHELDERODE (M), Les aveugles, Paris, Gallimard, 1979, p. 64; pièce écrite à partir du tableau de Brueghel l'ancien, et dans laquelle les aveugles ne veulent pas sortir de cet état d 'errance provoqué par la cécité. 149 Simo Sáátelá Between Intellectualism and »Somaesthetics« Contemporary philosophical aesthetics, as well as philosophy in gen- eral, is characterized by a loss of faith in various objectivist and foundation- alist ideals. Having increasingly freed itself f rom its traditional aim to find foundations, essences, and necessities, philosophy has become anit-founda- tionalist, challenging the traditional concept ion that philosophy should provide immutable grounds for human knowledge and practices. Anti-foun- dationalism says that such grounds are neither available nor required (see Shusterman 1997b, 157). There are, however, different opinions as to what form such anti-foundationalism should take. My aim is to take a look at some ways to understand anti-foundationalism within aesthetics, and a focus for my presentation is given by the recent work of Richard Shusterman, who has, in a number of papers and books, discussed these issues as a part of his ef- forts to construe a neo-pragmatist aesthetics. Interpretation Perhaps the most influential version of anti-foundationalism is associ- ated with something that could be called the »interpretive turn« in contem- porary philosophy (see Hiley, Bohman & Shusterman 1991). Especially within recent Anglo-American philosophy this turn to interpretat ion and hermeneutics has been welcomed as an antidote to various forms of empiri- cism, and it is characteristic of different versions of »post-analytic« philoso- phy. This way of understanding the lessons of anti-foundationalism is to say that interpretat ion »goes all the way«; there are no »brute facts« or any immediate access to reality. Everything we understand is, the argument goes, in one way or another mediated through our interpretations or »cognitive schemes«. Consequently, the idea is that we do not only interpret things or texts that are somehow obscure or ambiguous, but that »interpretation be- gins at home« (to use Donald Davidson's phrase). This amounts to claim- ing that all intelligent behaviour, even our relation to our native tongue and thus to the world is based on interpretation. Filozofski vestnih, XX (2/1999 - XIVI CA Supplement), pp. 173-179 151 Simo Sdátela Shusterman has characterised such a view as hermeneutic universalism and defines it as follows: it is the view that »simply to perceive, read, understand, or behave intelligently at all is already, and must always be, to interpret« (Shusterman 1991, 102). This kind of universalism builds upon the idea of the hermeneutic circle in its most general sense: all understanding is interpretation, and every new interpretation always presupposes an already interpreted starting point. Thus we have no recourse to an »uninterpreted reality« outside the circle, and our horizon or perspective always already limits our understanding.1 What we should insist on is the »universality of the hermeneut ic problem«. The central argument for »hermeneutic universalism« goes as follows: 1) all understanding is linguistic and 2) all linguistic understanding entails interpretation or »decoding« of signs (see Shusterman 1991, 115). Interpretation, in short, is seen as some kind of explanation of how we can unders tand language (and thereby other people, art, etc.). The major problem with this kind of view is that the use of such an expansive not ion of interpretation either a) makes »interpretation« an empty catch-all word (by making it im- possible to contrast understanding and interpretation), or b) over-intellectualises our understanding of language as well as of art by modelling it on the interpretation of difficult texts with hidden meanings. As Shusterman (1991, 113) points out, such hermeneut ic universalism is a version of w h a t j o h n Dewey called »intellectualism«, and which he con- sidered a major problem of Western philosophy. In his paper »Beneath In- terpretation« (1991) Shusterman shows how some of the main arguments for such universalism can be confronted. He maintains that interpretation is characteristically linguistic, whereas understanding is often tacit: »while understanding is frequently a matter of [...] unproblematic handling of what we encounter, interpretation characteristically involves a problem situation« (Shusterman 1991,126). Here Shusterman is partly drawing on Wittgenstein, who insists on the intrinsic problem-solving character of interpretation by contrasting it to immediate understanding. 1 A major Continental background influence here is of course Nietzsche, whose perspectivism and idea of there being »no facts, only interpretations« is frequently cited in support of different forms of hermeneutic universalism (cf. Shusterman 1991, 103). On the analytic side, the influence of Quine's idea of radical translation is difficult to overestimate. This odd couple should make us realise that there are enormous differences among the philosophical views Shusterman subsumes under the title of hermeneut ic universalism; there are, however, also interesting and surprising similarities between them. 152 Betiveen Intellectualism and »Somaesthetics« What Shusterman (1991, 104) argues is that »interpretation is better served by letting it leave room for something else (beneath or before it)«. What then, is this »something« beneath or before interpretation? Shusterman sug- gests that it can be characterised as our somatic experience. But he also uses the term »reaction« to characterise a way of understanding that is no t an in- terpretation.2 Experience Shusterman wants to counter the claims of hermeneut ic universalism by developing a pragmatist anti-foundationalism: he wants to emphasize the role of spontaneous reactions and instinctive behaviour as indicative of understanding, and to contrast this with interpretation. So far I am in agree- ment with Shusterman: however, I think he gets into serious problems when he goes on to equate this idea of reaction and immediate understanding with that of an experience. Shusterman wishes to make a case for »prereflective, nonlinguist ic experience and understanding« (Shusterman 1991, 119). This kind of ex- perience, Shusterman thinks, is best thematized in classical pragmatism, and especially in Dewey's philosophy. Shusterman starts his apology for Dewey in Pragmatist Aesthetics (1992), and has continued this rehabilitation in his most recent publications, a paper called (ironically) »The End of Aesthetic Experience« (Shusterman 1997a) and his new book Practicing Philosophy: Pragmatism and the Philosophical Life (Shusterman 1997b). Dewey's phi losophy, Shus te rman (1997b, 171) thinks, expresses »pragmatism's traditional concern with the somatic and non-discursive«, and it is this tradition that he wants to rehabilitate. Continuing on the lines of Dewey, Shusterman insists that what is beneath or before interpretat ion is, in the last instance, our somatic existence, what Dewey calls »animal life below the human scale«, or the »live creature« that interacts with the world. This interaction, both Dewey and Shusterman think, is best characterised as »experience«. In Dewey's spirit Shusterman claims that the involvement of the em- bodied subject with the world is at its clearest when art and the aesthetic are concerned. Thus it is precisely in terms of the aesthetic and the somatic that 2 An interpretation, Shusterman (1991, 127) says, characteristically expresses itself in a linguistic form; »understanding, on the other hand, does not require linguistic ar t iculat ion. A p rope r reaction ... may be enough to indicate that one has understood.« 153 Simo Sdátela the notion of experience should be articulated (Shusterman 1997b, 161). This is because »the aesthetic is central to the realm of experienced value« as Shusterman (1997b, 166) puts it. This, Shusterman thinks, is something that especially analytic aesthet- ics has missed, since it has concentrated almost entirely on questions of se- mantics and demarcation (i.e., the meaning and »languages« of art and the defini t ion of art). In most analytical aesthetics, Shusterman (1997a, 38) claims, »felt experience is virtually ignored and entirely subordinated to third-person semantic theories of artistic symbolization and its interpreta- tion.« Shusterman, instead, wants to argue for what he calls the »phenomeno- logical« and »evaluative« dimensions of aesthetic experience and to connect them to an emphasis on the somatic, non-conceptual dimensions of non- interpretative understanding. Thus, it is the subjectively felt, »satisfyingly heightened, absorbing, meaningful and affective experience« (1997a, 38) that is important and that we should emphasize instead of the physical ob- jects of that experience, Shusterman says. This, of course, echoes Dewey's Art as Experience. I am mainly sympathetic with Shusterman's aims, but skeptical of his attempts to rehabilitate the notion of an »experience«. I think that by us- ing this term he just takes over Dewey's philosophical problems. As we know, it is precisely Dewey's appeal to »experience« that has been considered prob- lematic, even among philosophers sympathetic to his project. For instance Richard Rortysays that Dewey should have »dropped the term 'experience'« instead of making it the centre of his philosophy (Rorty 1994, 60; cited in Shusterman 1997b, 158). Rorty (correctly, I think) considers Dewey's appeal to experience a kind of foundationalism; Dewey claims for example that immediate experience is the »underlying quality« which is the regulative principle in all thinking (see Shusterman 1997b, 165). Shusterman acknowl- edges these traits of foundationalism in Dewey, but he thinks that he can show how to disentangle the idea of exper ience f rom foundat ional ism. Unfortunately I do not think he is successful in this attempt, and while I agree with Shusterman's criticism of hermeneut ic universalism (as a species of intellectualism) I do also agree with Rorty and others who think that the notion of »experience« is hopelessly confused. Especially in his newest book Shusterman goes too far in his urge to combat the intellectualism of traditional philosophy. Shusterman says that we should give up the resistance to »non-discursive soma« and thematize, in philosophy, this somatic dimension of our being-in-the-world. So far, I have no argument with him. I also think he might have a point when he says that 154 Betiveen Intellectualism and »Somaesthetics« philosophy can and should become »transformational instead of founda- tional«, that is, a kind of »cultural criticism that aims to reconstruct our practices and institutions so as to improve the experienced quality of our lives« (Shusterman 1997b, 157). However, Shusterman then goes on to iden- tify this »experienced quality« with somatic experience, which can be im- proved by d i f fe ren t »bodily practices« (he ment ions, for example , the Alexander technique, bodybuilding, aerobics, etc.). These bodily practices, he claims, aim at »a better harmony of lived experience«. Shusterman even wants to »integrate such bodily disciplines into the very practice of philoso- phy« making philosophy »a discipline of embodied life« as he puts it (ibid., 176). Thus he concludes that »improved experience, not originary truth, is the ultimate philosophical goal and criterion« (ibid., 157). Shusterman fur- ther thinks that such bodily, immedia te exper ience is best ar t icula ted through the aesthetic. He has even figured out a name for this newly somatic, aesthetic philosophical practice: he calls it somaesthetics. While I can appreciate Shusterman's missionary zeal and regard his writing as a kind of manifesto (which explains the rhetorical exaggeration) I do not think he is philosophically convincing. Ironically enough he is very persuasive when criticizing the vestiges of foundationalism in Dewey, but when it comes to developing an alternative he offers his »somaesthetics« more of less without argument. Indeed, as we shall presently see, when he attempts to philosophically elaborate the notion of »experience« he be- comes deeply enmeshed in the kind of dualisms he attempts to free philoso- phy from, and is driven dangerously close to something that could be called »somatic foundat ional ism«. That is, he is not con ten t with want ing to thematize the bodily dimension of our life, but wants to make it the prime focus both of philosophy and of life. However, here he makes a mistake: a criticism of intellectualism does not mean that we should have to embrace its d iamet r i c oppos i t e and assert the pr imacy of the soma. Actually, Shusterman makes the same kind of mistake as the hermeneut ic universal- ists, only the other way around. Shusterman, by appealing to the aesthetic experience, tries to assert something that Richard Wollheim has called »the supremacy of life over art«. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with this view, but as Wollheim notes, the problem with is to »understand ... the idea in such a way as to fall nei- ther into triviality or error« (Wollheim 1980, 99-100). However, I think that some of Shusterman's views are both trivial and erroneous; the main rea- son for this is the way he drives a wedge between the intellect and the soma, in a very classical dualist manner, in spite of his lip-service to the opposite. 155 Simo Sdátela Shusterman is right when saying that we should realise the importance of the non-discursive and somatic dimension of our interaction with the world, and that it is especially important when we are concerned with the philosophy of art and aesthetics. Nevertheless, I do not think we have to follow Shusterman's somatic turn and equate the uninterpreted with somatic experience. The reason for this is that there is a philosophically viable middle road between hermeneut ic universalism and somatic foundationalism, be- tween intellectualism and »somaesthetics«, and this is, perhaps not very sur- prisingly, to be found in the later philosophy of Wittgenstein. Let me, in the time that remains, briefly outline some main points of such an alternative. Wittgenstein is, as we already mentioned, an ardent critic of the kind of intellectualism that is manifested as hermeneut ic universal- ism. But I think he can also give an alternative to Dewey's and Shusterman's pragmatist philosophy of experience. In this context, this alternative can best be sketched out by elaborating the term »reaction«. Reaction How then, is this alternative to be understood? Let us first look at Wittgenstein's relation to the claims of hermeneu- tic universalism. It is clear that Wittgenstein is opposed to the idea that un- derstanding always is, or requires, interpretation. Establishing a contrast be- tween immediate unders tanding and interpretation is very important for Wittgenstein, since it is central for instance to what he says about the con- cept of »following a rule«; there certainly is such a thing as a way of acting that is grounded in interpretation, but not all rule-following can be under- stood in such a way - instead, there must be cases where we follow the rule unhesitantly, without any interpretation (see, e.g., Wittgenstein 1958, § 201). Wittgenstein thus opposes what could be called the mythology of in- terpretation: the view that linguistic understanding must always be a matter of decoding or interpreting. Wittgenstein's way of countering this mythol- ogy is to say that language canno t be based on thinking. Rather, it is g rounded in our forms of life, in our instinctive behaviour and natural re- actions - that is, our embodied existence as a certain kind of creature. He says that we do »naturally« understand certain rules just by being given ex- amples, just as we naturally understand a pointing gesture; »and understand- ing here means reacting« (Wittgenstein 1969a, 141). No act of inner, labo- rious interpretation is involved. 156 Betiveen Intellectualism and »Somaesthetics« What is even more interesting from our point of view is that Wittgenstein also makes a similar point in his lectures on aesthetics, where he says: »Per- haps the most important thing in connection with aesthetics is what may be called aesthetic reactions« (Wittgenstein 1966, 13). There would be much to say about the idea of aesthetic reactions (see further Saatela 1995 & Saatela 1998, ch. 3), but what I want to emphasize here is that Wittgenstein's use of this notion must be seen as a way pointing out that our primary relation to art and other aesthetic phenomena cannot be an interpretative one. How- ever, this does not mean that Wittgenstein is ignoring the role of reason and thinking in the arts or in our lives. Even though critical of hermeneut ic universalism, Wittgenstein is to large extent in accord with the central insights of hermeneut ic philosophy, for instance when insisting on the importance of a context or horizon for our understanding of, for instance, a sentence or sign. In fact, Wittgenstein also claims that art and artistic appreciation, in a very similar way as language, can only be made sense of by placing it in the cultural context to which it belongs and which shapes it. However, Wittgenstein does not accept the idea of endless interpreta- tion, implicit in the idea of the hermeneutic circle. Instead, the context pre- requisite for understanding is given to us byways of behaving and reacting, and ultimately by a form of life. This means that no object can be properly understood if we cannot in one way or another participate in the compli- cated set of activities or practices to which it belongs. In this sense practice, or ways of reacting and acting, give us the horizon within which an object becomes meaningful. This is what has been called Wittgenstein's »one-step hermeneutics«.3 Instead of a circularity of interpretation, we have a circu- larity between understanding and doing, that is, participating in the relevant practices. Thus the »oscillations of hermeneutical theory are short-circuited« (Ackermann 1988, 18) when we reach a way of grasping that is not an inter- pretation, that is, when we have reached action or reaction. In the case of aesthetics and appreciation of art, this stopping point can be called an aes- thetic reaction. When we, in a particular case, have reached aesthetic reac- tions, the question of interpretation does not arise any more. When it comes to aesthetics and art this demand for part icipat ion means a demand that we submit ourselves to the object and react to what we perceive. This demand for an immediate reaction also means that the 3 This term is introduced by Robert Ackermann, who maintains that »Wittgenstein's key to phi losophical analysis was to discover a network of clear hor izons of understanding that are implicit in our language« (Ackermann 1988, 9). 157 Simo Sdátela significance of art and other aesthetic phenomena cannot be appreciated f rom some externalised interpretative distance. Experience or Reaction ? This kind of view (as Wittgenstein indeed himself points out in a dif- ferent context) begins to sound like pragmatism4, and this way of putt ing the Wittgensteinian position shows that it indeed has many affinities with Shusterman's criticism of hermeneutic universalism. However, an important difference between this view and such a pragmatism is that Wittgenstein is very careful of not resorting to talk about »experience« in this context. And this is not merely a verbal quibble or a matter of choosing different words to describe the same phenomenon . The main differences between Shusterman's and Dewey's appeal to experience and the Wittgensteinian appeal to reactions become clear if we look closer at the j o b these notions are supposed to do in their argument . As we ment ioned before, Shusterman quite convincingly brings out some serious philosophical problems in Dewey's appeal to experience. However, when we look closer at Shusterman's own use of this term, we find that he in fact repeats Dewey's mistakes. This is clearly to be seen in a thought-ex- per iment that Shusterman introduces in his paper »The End of Aesthetic Experience«. Here Shusterman wants us to imagine a science-fiction situa- tion, where we are confronted with »two visually identical art viewers who offer identical interpretations of the very powerful paintings and poems before them«. One of these art viewers is a human being, while the other is a »cyborg«,3 and the only difference between these two is that the »cyborg« lacks the human capacity to feel (Shusterman 1997a, 37). This means that »even if the cyborg's interpretative propositions were descriptively more accurate than the human being's, we would still say that the human ' s gen- eral response to art was superior and that the cyborg, since he feels abso- lutely nothing, does not really grasp what art is all about« (ibid., 38). Now, Shusterman's science fiction story is rather feeble, but I think he is after an important point when emphasizing that works of art make de- 4 Wittgenstein 1969, § 422. He does, however, add the following remark: »here I am being thwarted by a kind of Weltanschauung«. 5 Shusterman in fact messes up the science-fiction terminology here. What he wants to talk about is not a cyborg, which is a cybernetic organism (in this case a human whose normal biological capability is enhanced by cybernetic devices), but rather an android, a robot which can be thought of as a »visually indiscernible« replica of a human being. 158 Betiveen Intellectualism and »Somaesthetics« mands our capacities for feeling, understanding and response and that we must submit to these demands in order to appreciate art. The problem is that his preoccupation with »experience« leads him astray. In Shusterman's fable the only difference between these »indiscernible« art viewers is the capacity to feel, but it is precisely this capacity that makes the human being's response to art »superior« to that of the »cyborg's«. However, this capacity is described only in terms of a qualitative difference of experience, which is fur ther understood as some sort of introspectively available private occur- rence. Indeed, Shusterman's at tempt to elaborate the idea of »aesthetic ex- perience« by using this story shows that he inherits all the philosophical prob- lems that Dewey struggled with: an experience, for Shusterman, is some kind of ineffable and private sensation that must be characterised in purely phe- nomenological terms (he talks about »feeling or savoring art's qualia » [ibid., 37]). Shusterman's main problem is that 1) he thinks that the appreciation of a work or an object consists in the object's inducing or causing in us a certain experience, 2) and then conceives of this experience in abstraction f rom the work or object that gives rise to it. The result is that the value of a work or object is conceived of as resid- ing in its effects, and these effects are thought to have a nature independen t of the object that causes them.'1 Thus Shusterman thinks that what is valu- able about the aesthetic experience is precisely its immediate phenomeno- logical and somatic characteristics, the »heightened awareness« , the »ex- perience of qualia«, and so on. But this way of representing artistic or aesthetic value is certainly mis- taken. There is nothing wrong in saying that the only way of appreciating a work of art is to experience it with understanding, but this does not mean something like »experiencing the qualia« of the work. Instead, what is im- portant is that we react to the object in a way that shows that we understand. In fact, Wittgenstein's criticism of the idea of »private« languages and ob- jects can be directly applied to Shusterman's appeal to »aesthetic experi- ence«. If Wittgenstein is correct, as I think he is, we should not expect phe- nomenological studies of experiences, which are grounded on the first-per- son case, to be helpful here; instead we must ask about the publicly observ- able criteria for the application of terms such as »experience«. Moreover, these criteria cannot be found by an introspective investigation of our own 6 This means that Shusterman is repeating a mistake that is characteristic of classical expression theories of art (cf. Budd 1992, 445). 159 Simo Sdátela phenomena l experience; instead, we need a conceptual inquiry that issues in grammatical remarks. Wittgenstein's appeal to reactions must be under- stood as such a grammatical remark, also in the context of aesthetics. A reaction is something that befalls us and has certain phenomenal and somatic qualities; and in this respect it could be described as an experience. However, when Wittgenstein talks about aesthetic reactions, he makes a very important additional point: he says that such reactions are not merely ex- periences or feelings, but that they are directed towards an object (i.e., they take on an intentional object). This means that the reaction, even if it is an immediate experience, cannoibe considered in abstraction of its object. It is no t merely a private sensation or experience of qualia, but manifested by what we are prepared to say or do about the object. Consequently, what makes a reaction an aesthetic reaction is its context and its directedness to- ward an object of a peculiar kind, not, as Shusterman suggests, the phenom- enal characteristics of the experience itself. If we concentrate on experiences, we risk ending up talking about the effects of objects on subjects. In contrast, the notion of aesthetic reactions makes it possible to take note both of the »phenomenological« and the »se- mantic« (or the »somatic« and »intellectual«) sides of our relation to works of art and other objects of aesthetic interest. Thus we could conclude by saying that Wittgenstein has both a therapeutic and an descriptive end in mind when reminding us of the importance of our reactions, since this not ion (if rightly and fully elaborated) makes it possible to describe the important role of the aesthetic in our lives without relapsing either into the intellectualism of he rmeneu t i c universalism or the foundat ional ism of somaesthetics. Bibliography Ackermann, Robert John , 1988. Wittgenstein's City (Amherst, Mass.: Univer- sity of Massachusetts Press). Budd, Malcolm, 1995. »Wittgenstein, Ludwig«, in Cooper, D. A. (ed.) A Companion to Aesthetics (Oxford: Blackwell). Dewey, John , 1934. Art as Experience (New York), repr. in J. A. Boydston (ed.) John Dewey: The Later Works, vol. 10 (Carbondale, 111.: Southern Illinois University Press, 1987). Hiley, D. R., B o h m a n J . & Shusterman R., 1991 (eds). The Interpretive Turn: Philosophy, Science, Culture (Ithaca: Cornell University Press). 160 Betiveen Intellectualism and »Somaesthetics« Rorty, Richard, 1994. »Dewey Between Hegel and Darwin«, in D. Ross, ed., Modernism and the Human Sciences (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Univer- sity Press). Shusterman, Richard, 1991 »Beneath Interpretation«, in Hiley, Bohman 8c Shusterman 1991. 1992. Pragmatist Aesthetics: Living Beauty, Rethinking Art (Oxford: Blackwell). 1997a. »The End of Aesthetic Experience«, Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 55:1. 1997b. Practicing Philosophy: Pragmatism and the Philosophical Life (New York and London: Routledge). Saatela, Simo, 1995. »Aesthetic Reactions«, in L.-O. Ahlberg & T. Zaine (eds) Aesthetic Matters (Uppsala: Cultural Studies, Uppsala University). 1998. Aesthetics as Grammar: Wittgenstein and Post-Analytic Philosophy of Art (Uppsala: Department of Aesthetics, Uppsala University). Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 1954. Philosophical Investigations. 2d ed. (Oxford: Blackwell). 1966. Lectures and Conversations on Aesthetics, Psychology and Religious Belief, ed. C. Barrett. (Oxford, Blackwell). 1969a. The Blue and Brown Books. 2d ed. (Oxford: Blackwell). 1969b. On Certainty. (Oxford: Blackwell). Wollheim, Richard, 1980. Art and Its Objects. 2d ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). 161 Karin Fry Preserving the Subject Immanuel Kant founds his artistic theory on the model of the aesthetic genius who creates art works that can be universally declared to be beauti- ful. In order to qualify as genius, the artist necessarily possesses both formal training, which is learned, and innate originality, which cannot be taught. Interestingly, Julia Kristeva parallels this model with her use of the symbolic and the semiotic. This paper will examine the correspondence between Kant's notion of the artistic genius, and Kristeva's theory of art, and the dif- fering implications of each position. Kant's system is based upon a unified ego which can conclusively judge the status of an art work. Kant seeks to universally classify certain art works as beautiful, and founds this universal- ity of j u d g m e n t on the biologically p rede te rmined talent of the genius. Kristeva rejects Kant's hierarchy of the genius and prioritizes the subjectiv- ity of the creative process, rather than the beautiful status of the art prod- uct. Kristeva's f ragmented subject re-engages with the symbolic through art to recapture meaning that has been lost due to the overwhelming univer- sal. The universal status of both the work of art and the talent of the genius are denied, and lose their importance. The priority, for Kristeva, is to allow the artist to escape the totalizing universal of the symbolic, while simulta- neously recognizing its importance in the constitution of the subject. Kant's Artist as Genius In the Critique of Pure Judgement, Immanuel Kant bases his aesthetic theory on the definition of the artist as genius. The aesthetic genius creates fine art which incites the imagination and understanding to f ree play, with- out the use of concepts. The beautiful object promotes a subjective univer- sal response to the work. The reaction to the work is subjective because it concerns the feelings and does not involve concepts, but universal because the response will be the same for all, provided that one has not developed poor emotional habits. Exclusively, the genius alone is able to create the objects that promote the universal j udgmen t of beauty in the viewer. How- ever, the artist does not contribute personally to the work, or seek to com- Filozofski vestnih, XX (2/1999 - XIVI CA Supplement), pp. 173-179 163 Karin Fry municate to the viewer. The genius' contribution is restricted to actualizing the beautiful and is guided by this telos. Kant's genius is composed of two determinative aspects. The artistic genius must possess taste, which is the formal training that orders the work. This technically trained skill structures the artwork and provides the means by which the artist can produce the beautiful product. However, the more fundamental aspect that defines the artist as genius is inborn originality. Kant describes this talent as »...the innate mental aptitude (»ingenium<<) through which na ture gives the rule to art.«1 Because the beautiful does not have a concept, the genius' originality also cannot fall under a concept that can be explained or taught. Consequently, the artist does not understand the pro- cess of creation or where the ideas that guide the work arise f rom. Kant believes both aspects, originality and skill, are necessary for the success of the genius. Mechanical art lacks originality and cannot be considered fine art because it is merely technical skill and is spiritless. However, this techni- cal skill is needed because the genius cannot guide the originality towards the beautiful without it. The genius' works serve as models of creativity to other artists, but these works cannot be merely copied or imitated. They can only point the way towards what an artwork should be like. Individuals must f ind their own expression of this ineffable talent, if they possess it. Kant stresses that genius is rare because innate originality belongs only to a few. Symbolic and Semiotic Julia Kristeva asserts that there is more to aesthetic theory than restric- tive definitions of the artist, or the art work they are able to produce. In order to understand her aesthetic thought, it is necessary to address her overall project. Kristeva founds subjectivity on a psychoanalytic model, and although psychoanalysis may be problematic, its difficulties are beyond the scope of this paper. Kristeva believes that initially, the infant is unable to conceptual- ize itself as different f rom its mother. In the mirror stage, the child recog- nizes its separateness, but this is based on the illusion that it is independent , when in actuality it is still dependent on the »mother« or the primary care- giver for survival. In the thetic stage, the child begins to actively use language, and external objects are now posited as different f rom the child and are thematized. The child can conceptualize the difference between itself and outside objects and language verbalizes this difference. Although the child 1 Immanuel Kant, The Critique of Judgement, trans. James Creed Meredith (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1952) 168. 164 Preserving the Subject is always already in a world of language, it is here that the child uses it for the first time to express personal needs to the mother who is now recognized as separate. The symbolic, or what Kristeva calls the law of the »father« be- comes actively a part of the child. The symbolic is not only language, but the cultural norms and laws of society. However, the symbolic is not totally adequate because the engagement with the formal structures of language cannot express all that one needs to say. Kristeva believes there are preverbal rhythms and gestures in significa- tion which she names the semiotic. Through the semiotic, affect and bodily drives are present in language. Although ineffable, the semiotic is what drives language, while the symbolic provides the formal structure. The symbolic and the semiotic are both modalities of the same signifying process which together make up signification. The semiotic, however, is not sublated into the symbolic, but transgresses the symbolic and breeches it, rather than posits itself. Kristeva describes this as the semiotic splitting the thetic or as an ex- plosion of the semiotic in the symbolic, and she insists this is not a Hegelian sublation. »It is, instead, a transgression of position, a reversed reactivation of the contradiction that instituted this very position.«2 Instead of a synthe- sis, the expression of the semiotic is a disruption and a splitting of the sym- bolic. The semiotic exceeds the symbolic, and both aspects are needed for signification. Kristeva's use of the symbolic and the semiotic are connected to her definition of the subject as a decentered, f ragmented being whose borders are always uncertain. Initially, the self is not posited until there is a recogni- tion of the otherness of the »mother.« The subject is tied to a relation with another, which eliminates a fundamenta l unity to subjectivity. Subjectivity is gained through the recognition of the otherness of the »mother«, but it is a subjectivity based upon a loss. There is a gap between the oneness of the ideal relation with the mother, and the recognition of the split into a sepa- rate individual. The separation itself is also based on an illusion because the child has years of dependency left with the mother. Because the subject is founded on a relation with an other and because this relation is initially based upon a fabrication, the center of the subject is always in question. Language is engaged to communicate the needs of the subject who is no longer in union with the mother, but language also reflects the fragmenta- tion of the self. The self is made up of an aspect which is always already part of a society of laws and language, or the symbolic. However, there is particu- larity and uniqueness to the self that language cannot contain and the uni- 2 Kristeva, Julia, The Portable Kristeva, ed. Kelly Oliver (New York: Columbia University Press, 1997), Revolution in Poetic Language 55. 165 Karin Fry versal rules cannot incorporate, which is the semiotic. Kristeva suggests that the self is composed of both universal and particular aspects and the exact borders between them cannot be established. The oppositions in Kristeva's thought, the universal and the particu- lar, the objective and the subjective, the mind and the body, the symbolic and the semiotic are always intertwined and cannot be separated or exist without the other. »Because the subject is always both semiotic and symbolic, no signifying system he produces can be either 'exclusively' semiotic or 'ex- clusively' symbolic, and is instead necessarily marked by an indebtedness to both.«3 The subject is manifestly all these oppositions and it is unclear as to where the borders actually lie. Kristeva states: T h e subject is no t simply an inside facing the referent ia l outside. T h e sub jec t ive s t r u c t u r e , u n d e r s t o o d as a spec i f i c a r t i c u l a t i o n of t h e relat ionship between speaking subject and Other , de te rmines the very s i tuat ion of reality, its exis tence or nonex i s t ence , its ove r tu rn ing or hypostasis. In such a perspective, ontology becomes subordinate to the signifying structure that sustains a given subject in its t ransference u p o n the Other.4 Confusion concerning the location of the borders of inside and out- side can lead to various psychological problems which expression or com- munication can alleviate. Art, for Kristeva, has to do with the relationship to language and how the subject negotiates the blurred borders of one 's make-up. Kristeva's aesthetic theory is intricately connected to the relationship between the symbolic and semiotic. In Revolution and Poetic Language, Kristeva explains » though absolutely necessary, the thetic is no t exclusive: the semiotic, which also precedes it, constantly tears it open, and this transgres- sion brings about all the various transformations of the signifying practice that are called 'creation'.« s The artist's relationship to the symbolic in the thetic stage may not be firmly established and the symbolic can lose its mean- ing because the semiotic fails to be expressed. Particularly with poetic lan- guage, but also with other forms of art, the semiotic ruptures and restruc- tures the symbolic. Poetic language transgresses the symbolic, and creates something new. The artist is then able to re-engage with the symbolic and recapture meaning, but only through creating a new relationship to lan- guage. Art is not the only remedy for the f ragmented self which must sig- nify. Kristeva believes psychotherapy and religion also provide alternative 3 Kristeva, The Portable Kristeva, Revolution in Poetic Language 4 Kristeva, Julia, Tales of Love, trans. Leon S. Roudiez (New York: Columbia University Press, 1987) 274. 5 Kristeva, The Portable Kristeva, Revolution in Poetic Language 50. 166 Preserving the Subject ways to express the conditions of a misrelation in the thetic stage. Unlike psychotherapy, aesthetic creation does not resolve the subject's condition, but provides the opportunity for catharsis, and has a political potential in its ability to transgress and transform the symbolic, or the cultural norms and laws that rule society. Two conditions of the thetic stage associated with an artistic t e m p e r a m e n t are what she calls m e l a n c h o l y / d e p r e s s i o n a n d abjection, but it must be stressed that art is not the result of a psychological problem specific to an individual, but the result of the universal condition of f ragmented subjecthood. Art as Universal vs. Art as Individual Because creativity occurs through the signification of the symbolic and the semiotic, a striking parallel can be made to Kant's system. Even though the two theoretical positions do not perfectly map on to one another, there is general agreement towards the factors which constitute creativity. Forced to align with Kant, Kristeva's symbolic corresponds to the formal technical training of the genius that is necessary to create beautiful objects. Kant's formal rules that structure the ar twork correspond to Kristeva's laws of the symbolic. The innate originality of Kant's genius aligns with the semiotic. Although the semiotic is not innate for Kristeva because it is always already bound up with the symbolic, it is ineffable, like Kant's originality, and it gives the spark to the work of art that Kant describes as the soul of the work. Kant's genius as partly rule-governed and partly beyond rules, mirrors not only Kristeva's use of the symbolic and the semiotic, but also Kristeva's model of creativity which needs bo th par t icular and universal aspects tha t are grounded in the individual subject. Creativity for Kristeva comes about due to an inability to understand the self. The formal rules of the symbolic are the universal laws of a system which all individuals are bound up in and must use in order to engage with their society. The semiotic and Kant's original- ity are the ineffable particularity distinct to the individual. Kant's original- ity differs f rom the semiotic in that it only belongs to a few, and what it can accomplish is based on a universal notion of the beautiful, limiting the power of the individual. The rhythms and gestures that Kristeva speaks of, are al- ways already within the structures of the symbolic, but retain their radically particular nature. Obviously, Kant would deny a comparison with Kristeva's subject. Kant's subject is not f ragmented, and the relation between the universal and par- ticular aspects of the self are not founded on a split ego for Kant. Kant's 167 Karin Fry transcendental unity of apperception gathers the manifolds of intuition and the understanding into a unified self. Although this subject does not know itself in itself, it is still one distinct subject which gathers sensation and un- derstanding together in one location and orders space and time. The unifi- cation of the self as empirically real to itself ties Kant's whole picture together. If the self is not unified, Kant's entire phenomenal world is lost. Subsequently, the product of art between Kant and Kristeva is also dif- ferent . Kant's genius expresses nothing of the self, while Kristeva's artist expresses the self more fully than anywhere else, except in psychoanalysis. Kant's genius is guided by the object of the beautiful, while Kristeva seeks to express the self through a re-engagement with the symbolic. In Abjection, Melancholia, and Love, J o h n Lechte describes Kristeva's view of the art prod- uct not as the creation of an object, but more of a process which »...'creates' the subject.«6 Through the art work, the artist recreates the self by express- ing the fundamenta l contradictions of the constitution of the subject. The art object is not meaningless, because it does express mood and communi- cates to the viewer who may use the work for the very same therapeutic rea- sons. However, the priority for Kristeva always seems to be the preservation of the particularity of the individual through the work and the therapeutic and healing function of art. Rather than stress the universal beauty of an object, Kristeva is more interested in preserving the subject. Despite their difference of approach, both Kant and Kristeva find a social function for the work of art. Kant connects the ability to j udge the beautiful with opening oneself up to correct moral feelings. Observing the work of art helps individuals to align themselves with the moral law by pro- moting appropriate feelings. Kant uses the privileged originality of the art- ist to justify the universality of the beautiful object and the correct feelings it is able to produce. Why this artistic talent is rare is unexplained. The com- munal benefit is that we are able to open ourselves to the proper feelings in appreciating the beautiful, which will help us to guide our emotions to- wards acting morally and within the symbolic law. In this way, art assists the moral realm and supports the universality of the symbolic order. Kristeva takes an opposite tack on the issue. She sees the ability of art to disrupt the symbolic in its capacity to communicate both the symbolic and the semiotic. The political worth of art is that it saves the individual f rom being totalized by society. The artist transgresses the symbolic, and in do- ing so re-engages with it. The individual artist is saved f rom being abject, or 6 John Lechte, »Art, Love, and Melancholy in the Work of Julia Kristeva«, Abjection, Melancholia, and Love: the Work of Julia Kristeva, eds.John Fletcher and Andrew Benjamin (London: Routledge, 1990) 24. 168 Preserving the Subject outside the law, and is able to recapture lost meaning. For Kristeva, individu- ality and particularity is preserved and expressed in the work of art. Just as the goal of psychoanalysis is not to totalize the individual by telling them what they are like, but to »...help them, then, to speak and write themselves in unstable, open, undecidable spaces«,7 art fulfills the same function. It helps the individual to build a space of one's own. Kristeva describes each psycho- analytic treatment as unique, and in that sense, as analogous to a work of art.8 Likewise, the art work is unique and preserves something of the indi- vidual coming to terms with a system and world which is always already part of the subject. The Hierarchy of the Genius There is a hierarchy implied by Kant's notion of the genius which dis- tinguishes the genius as superior based on innate talent which belongs only to a few. Biologically determined as superior, the genius is able to create beautiful objects provided that he trains and structures his talent. Christine Battersby correctly points out in her book Gender and Genius that historically, the notion of genius excludes women. The power in the word »genius« not only determines the status of a work as fine art, but was »...evoked to explain the difference between civilized man and both animals and savages.«9 Ge- nius exemplified the pinnacle of human achievement. Although the con- cept of genius changed over time, it was based on exclusion between indi- viduals and never included women. This logic of exclusion asserted the non- genius to be lacking, and especially so for women who never had such a potential.10 Battersby's main complaint is the term »genius« »...dress(es) up evaluation as description«,11 cleverly hiding its power. However, Battersby suggests that what is now needed is the ability to see women as geniuses. She seeks to validate female artists and render them visible, but she retains the inherently hierarchical concept of genius and adapts it to be applied to women as well. The sense she retains of the word »genius« is of a person judged against her culture or tradition and Battersby rejects all o ther definitions of the word as contaminated. »The genius is the 7 Kristeva, Tales of Love 380. 8 Kristeva, The Portable Kristeva, New Maladies of the Soul 217. 9 Battersby, Christine, Gender and Genius (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989) 3. 10 Battersby 3. 11 Battersby 10. 169 Karin Fry person whose work (a) marks the boundary between the old ways and the new within the tradition, and (b) has lasting value and significance.«12 The genius is no longer a type of elite being, but only one who stands out as compared to her culture. The term becomes evaluative instead of descrip- tive. Battersby claims that in order for a woman's art to be respected, she must be able to be compared with the historical and cultural context in order to situate her within the tradition. She denies a special psychological state or special class of person in tune with the unconscious, but she believes we can still praise and rank women pragmatically. Even ignoring the pragmatic difficulty of determining talent in one's own age or what the status of an art work has over time, Battersby's defini- tion of »genius« problematically retains its hierarchical structure. Although her view endorses a less exclusive use of the term, it seems to be sacrificing the very problem Battersby is trying to correct. Women would be rightfully recognized for their talent, but the implicit elitism of the term »genius« justifies a supposedly quick and easy categorization of individuals based on their perceived relation to the culture at large. Instead of presenting a con- t inuum of talent that recognizes individuality, Battersby retains somewhat exclusive overtones of the genius thatjustify an objective categorization, and raises the status of some women while negating the status of others. Kristeva's artistic theory allows for the possibility of treating art works and artists individually. The conception of art is similar in Kristeva and Battersby in that great art always surpasses the culture, but for Kristeva, the symbolic is disrupted in the instance of art and the culture is surpassed in an entirely different manner. Battersby's »genius« surpasses the established symbolic system of art because of the exceptional nature of the work. At the same time, the »genius« reinforces the present symbolic system and is rein- corporated at a higher level. Kristeva's artist ruptures the symbolic, and can actually change it. The symbolic system influences the work because it guides what cannot be said, and must be expressed in another manner, but it does not determine the quality of art in an objective manner. Artists are treated individually for Kristeva. Potentially aesthetic activity is within the reach of everyone because it is an expression of a f ragmented self and a signifying system that does not always capture what we need to say. It no longer mat- ters if art work is genius, provided that the person re-engages with society and is in some sense healed, if only cathartically. Good art allows the viewer or audience to partake in this communication, but the value of the art no longer lies entirely in the object produced. 12 Battersby 157. 170 Preserving the Subject Conclusion Kristeva does not locate art in a hierarchy of genius, but finds the source of creativity to be in the fragmented constitution of the subject. Because of the loss of the mother, and the necessary engagement with the symbolic, one creates in order to work out the problems associated with the thetic phase. Although Kristeva s structure of language as consisting of the symbolic and the semiotic correspond to Kant's twofold definition of the genius, art is not centered in the object. The more important aspect is that the artist is able to re-engage with the symbolic and simultaneously disrupt it. Art is a thera- peutic expression of individuality, where, despite the f ragmentat ion and blurred borders of the subject /object relation, something of the individual is preserved. Art provides the same function for the viewer, and in the case of literary work, »...textual experience represents one of the most daring explorations the subject can allow himself, one that delves into his constitu- tive process.«13 The importance of the art product as a universal object of beauty drops away, as well as Kant's categorization of the genius as objectively talented. Kristeva ruptures both of these categories in order to provide a therapeutic place for catharsis and healing, and a political space for action. The implications of Kristeva's theory are important. Kant places the capacity for creativity, in the biologically determined talent of the genius. Innate talent substantiates not only the universality of the work of art and the »genius« of the artist, but bolsters a hierarchy between human beings and places limits on their thought and what they are able to achieve. Kant's universality of art is secured through a predetermined talent given only to a few. Kristeva rejects this approach. Artistic work provides therapy for an individual that is composed of the influence of the universal symbolic realm, but also retains a unique particularity which must be expressed. Individuals are not limited in what they can think, or restricted in the political struc- tures of the symbolic that they can seek to change. However, Kristeva also recognizes the inescapability of the symbolic's influence in the construction of the self. Although the symbolic has positive aspects, the negative aspects of the symbolic are purified through the catharsis of art for an individual who has lost her relation to the symbolic and its meaning. Although Kristeva sees an alarming inability for catharsis in the art that reflects the chaos of our age, Kristeva seeks to preserve the individuality of the subject and pro- mote a political space for change. 13 Kristeva, The Portable Kristeva, Revolution in Poetic Language 54. 171 Katya Mandoki The Indispensable Excess of the Aesthetic The excessive and the basic appear to be logically opposed. The term »excess« is commonly understood as a synonym of the superf luous and in- compatible with other key categories of aesthetics such as harmony, simplicity and unity. For people who consider themselves refined, excess is almost an index of bad taste. An excess in color, in jewelry, in accessories, in ornamen- tation, in gloss... are either laughed at or boasted about, depend ing on cul- tural background. Excess may be embarrassingly h idden or proudly dis- played, hoarded or wasted; in any case, it seems to be somehow and some- times significantly linked to the aesthetic. Three authors have more or less explicitly dealt with the not ion of excess: Thorstein Veblen, Marcel Mauss and Georges Bataille. They all men- tion the aesthetic but none of them, unfortunately, deals with it in particu- lar. The three handle the concept of consumption, but it was Bataille who worked more extensively on the idea of excess to the degree of proposing a Copernican revolution in economics. Counter to views prevalent in this field, Bataille maintained that nature obeys a pattern of excess rather than scanti- ness and limited resources. He stated that a living organism receives much more energy than it needs, and that this excess of energy is not only inevi- table but has to be dissipated else it may become destructive and turn against the organism. The excess of sperm for a single ovule, the excess of eggs deposited by many species, the tendency to excess in vegetation, the excess of energy radiated by the sun, all illustrate this tendency to dissipation and exuberance. Leave a garden un tended and it will soon overflow and fill ev- ery gap. For Bataille, this century's World Wars were the catastrophical con- sequence of industrial excess that was not voluntarily spent when required. I will not at tempt a thorough analysis of this very controversial thesis pro- posed by Bataille, also incomplete in its argumentation and theoretical de- velopment. I will only deal with the idea of excess in relation to the aesthetic and examine it within the perspective of Mauss' study of archaic societies which, in fact, triggered Bataille's own conceptions. Bataille explores how excedents are consumed in various types of soci- eties such as the Aztec sacrificial theocracy, Moslem militarist and Lamaist monastical organizations. His work on this subject was inspired, as he ac- Filozofski vestnih, XX (2/1999 - XIVI CA Supplement), pp. 173-179 173 Katya Mandoki knowledges, by Mauss' investigation on the Tlingit and Haida communities, particularly their potlatch ceremony which is a competitive destruction of excedents for generating prestige. This ceremony was named by the Chinook term potlatch meaning »to feed« or »to consume« (Mauss 6). As Mauss in- sisted, these gifts and exchange ceremonies are never voluntary, but com- pulsory in nature. There is an obligation to reciprocate with gifts of equal or greater value. The hau and the aura Mauss began an inquiry on economy and ended with an inquiry on morality. He was concerned with understanding the code behind this obliga- tory reciprocity: »What rule of legality and self-interest, in societies of a back- ward or archaic type, compels the gift that has been received to be obliga- torily reciprocated? What power resides in the object given that causes its recipient to pay it back?« (Mauss 3) Remarkably, Mauss implies in the sec- ond question (»what power resides...«) a partial answer to the first: it is the belief that there is a power within objects that acts upon people and forces them to reciprocate gifts. This power is the hau or spirit of objects, which retain part of the soul of their maker. One must relate to this concrete pres- ence in objects when one introduces them into one 's home. The Maori people call »hau« this spirit that clings to an object when ownership changes. In our contemporary globalized industrial society, the idea of the hau seems like mere childish superstition of primitive, uncivilized people. Yet, we do not invest in an artwork unless we are sure it is genuine, even if we can' t tell the difference between the original and a copy. This proves that we still believe in something similar to the hau of things, at least in artworks. Many people call a priest to bless a new house or a ship and organize warming parties. It is not too farfetched to associate the Maori idea of hau with what Walter Benjamin called the »aura« in the work of art. His idea of the loss of aura in the age of mechanical reproducibility may also explain a contem- porary sense of loss of hau separating objects f rom subjects and becoming, as Marx argued, fetishes that turn against their producers in industrial pro- duction. Another case of contemporary Western hau production is the so-called »car art«. Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, and David Hockney, among others, have each decorated a BMW car, converting an already expensive piece of machinery into an even more expensive work of art. These vehicles must now be carefully packed and transported before 174 The Indispensable Excess of the Aesthetic ending up motionless, on display in art exhibits worldwide. Between the car and the artwork, the difference is the hau of the artist who painted it. This spirit is what, in archaic societies, demands reciprocation, and in modern societies justifies a price unrelated to the amount of labor invested in or any benefit derived f rom the object. Total services and contrasting pulse Mauss found among the communities of the American Northwest what he termed »total social phenomena« which means that »all kinds of institu- tions are given expression at one and the same time - religious, juridical, and moral, which relate to both politics and the family; likewise economic ones, which suppose special forms of production and consumption, or rather of performing total services and of distribution. This is no t to take into ac- count the aesthetic phenomena to which these facts lead, and the contours of the phenomena that these institutions manifest.« (Mauss 3) Up to here we have most of what Mauss can tell us concerning the aesthetic: hardly an allusion. T h e o ther anthropologists relevant to our po in t (Veblen and Bataille) prove no more enlightening. What does Mauss mean by saying that these facts lead to aesthetic phenomena? I will venture an answer. According to Mauss, certain ceremonies have to be per formed because »to make a gift of something to someone is to make a present of some part of oneself... To retain that thing would be dangerous and mortal...« (Mauss 12). This belief refers to the hau, and seems to be a better explanation for compulsory reciprocity, which lies, therefore, not in the hau or spirit of the thing retained, but the act of retaining it. At issue here is the attitude towards and the regulations governing retaining or giving. This is what differenti- ates Western anal retentive societies f rom what Freud would call anal expul- sive communities like the Haida and Tlingit. The difference, I contend, is a question of pulse understood as centripetal or centrifugal attitude in regard to our surroundings. There are, on one hand, societies that display centrifu- gal pulse and pride themselves in their power of giving away, like those com- munities that practice potlatch or mayordomia. Other societies exhibit a cen- tripetal tendency, like Western capitalist economies, and value their power to accumulate to the degree that prestige and honor are a result of saving and hoarding wealth rather than sharing it. Thus, the logic underlying obligatory reciprocity would appear to de- pend less upon the hau of things observed by Mauss, than upon a dynamic and communal sense of life, of the world, of work and of its products. As I 175 Katya Mandoki ment ioned above, it is a matter of pulse and an attitude towards retent ion itself rather than toward what is retained. Compulsory reciprocity comes f rom a worldview that considers as mere common sense that we must give back what we receive, obvious in natural biological processes as breathing and eating, birth and death, sowing and reaping. The circulation of matter and energy, the movement of all things, stars, animals and light, the rivers and the sea, the changing of the seasons, all evince a pattern of abundance and dynamism, not of penury and immobility. This holistic awareness explains the practice of reciprocity among the societies studied, seemingly not because of the belief that things have a spirit that can take revenge, but because everything must be kept in motion. To retain or to hoard is, in this context, a contra-natura attitude, equivalent to imprisoning or holding hostage an object, animal or person destined to be in motion. The expressive, the impressive and the excessive If Mauss and Malinowski believed they found the origins of economy and of law, of religion and morality in these patterns, I would suggest that we might also seek therein the origins of the aesthetic. Let us imagine two contending tribes in relation of potlatch, each one trying to surpass the other, each one offering greater quantities of goods, of better quality or more exceptional, brought f rom remoter places or made with greater talent and skill. The aesthetic impulse here resides precisely in this desire to impress. From archaic communities to Renaissance aristocrats and contemporary magnates, in all social classes, some more, others less successful, the propel- ling drive seems to be the same: provoking admiration, impressing others, accumulating prestige. As a consequence of this drive, we have been fortu- nate to inherit the treasures of monumental architecture, masterfully crafted vases f rom ancient Greece and China, spectacular jewels f rom the farthest corners of the earth, amazing plays of dramatic, epic and comic impact, magnif icent rituals, murals, sculptures, musical traditions. In short , it is thanks to this need to impress that we have inherited cultural artifacts that, despite the passage of centuries and millennia, retain this power. Together with this need to produce an impressive effect (the necessity to impress) there is also a necessity to share with others that which is deeply meaningful to us (the necessity to express). Thus, in conjunction with the impressive or the drive to impress, is the expressive drive tha t many aestheticians from Baumgarten to Langer, have emphasized 176 The Indispensable Excess of the Aesthetic The exuberant and lavish always impresses, sometimes as beauty, as in Blake's saying »exuberance is beauty«, others as ugliness. Regardless of the categories involved, the excessive is somehow involved with or symptomatic of the aesthetic. Ugliness and the grotesque also result f rom one or another kind of excess (of fat, for instance, or of length as a long nose or chin, of width as impressive hips) and as such they are also related to the aesthetic. Excessively long fingernails, apart from symbolizing a status beyond the need of manual work, are considered aesthetic. Excessively high heels are an ex- plicit statement that the owner not a peasant woman. Artwork is ail excessive. Ordinarily, one does not witness as concentrated and intense a development of events as are found in drama, of images, colors and forms as are seen in a painting or of sounds as are heard in a musical composition. Baroque and Gothic art are excessive in forms, Expresionism is excessive in emotions, Fauvism in color, Cubism in simultaneous perspec- tives, Ruben's paintings in flesh, Mannerism in the dramatization of the body. Duchamp's Anti-art statement is equally excessive (he could have chosen a chair or a table... why precisely a urinal?) Malevich and Mondrian, as well as the Minimalists like Smith and Goertitz, are all excessive in their reduc- tion to the essential. Lucio Fontana, in his search for real space, was a bit excessive: why cut the canvas with a scalpel! Of course, excess and hiperbole are eloquent. The cloak or wig of a j u d g e in French and British courts, the excessive space in the lobby of official buildings, the excessively slow gait of the priests in religious liturgy, the excess of solemnity in a weekly school ceremony, are all maintained for their aesthetic effects. Ajewel is always excessive in the labor it implies. A hand woven carpet, a perfume, the fermentat ion of fruits for liquor, all are aesthetic in that they contain something beyond, more en- hanced, more condensed, more profuse than the strictly essential. Fur coats are warm and soft, jewels gleaming, perfumes are pleasant, good wine is lus- cious, carved wood is exquisite, chocolates delicious and bonsai cute; none are necessary, all are excessive and each is aesthetic. Display of excess inevitably captures attention, engages our sensibility and seizes our imagination. The utmost prototype of excess taken to sub- lime proport ions is the Palace of the Nazirs at the Alhambra in Granada: the most excessive of all excesses. We may react with pleasure or displeasure to the excessive, but we can never remain indifferent to it. Excess is never aesthetically neutral. 177 Katya Mandoki The indisp ens ability of excess I hope to have argued convincingly enough so far that there is a salient relation between the aesthetic and the excessive. Demonstrating that this excess is indispensable, however, requires substantial argumentation. Excess has simultaneously opposing effects: both dangerous and inevitable follow- ing Bataille's thesis, as well as generous and indispensable as I contend here. For Western cultures, both the aesthetic and the technological revolve around the same axis, pleasure, but in opposite directions: While the tech- nological promises to reduce displeasure, the aesthetic promises to increase pleasure. If a single flower is pleasurable, a whole bouquet is even more so. For non-Western cultures, on the other hand, the aesthetic and the techno- logical also revolve a round the same axis, but in this case, are aimed in the same direction: The aesthetic does not oppose the technical but is a kind of technology for persuading the gods or maintaining a certain balance in the world. As Veblen contraposed the instinct of workmanship to financial invest- ment, (which is a kind of leisure conspicuously consumed and exhibited by aesthetic means), this opposition can also be reformulated in terms of a technological instinct of preserving and producing things versus an aesthetic instinct of dispensing. In other words, the technological drive is an impulse to save, reduce, restrict and be reasonable while the aesthetic is an impulse to expend, dissipate, distend. These two opposing drives echo Nietzsche's Dionysian vs. Apollonian forces in his The Birth of Tragedy (1872). For Nietzsche, the Apollonian rep- resented the reasonable, judicious, rational, reliable, useful e l ement in human nature, while the Dionysian is the ardent, enthusiastic, passionate element, as personified by the Greek gods Apollo and Dionysus. The walls of Apollo's temple at Delphi bore two Greek maxims, »Know Thyself« the axiom of reasonableness and »Nothing in Excess«, the fundamenta l prin- ciple of temperance. While aesthetic theory has emphasized the Apollonian aspects admiring unity, harmony, symmetry, regularity and rhythm, the im- portance of the Dionysiac excessive aspect has been greatly underest imated in theory, although never in art. Apollo is temperance and logos, while Dionysus is excess and pathos. He is in fact the Greek god of abundance related to every kind of excess: mystic in the religious, orgiastic in the sexual, ecstatic in its ritual dances, euphoric and inebriated in the Bacchanals. Dionysus was hence patron of wine and of arts like song, drama and poetry. His symbolic presence leads to a sense of f reedom, fertility, generosity and ease. 178 The Indispensable Excess of the Aesthetic While Aristotle advised temperance, what we really enjoy and need is excess: it assures us that life is magnanimous and the world abundant . Con- sequently, in a context that is bountiful and good, it becomes only natural to be kind and generous. Strict calculation and control of people 's time, desires, energy and privacy, such as occurs in totalitarian regimes leads, Bataille insisted, to uncontrollable fear and destruction through war, dehu- manization, reiñcation and surrender of the most basic human values. What is indispensable is this possibility and actuality of the excessive itself, the feeling that excess is real, that we can lose without remorse, that there is a margin for vagary and play, that life gives more than we can take. Works Cited Bataille, Georges, 1987. La parte maldita. Francisco Muñoz de Escalona (trad.). Barcelona: Icaria; f rom L'usage des richesses. Paris: Minuit 1949. Benjamin, Walter, »The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduc- tion« in Berel Lang and Forrest Williams (eds.) Marxism and Art. David Co. 1972, pp. 281-300. Kant, Immanuel , Critique of Judgment [1790] trans. James Creed Meredith. Electronic version from the American Philosophical Association Go- pher. Malinowski, Bronislaw, Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922; repr. 1961). Marx, Karl, »The Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret thereof«, in Capital; a Critique of Political Economy. New York: The Modern Library, pp. 81-96. Mauss, Marcel, The Gift. New York: Norton and Routledge 1990. W.D. Halls (trans.) f rom »Essai sur le Don« in Sociologie et Anthropologie Presses Universitaires de France, 1950. Veblen, Thorstein, Teoría de la clase ociosa, México: FCE. Theory of the Leisure Class. 179 Gabor Csepregi The Clever Body and Aesthetics of Movement In our western civilization, we entertain a rather ambiguous relation- ship to the human body. We tend to view it as an instrument, a machine, or a distant object of possession that responds flawlessly to external challenges. Yet, some deeply fulfilling experiences yield to an awareness of its needs and possibilities; we then perceive our living body with a sense of unity and a feeling of harmony. In recent years, considerable attention has been paid to some activities that allow us to be in touch with, and develop, the creative powers of our body. I would like add some additional observations to these contributions, focusing my attention on the aesthetic dimension of move- ment. I What gives to certain movements an aesthetic value? What are the quali- ties and determinants of the motor behaviour which elicits an aesthetic ex- perience? The various authors, each being inspired by a particular philo- sophical, ideological, or anthropological option, advance diverse answers to these questions. Some consider beauty as the primary characteristic of the movement endowed with an aesthetic value. A movement is beautiful when an idea, an intention, a meaning, an excellence, an inner unity and wholeness, or some- thing »transcendent« and »inexhaustible«, becomes manifest in a sensuous and dynamic form. Our aesthetic experience consists of the perception of an irreducible excess, a superabundance, and a plenitude in a technically flawless motor performance. O t h e r s p r e f e r to pay a t t en t ion to the fo rmal qual i t ies of m o t o r behaviour. The aesthetic here is the successful realization of previously iden- tified criteria such as order, regularity, symmetry, balance, proport ion, pre- cision, harmony, and difficulty. Although the motor form is not subordinated to external and pragmatic goals, it nevertheless remains bound to some »im- manen t laws« (Sobotka, 1974) and principles. Empirical observations allow us to analyze and compare these principles and to recognize their commu- Filozofski vestnih, XX (2/1999 - XIVI CA Supplement), pp. 173-179 181 Gabor Csepregi nicative significance. Our aesthetic enjoyment springs f rom the perception of a correspondence between subjective per formance abilities and fixed, standardized movement possibilities. The third approach considers movements f rom a subjective point of view. Here the aesthetic is not merely a matter of adapting movements to objective qualities but derives f rom the production of a dynamic form that, on the one hand, expresses ideas, conceptions, emotions, fantasies, and, on the other, elicits an awareness of total bodily involvement. To relate personal meanings to movements means to go beyond the factual, efficient, and use- ful, and to place the movement in a context where expression is valued over performance. The deployment of symbolic figures and illusory appearances produces an aesthetic delight and, consequently, sustains or reshapes feel- ings. Both the symbolic transformation and the ref inement of feelings hap- pen without adaptation to a conscious purpose; they are spontaneous pro- cesses since they spring f rom the primary need for the embodiment of in- ner life and the »symbolic envisagement of the world« (Langer, 1957). I would like to briefly consider the characteristics of movement within the third perspective since it places great emphasis on the body's creative abilities and the affective component of the aesthetic perception. All of us have noticed that certain motor experiences induce in us an exhilarating and stimulating feeling. This is not the same state of ecstasy, euphoria , or intoxication that we might experience while dancing or taking part in cer- tain rituals. Expressions such as enchantment, delight, rapture, captivation, excitement, and inspiration seem to be more appropriate to describe the sensations connected to the movements. The aesthetic delight does not depend on the physiological or muscu- lar processes alone, but rather on how we perceive ourselves in the move- ment and how we relate the movement to the surroundings, particularly to space. We experience a feeling of lightness and ease as we move with un- usual dexterity and alertness and trust our own bodily capabilities. The meaning of the movement is the primary source of our pleasur- able feelings. To be sure, a movement must exhibit an inner order, a struc- ture in which the different segments obtain their unity and cohesion. A fun- damental prerequisite of the aesthetic satisfaction is our ability to coordi- nate smoothly and correctly a great number of partial movements. When an adequate mastery of certain techniques is no t acquired, the various ele- ments follow each other without accentuation, articulation, and synchroni- zation. The movement then is devoid of internal coherence or »kinetic melody«, to use the expression of F.J. J. Buytendijk (1957) and Oliver Sacks (1995). However important it may be, the »melodic flow« alone is insuffi- 182 The Clever Body and Aesthetics of Movement cient to produce an aesthetic value. What is needed is authenticity and ex- pressiveness. Our aesthetic enjoyment springs from the expression of mo- mentary feelings, insights, and desires through original and personal move- men t compositions. These achievements can neither be created on com- mand nor narrowed down to stabilized and measurable movement patterns. They occur and develop, without any conscious p lanning and control , through the unconcerned variation of the symbolic structure, the playful improvisation of a kinetic theme, and the qualitative use of motor options. II I have already ment ioned that some of the creative abilities of our liv- ing body uniquely contribute to an aesthetic motor experience. What are, more precisely, these abilities? An important feature of the exploratory and symbolic formulations is the absence of interest in efficiency and technical perfection. Expressive movements are not related to specific objectives or restricted by utilitarian considerations; they lack a definite reference to a goal, a distance, or a tem- poral limit. They entail an unconcerned and sympathetic contact with the surroundings, a state of alert but relaxed receptiveness. Movements are ini- tiated and carried out as responses to momentary and immediate phenom- ena, such as the prevailing atmosphere, the activity of other participants, the already accomplished gestures, the intensity of feelings, etc.. We have all experienced music not only suggesting movements but also compelling us to move. Our steps, jumps, turns, rotations, all the gestures, and their infinitely rich combinations, executed by the various parts of our body, are in close affinity with the specific rhythmic and melodic features of music. As Erwin Straus (1980) has noted, »the immediate experience and the (expressive) movement in which it actualizes its meaning are indivisible«. But what makes this affinity possible? Expressive movements are depen- dent upon the sensibility, »pathicity«, of the body. »Pathicity« is that feature of the body by which an immediate, vivid, pre-conceptual, and affective communication with the surroundings takes place. A central e lement of this unmediated bond is the experience of suffering, of being affected. In the pathic sphere, something (an image, an odour, a sound) takes possession of us; we are seized by its quality and delivered to its influence. The decisive factor here is the direct, immediate intimacy of our body with the world, its ability to echo vivid and penetrat ing effects, to resonate to new impressions or unexpected deviations. The words »echo« and »resonance« refer to the 183 Gabor Csepregi affective a t tunement to the outside world and the experience of being af- fected by some meaningful events. Furthermore, we find ourselves involved in our own way in a particu- lar situation: we are sensible to the quality of impressions according to our own point of view and interest. The pathic relationship is a transforming experience: certain objects take hold of us, affect our innermost self, of ten tacitly, without our explicit awareness. The production of various motor forms also imply an attitude that may be called renunciation: a relaxed and trustful surrender to bodily impulses and intentions. As we move easily and effortlessly, we confidently rely on the sense of rhythm and distance concealed somewhere within our body. We abandon ourselves to the »natural spontaneity« of the body that, without purposeful pre-assessment or planning, introduces new movements and responds appropriately to the unexpected demands of the situation. F.J.J. Buytendijk (1965) has pointed out that we are able to invent surprising and unusual movements because our body is invested with a subtle sense of what can and should be tried and risked, with a »finesse d'esprit«, with an »inex- haustible creative power«. Such an inventiveness may embody the connection, the »bisociation« (Arthur Koestler's term), of two previously unrelated sets of movement. Such a movement combination arises suddenly, it is »an upward surge« from some fertile layer of our body. The bisociative creation may consist of the unsus- pected connection of a movement to a subjective significance. When, for example, we express our joy through slow and solemn gestures, without actually knowing why, the motor figures arise spontaneously f rom the bisociative processes of the body. Our expressive movements entail the ten- dency to what Paul Ricoeur (1966) calls »involuntary release«: we are sur- prised by the ease and appropriateness with which our body proposes un- predictable symbolic formulations. The mimetic element is also central to the aesthetic movement expe- riences. The imitation of living or lifeless realities (a bird or a train) is a natural way of investing a motor form with symbolic content and articulat- ing a particular feeling or desire. As Walter Benjamin (1978) has brought out forcefully, the source of imitative movements is our mimetic faculty, the gift of recognising and producing similarities. Thanks to this bodily endow- ment , we are able to re-create and interpret aspects of our immediate sur- roundings and express our own feelings. We find, in the mimetic object or event, an incentive to perform certain movements and charge these move- ments with a personal meaning. When we imitate the peculiar motion of a 184 The Clever Body and Aesthetics of Movement bird, our interest in flying movements is fused with our intention to give a coherent and active form to some of our fears, hopes, or ideals. This example stresses the non-realistic character of imitation. No at- tempt is made to copy something faithfully. Rather, imitation requires the creative ability of selecting and reproducing the constitutive traits of the chosen object. More important, perhaps, is that the mimetic act presupposes an em- pathic understanding of the meaning of the perceived reality. When we dis- play a mimetic mode of behaviour, we come to act in harmony with our surroundings. In his analysis of Benjamin's theory of mimetic experience, Jurgen Habermas (1983) speaks of the »uninterrupted connection of the human organism with the surrounding nature«. The various aspects and qualities of the environment are no longer perceived in confrontat ion but accepted with a sense of involvement and participation. Thus, the mimetic capacity is no t only the gift of producing similarities, but also the bodily potential on which we draw in order to act in unison with the surrounding world and to perceive it with empathy and care. Beyond their subjective significance, movements elicit an aesthetic experience due to their temporal structure, their inner order. Rhythm is the organizing factor that coordinates the temporal segments of the movement into a coherent and melodic flow. A rhythmic motor pe r fo rmance is not merely a passive and mechanical adaptation to a series of uniform pulses or a sequence of economical gestures. Rhythmic patterns are actively apprehended or produced by the moving subject. Of course neither is rhythm the outcome of random personal invention. However spontaneous a »rhythmizing act« may be, each motor situation and task requires a specific and suitable temporal organization. Whether spontaneously generated or actively appropriated, a rhythmic pattern normally consists of the periodic repetition, articulation, and accentuation of movement phases. How does the rhythmic organization of the expressive movement oc- cur? Some believe that the primary source of rhythm is the natural and vi- tal impulses of the body. Others, placing less emphasis on bodily states and capabilities, contend that intention and consciousness preside over rhyth- mic emergences. We have seen, however, that expressive movements are carried out without conscious planning; they are not tied to particular goals and directions. Their temporal unfolding depends more on the immediate experiencing of spatial and motor qualities than on set structures. Thanks to their own »Knotenpunkte« (to use Arnold Gehlen's expression), movements themselves suggest a particular temporal configuration. A slight change in the manner we employ to emphasize these »fertile« phases results in the 185 Gabor Csepregi variation of subsequent rhythmic patterns. Consequently, the various ways of grouping and accentuating movement phases derive not so much from a conscious representat ion but f rom the »logic« of the movement itself. When, for example, children alter the tempo of their stride, or switch f rom walking to skipping and f rom skipping to hopping, they seem to obey the dictates of their own body. In the words of Ursula Fritsch (1990), they allow their body to »think by means of the movement«. Their »rhythmizing acts« are based on their bodily tendency to repeat, with more or less regularity and intensity, alternating movement components , and on their ability to remain attentive to the »eloquence« of the movements. Paul Valéry (1964), reflecting on the nature of dance, has drawn our attention to this bodily potential through which the rhythmic organization of movements occur. The body, writes Valéry, »assumes a fairly simple periodicity that seems to main- tain itself automatically; it seems endowed with a superior elasticity that re- trieves the impulse of every movement and at once renews it. O n e is re- minded of a top, standing on its point and reacting so sensitively to the slight- est shock.« Finally we come to the productive power of imagination. When we endow the motor form with a symbolic content, we relate our movements to visual images. Visual images, however, are not the only ingredient of ex- pressive movements. Valéry's analogy reminds us that, though not tied to specific perfor- mance criteria and objectives, expressive movements are nevertheless bound to particular motor situations. We may compare the movement to an ongo- ing »conversation« between our body and the surrounding world. From this follows that the execution of a movement requires tactile contacts with natural elements (water, snow, grass) and objects (ball, stick). Our gliding, jumping, running, and swimming motions originate in, and lead to, this active mode of sensory communication, touching. In touching, we both experience and anticipate a specific tactile quality (smooth, rough, hard, soft). Melchior Palagyi (1907) and Arnold Gehlen (1995) have empha- sized that tactile images constitute just as important a part of our movements as do the actual tactile impressions. For example, as we j u m p over a broad ditch or turn while skiing at high speed, our legs, as it were, »imagine«, »project« tactile sensations that should correspond to our movements. But the tactile image of landing on the ground is the outcome of the movement that we execute in imagination. Whenever we envisage a dive into the water, our take off involves an imagined movement followed by an imag- ined sensation. Our body imagines movements to the same extent as it an- ticipates sensations, though we are seldom aware of these projections. 186 The Clever Body and Aesthetics of Movement The motor form, whose main characteristic is the exploratory variation and continuous introduction of novelty, arises f rom a successful expression of feelings and a receptive relationship to the surrounding world. This re- lationship acquires its importance if we recognize, on the one hand , that a great variety of imagined movements and sensations are evoked by a free and relaxed encounter with objects and, on the other hand, that anticipated qualities and forms determine, just as much, the characteristics of a move- ment as do actual sensory experiences. Movements, in short, are not only upshots of specific intentions, but also responses arising f rom the formative powers and expressive energies of the body. Ill I have tried to draw attention, though rather briefly, to some of our somatic capabilities that produce expressive and »autotelic« movement com- positions. The significance of these movement experiences have already been emphasized by important studies in recent years. To these learned analyses, I would like to add here one remark. Several contemporary thinkers forcefully argue that our relationship to the surrounding world has been radically transformed: we no longer have significant experiences and relate to concrete and tangible realities with a growing sense of alienation. Albert Borgmann (1984) has shown that the widespread tendency to specialization, and the increasing use of technologi- cal devices, has progressively eliminated the need and possibility of active and sensitive engagement with our total environment. The »extended net- work of hyperintelligence« and the »paradigm of technological device« has lead to a degene ra t ion of our bodily capabilities. D i sembod imen t , as Borgmann asserts, is the gradual atrophy of bodily powers and skills, inten- sified by a disconnected and disburdened sort of life. No recovery of our fully functioning body can occur without some ini- tiatives. Aesthetic movement experiences, as I contend, help us to achieve a more intimate contact with the surrounding world and foster some of our bodily abilities. These results cannot be produced at will. What is needed, primarily, is adequate opportunities, for both adults and youth, to experi- ment with movements and take initiatives freely, without fear and constraint. The creation of this free space for innovation and enjoyment is what an aesthetic education has to seek and promote. 187 Gabor Csepregi Bibliography Abraham, A. »Reflexionen über eine Sologestaltung.« In Gestaltung in Tanz und Gymnastik, edited by H.-G. Artus, 109-123. Bremen: Studiengang Sportwissenschaft, 1987. Benjamin, W. »On the Mimetic Faculty.« In Reflections, 333-336. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978. Borgmann, A. Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1984. Buytendijk, FJ.J. Attitudes et mouvements. Translated by L. Van Haecht: Desclee de Brouwer, 1957. Buytendijk, F.J.J. L'homme et l'animal. Translated by R. Laureillard. Paris: Gallimard, 1965. Csepregi, G. » Le sport a-t-il un sens?« Science et Esprit AO (1988): 209-225. Csep reg i , G. »Spon tane i ty a n d Physical Educa t ion .« In Facetten der Sportpädagogik, edi ted by R. Prohl, 23-30. Schorndorf : Verlag Karl Hofmann , 1993. Csepregi, G. »Zur Bedeutung der Improvisation für die Leibeserziehung.« Spectrum der Sportwissenschaften^ (1996): 60-71. Fritsch, U. »Tanz »stellt nicht dar, sondern macht wirklich«. Ästhetischer Erziehung als Ausbildung tänzerischer Sprachfähigkeit.« In Grundlagen und Perspektiven ästhetischer und rhythmischer Bewegungserziehung, edited by P. Röthig E. Bannmüller, 99-117. Stuttgart: Ernst Klett Verlag, 1990. Gehlen, A. Der Mensch. Seine Natur und seine Stellung in der Welt. Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann, 1995. Habermas, J. »Walter Benjamin: Consciousness-Raising or Rescuing Critique (1972).« In Philosophical-Political Profiles, 129-163. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1983. Heuser, I. »Rhythmus als Ausdruck des Lebendigen.« In Beiträge zur Theorie und Lehre vom Rhythmus, edi ted by P. Röthig, 122-136. Schorndorf : Verlag Karl Hofmann , 1966. Langer, S.K. Philosophy in a Neiu Key. A Study in the Symbolism of Reason, Rite, and Art., Third Edition, Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1957. Lübbe, H. »Erfahrung u n d Kompensationen. Zum philosophischen Prob- lem der E r f a h r u n g in der gegenwärtigen Welt.« In Der Mensch als Orientierungswaisel, edited by H. Lübbe, 145-168. Freiburg im Brisgau: K Alber Verlag, 1982. Palagyi, M. Naturphilosophische Vorlesungen über die Grundprobleme des Beiuusstseins und Lebens. Charlottenburg: O. Günther, 1907. 188 The Clever Body and Aesthetics of Movement Ricoeur, R Freedom and Nature: The Voluntary and the Involuntary. Translated by E.V. Kohak. Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1966. Röthig, P. »Bewegung - Rhythmus - Gestaltung: Zur Problemen gymnastischer Kategorien.« In Gymnastik. Ein Beitrag zur Bewegungskultur unserer Gesellschaft, edited by H.J. Medau K J . Gutsche, 36-51. Schorndorf: Verlag Karl Hofmann, 1989. Röthig, P. »Betrachtungen zur Körper-und Bewegungsästhetik.« In Grundlagen und Perspektiven ästhetischer und rhythmischer Bewegungserziehung, edited by P. Röthig E. Bannmüller, 85-97. Stuttgart: Ernst Klett Verlag, 1990. Röthig, P. »Zur Theor ie des Rhythmus.« In Grundlagen und Perspektiven ästhetischer und rhythmischer Bewegungserziehung, edited by P. Röthig E. Bannmüller, 51-71. Stuttgart: Ernst Klett Verlag, 1990. Röthig, P. »Bewegungsgestaltung and ästhetische Erziehung im Sport.« In Facetten der Sportpädagogik, edited by R. Prohl, 13-22. Schorndorf: Verlag Karl Hofmann , 1993. Sacks, O. »A Surgeon's Life.« In An Anthropologist on Mars, 77-107. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995. Selle, G. Gebrauch der Sinne. Eine kunstpädagogische Praxis. Reinbek bei Ham- burg: Rowohlt, 1988. Sobotka, R. Formgesetze der Bewegungen im Sport. Schorndorf : Verlag Karl Hofmann , 1974. Straus, E.W. »The Forms of Spatiality.« In Phenomenological Psychology, 3-37. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1980. Valéry, P. »Philosophy of the Dance.« In Aesthetics, 197-211. New York: Bollingen Foundation, 1964. 189 Jale N. Erzen The Plight of Aesthetics and Art Criticism The Universal Model or Pluralism - What are the Criteria ? This paper will try to approach the controversy over universalism (mo- nism) and pluralism, which have concerned values in art and architecture in the aesthetic discourse of our century. It will take issue with questions that are posed with adherence to one or the other value. Although the discourse which has been concerned with this duality has been articulated in the west- ern world and has been represented in the two great cultural narratives of the 20th century, namely Modernism and Post-Modernism it has basically dealt with the evaluation and comparison of western and non-western aes- thetic approaches. And as such, it has also functioned as self-criticism within western culture. As many adamantly held aesthetic views, the two above mentioned con- trasting paradigms have had strong political and ethical implications. As the capitalist system has shown the tendency to expand infinitely, dominating all production and consumption in the world, the West has been blamed as a post- colonial power which, through its modernist philosophy which was backed up by industrialisation, claimed universal value for its own aesthetic formalism. The basic difference between western and non-western aesthetic ap- proaches could be claimed to be that dominant aesthetics approaches in the western world have tried to understand sensory perception intellectually. Western art, in its most prized articulations has given preference to basic forms that are thought to underlie certain systems in nature. Non-western cultures have often shown preferences for orders and forms that are diffi- cult to gather within basic categories, orthogonal systems or pure geometry. The dominant approaches within western aesthetics have tried to find com- mon formal denominators to explain relationships and to unite the sensory and the ideational.1 The above are generalizations, and one can find exceptions in non- western cultures where classical forms, very similar with western preferences have also been employed. Such approaches often emerge in well-established 1 Although the Cartesian system which defined mind and matter as separate categories, is criticized for divisionism, the general western attitude since antiquity, on which Descartes also based his thinking, created such a categorical duality as a detachment to take control, as some kind of Archimedean effort. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 191-200 191 Jale N. Erzen powerful social and polidcal systems, which may imply political connections to the production and use of forms. On the other hand, there have also been configurations within western cultures, involved with specific, complex and not easily categorizeable orders; more often than not these have evolved in marginal cultural situations. Of course these cultural attitudes have been transformed in time with political and economic conditions and influences. Hence, the difference between the western and the non-western aes- thetic approaches lies not only in their perceptual attitude, but also in what one may call basically an oral or non-written cultural tradition and one that is written and theoretical. The non-western attitude and values which rein- force memory and the mnemonic rather than the written register, have basically retained the characteristics of medieval cultures. The written reg- ister, on the other hand, becomes a prosaic codification and requires label- ing and classification. Although it is with industrialization, which opened the way to enlightenment, that writing penetrated all realms of life and produc- tion and affected the social make-up as well as aes the t ic /perceptual ap- proaches, the west, since antiquity had tried hard to overcome the ambigu- ities of oral /poetic culture, preferring to invest in the certainty of definitions and concepts possible only through writing. Today, in the post-industrial age, with new recording technologies, writing ceases to have priority over other representations. The world of interpretation that has been expanded cre- ates a new culture which is not dependent on global and universal codifica- tions and which, somewhat like in oral medieval cultures resume a variety of values and specificity. Western culture's becoming a model for the world was due to the great advances achieved by industry and technology in supplying the material needs of large populations. In the international artistic arena, intellectuals and creative people f rom all nations and cultures also contributed to the common causes of modernism and of contemporary culture. Yet, till the 1950's, political and economic exigencies and the fact that industrial devel- opment took a long time to spread to many parts of the world, made the west a readily accepted guide in civilization. After the second half of the century which has been roughly called the era of post-modernism, the prom- ises of modernism, industrial development and of world peace having failed, many cultures began to look for their own political and economic solutions outside the guidance of the west. As capitalist and communist powers began to lose their satellite nations, the political fragmentation created a corre- sponding search for cultural identity and independence. 192 The Plight of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. The Universal Model... Western Aesthetics - Claims to the Universal Besides the above formal differences that can be summarized about western and non-western cultures, one major difference which greatly con- cerns and affects aesthetic attitudes is the practice, since antiquity, of theo- retical and critical writing in the west and its being almost non-existent out- side western culture. Theoretical and critical writing appeared in Greece after phonetic alphabet began to be used about 700 BC, and after the teach- ings of Socrates which influenced the evolution of a conceptual mode of thinking. Even when literature over art and architecture was practiced out- side the west, as in China and Japan or in Ottoman culture in the 16th and 17th centuries, this was always descriptive, narrative or canonical. The development of logical and conceptual thinking, which paralleled the development of syntactic orders in literary forms and in hierarchic or- ders in the visual realm, has marked the most classical and sophisticated art forms of western culture, from the renaissance to the early 20th century. But, this intellectual and conceptual quality has also been considered as a nega- tive aspect of western culture, with the a rgument that such an analytical approach to the sensory was the outcome of a separation between body and mind, and was the effort to manipulate and dominate the »other«. The claim to the universal could be made through the creation of a common reference, a code, a sign, which could stand for experience and cognition. With such a reference, experience remained as a closed individual realm which could be referred to only through art and poetry and could be interpreted only subjectively. Conceptual definitions and analyses of sensory mechanisms and of aesthetic perception that were developed in the west, were often evaluated negatively by critics of the west as creating reductionism, limitations and categorization. On the other hand, only when a situation can be analyzed with its different aspects and when these can be understood separately and be defined, that they can be mentally conceived. Western culture may have analytically separated aspects of perceived reality into concepts and catego- ries; but through such analyses it arrived at understanding correspondences and correlation between physical and non-physical aspects of reality and of experience, and has tried to find the unity between the mental and the physical. This created the possibility of applying theory in practice. Theory and criticism in the written tradition have been agents to promote this rela- tionship between mind and matter by objectifying the tools for such a rela- tionship, namely representation, language, symbols, codes. The particular- ity of non-western cultures seen from this perspective is that they have not 193 Jale N. Erzen developed the conceptual and mental representations of sensory inputs, perceptual stimuli, in short, concepts and theories of perception and of the experience of reality. Even if these marked differences between western and non-western cultures are being lost in the world of today, they have for very long been influential in the way aesthetic attitudes have evolved. Besides, the development of industrial production in the west has es- pecially accentuated cultural differences, emphasizing analytical and ratio- nal thinking. The development of industrial production has also been in- s t rumental in the evolution of new political systems and values and has greatly influenced the functioning of religion. One of the most important effects of industrial production has been the development of machine aes- thetics, which also employed hierarchy, basic geometry and rational relation- ships. With these added cultural differences in process, attitudes in aesthet- ics and art, and the function of these in western societies have been greatly articulated to become of primary importance within society. Besides the influences of critical and theoretical writing, and of indus- trial production, another major fact that has formed aesthetic preferences and attitudes in the west, has been the relation to the body. This has its ori- gins in Christian thought and has been reflected in the visual representa- tion of the human figure. The concept of incarnation, meaning that exist- ence is possible only physically, and that the soul can only exist in a body, has made representation a most important tool in understanding and talk- ing about the physical and the non-physical aspects of reality. Thus western aesthetics which, at the beginning of the century, claim- ing to be the produc t of progress, presented its formal values as having universal validity, has certain basic aspects which can be summarized as, 1. The significance of representation which is rooted in the idea of in- carnation, and which gives power of manipulation and articulation to the subject, over the object. 2. The development of analytical, critical and theoretical discourse and literature. 3. The aesthetic of basic forms, geometries, hierarchic orders and ra- tional relationships which are reinforced by the culture of industry and which are reflected in the machine-aesthetic. 4. A linear conception and approach to space and time which presup- poses progress and a futuristic ideal, creating a space-time model that is open to manipulation by its ad infinitum controllable and measurable quality, as in perspective. 194 The Plight of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. The Universal Model... Modernism, which was the promoter for the diffusion of the above aspects of western aesthetics, claimed universality for its formal preferences that were developed in western art forms as classical orders. Art having lib- erated itself from any religious function by the 20th century could now claim a spiritual power because of its universal aesthetic values and also claim to have a reformative function for society. This latter idea and claim were also related to the belief that aesthetic preferences and choices were never a matter of practical choice and as such were free f rom necessity. This gave aesthetics a more elevated position than ethics with the explanation that ethical choices were in fact grounded in the aesthetic because there were no real functional or practical grounds for them. Thus, aesthetics became a realm of high spiritual value and was sepa- rated from the reality and exigency of everyday life. A fur ther development of this view today is that aesthetics, art appreciation, and criticism, in their most advanced states, are independent of biological conditionings, and in- dependen t of nature and are developed conceptually. The above mentioned values can basically represent the views of west- ern aesthetics although, naturally there are other different and exceptional attitudes within western culture. On the other hand, if the above have been seen as pertaining to universally understandable forms, the exceptional and different that have remained outside these values, and aesthetic attitudes, have not been analyzed, evaluated and articulated individually. Pluralism - Specifity and Search for Identity Starting with Claude Lévi-Strauss and structuralism, the possibility of investigation of expressions into categories such as signifier and signified (form and content) made it possible to analyze the values and expressions of other cultures and to apprehend them, casting doubt on the universality of any value system. The result was a serious skepticism about western ratio- nalism and the rational account of history with which the west had put it- self forward. During the 19th century as well as in the first half of the 20th, European artists and culture enthusiasts had revealed the riches of other cultures, primitive or sophisticated. These served as inspiration to the re- newal of western art. Yet, it is after 1950s that non-European cultures' artis- tic expressions began to be valued for their own merits. Post-modernism brought forth »difference« as a value in itself. There have been also new awareness born of radical new facts such as the atom bomb, environmental 195 Jale N. Erzen destruction, outer space expeditions, the contraceptive pill, etc., giving rise to new attitudes and articulations within culture and arts. In the second half of the 20th century, political fragmentation has also given rise to aesthetic fragmentation and to the emergence of new views and voices on the artistic arena. Individuals, marginal groups, social fractions which had been hitherto quiet have since, in the search for identity and self- image, been claiming their own individual aesthetic attitudes. Amongst some newly emerging forms we can count hybrid expressions which integrate folkloric themes or motifs with newly absorbed forms of urban culture. These often make up the aesthetic of the migrant groups. These people may be moving from one country to another, f rom the land to the city, or they may be moving from one social class to another, in situa- tions where social mobility is great or where unsettled economic conditions bring unexpected gains overnight. Each culture or country may have their special examples. What is common is that such sudden changes in orienta- tion have created the possibility of new aesthetic forms and attitudes that are reflected in the arts and in living environments. These, along with the expression of newly emerging voices of marginal groups are influencing the developments in the arts and even give impetus to new art forms such as social or environmental art .2 The picture of aesthetic views held globally in our times would be com- plete if we add to the monism of western aesthetics and the pluralism of non- western, marginal attitudes, the increasingly expanding fact of mass aesthet- ics, or fo rms of mass cu l ture . This, however, is b e c o m i n g a c o m p l e x phenomenon , much more controversial than the analyses Ortega y Gasset has given us in his book, The Revolt of the Masses, or than the critical writing of Umberto Eco in his essay, »The Structure of Popular Taste«. What has started as a design for mass production, based on the basic formal prefer- ences of western aesthetics in the beginning of the century, has developed into a production of low priced consumption goods for popular taste, with the intervention of the capitalist market. Design, which at the beginning of the century had reformist claims for society has become a commodity for the elite. While the promotion of popular taste increasingly wipes out any cultural difference, the growing power and diffusion of telecommunications used by media is employing and largely exploiting any cultural, individual and indigenous traits and qualities that may exist, as novelties for the mar- 2 In these areas, as it has always been true in the marginal, the innovative and the avant-garde, one cannot talk about a typical, rigid, western or non-western approach or aesthetics. These efforts are always transgressive of cultural and aesthetic categories. 196 The Plight of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. The Universal Model... ket. Today, in the field of culture very little is left as quality of identity, sub- jectivity and of the self.3 Setting the Criteria Within such rapidly changing contexts, the evaluation of these new expressions and art forms by critical aesthetic analyses would first need the formulation of new aesthetic criteria or alternative concepts of evaluation. Aesthetic evaluation and art criticism have never had absolute and fixed rules and any prescriptions about aesthetic value would take away the limitless vitality or the dynamic potential of the artwork. However, if art criticism and aesthetics are going to function as guides into the world of art and culture, such guidance needs certain assessments, claims and certain hypotheses to proceed. This is so especially in a context where multiple values vie with each other. According to Isaiah Berlin, plurality of values can have meaning only if they are of a limited number: »1 do believe that there is a plurality of val- ues which men can and do seek, and that these values differ. There is not an infinity of them. The number of human values, of values which I can pursue while maintaining my human semblance, my human character, is finite.. . And the difference this makes is that if a man pursues one of these values, I, who do not, am able to understand why he pursues it or what it would be like, in his circumstances, for me to be induced to pursue it. Hence the possibility of human understanding.«4 The case could not be different for aesthetics and art, if we are appeal- ing basically to perception, to sensory mechanisms which have to do with form. Given the existential, productive, economic and political conditions existing world wide at any time, we have to appeal to an idea of what man is, what his limits are, and what also is common amongst his many alterna- tive states. Therefore, according to Berlin's argument, pluralism, which can be a context where different views exist side by side, would make sense if common understanding were possible. Yet, this poses a problem. Can there be a common unders tanding and reasoning for all cultures? Have we not seen that even certain basic under- standings have changed in time? Does not the belief in such common un- 3 One has to also see how the capitalist market is out to assimilate any new production into its own agenda. 4 Isaiah Berlin, 'My Intellectual Path', The first and the Last, The New York Review, Vol. XLV, No. 8, p. 56. 197 Jale N. Erzen derstanding stem from the ideals of the enlightenment, for even if it entails the possibility of common goals for humanity, the fact is that for many cul- tures outside the west this cannot be held for the moment . In fact, within the multiple values held today, there are many which are not based on ra- tionality or reason and stem from religious doctrines or mysticism. These claim the validity of truths or realities that cannot be explained by reason. Some even seek their legitimacy in attacking homocentr ic values. The emergence of counter-enlightenment views and values makes the claim of common understanding for legitimizing pluralism, quite untenable. Thus, Isaiah Berlin's implied criteria of the human model and of human unders tanding fails to hold ground if some kind of contingency within hu- man existence and understanding is accepted to be possible at any time. From the point of view of aesthetics this contingency is most important because it is the basis for transgressions and innovation in art. The monis- tic/universal claim depends on a fixed model of humanity; with such a model art cannot look to the fu ture for new experience, once it has given expres- sion with all possible techniques available it would cease to be creative and would repeat itself. T h e discourse about the end of art, which became widespread two decades ago, assumed such a viewpoint. Arthur Danto's article, »The End of Art« argued that all possible visual expressions had been rendered and art had nowhere to go; it was now the time for philosophy: art criticism. Joseph Margolis' response in the 'Endless Future of Art' was that the tech- nical (technological) model of art which sees no fu ture when art fulfills the technical possibilities reflected a reductionism of humanity. Margolis argued that art's development is just as related to the needs, demands and mean- ings of human expression at its disposal as it is to technical means. He stated that these needs and meanings will never cease to create new articulations within the infinite dynamics of human existence. Thus, the idea of legitimizing pluralism with the hypothesis that human- ity can only have limited number of values and that these can be understand- able because they are limited in number proves to be wrong within the con- t i n g e n t h u m a n c o n d i t i o n . It fails to solve the essent ia l p r o b l e m of correspondence and communication amongst value systems. Pluralism then ends in infinite fragmentation of the human world in the search for indi- vidual identity. Such a fragmentation and the impossibility of communica- tion are seen today in the realm of politics as nationalism emerges as a search for identity. 198 The Plight of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. The Universal Model... Conclusion The discipline of aesthetics within philosophy emerged with a function of evaluation and determining of taste and form quality. It could be valid as a discipline, within the enlightenment, because it could base its analyses and estimations on criteria that were developed from natural facts and f rom empirical findings, through reason and logic. In short, it was legitimized through a scientific model. Comparative aesthetics, as most comparative cultural studies that be- gan in the sixties, may have benefited f rom structuralist methods of analy- ses for f inding common grounds to compare disparate artistic or cultural examples. Yet, today we see that structuralist methods have not achieved impartiality or independence from European habits of thinking and evalu- ating. They remain dependent on conceptual categories. Deconstructivism tells us that the only way cultural and artistic expressions can be decoded is by thinking in units, parts, elements. This claim of deconstructivism seems to explain certain facts that new technologies are imposing into our everyday and aesthetic realities. Frag- mentation becomes the paradoxical way of grasping the »other« or the »self«, which is possible only in bits and pieces. The new technology of the »digit« pervades all production and habits of perceiving and thinking. This may be a kind of echo of the »monad« of Leibniz. The claim of classicism or modernism, or of the en l ightenment , of grasping the whole as a hierarchic structure of parts, which had meaning only in relation to the »center«, is no longer acceptable. In a world of plu- ralistic values, the common ground is the infinite whole that is constituted only in the co-existence of variety. Understanding cannot be global or ab- solute, it can only be fragmentary. Conceptual models cannot render the truth about the total; they can only remain as conceptual tools. Within the context of pluralism the only direct experience of reality is through intu- ition. Thus, common understanding in a pluralistic context can be argued for only with a hermeneut ic explanation, which is not a systematic method of explaining understanding. What kinds of implications can the above discussion have for aesthet- ics and art criticism? In answering this question we can state the various positions taken vis- à-vis aesthetic values: 1. Aesthetic judgement is of universal validity. This takes us back to Kant's argument about subjective judgement and thus, establishes a ground for the co-existence of universality and of pluralism. 199 Jale N. Erzen 2. Individual and cultural aesthetic values cannot be argued, objectively explained, or empirically tested. This implies the impossibility of common criteria or any criteria that are objectively established. 3. Aesthetic values can evolve both independent ly of material con- ditionings and can also be influenced and conditioned by them. We see that aesthetic preferences may have deep origins beyond actual conditionings, or may be molded by actual conditions and by education. This implies that iden- tity definition through aesthetic choices can be open to manipulation and political control. If aesthetic values are at the same time subjective, culturally and envi- ronmentally conditioned, adopted, taught, dynamic, changeable, and con- tingent, today where differences live side by side, no common criteria for these can be established. The plight of art criticism and aesthetics is that they cannot proceed only in relation to form or to content, but have to under- stand how these correspond to each other in different cases, and how their relationship may change with new technologies and media. Pluralism can- not be seen on a comparative basis, because comparison needs a common source of evaluation or criteria. Pluralism has to be taken as the natural reflection of human expression, just as pluralism is natural to nature. Each value has to be presented and explained as one specific facet of an infinity of languages and human expressions. This paper has tried to present the basic views and characteristics of western aesthetics and of non western approaches to aesthetics, and has argued the impossibility of developing any common criteria to unders tand all the diversity of today's art production and cultural processes. As a con- clusion it proposes that aesthetics and art criticism at their very best and insightful, become domains of interaction and poetic dialogues rather than guides to render art and cultural processes transparent and to create value control over them. 200 Giovanna Lelli A Typology of Medieval Islamic Poetics Elements of a Comparative Analysis between Islam and the West Contemporary globalisation contains a primary contradiction between a tendency towards world economic unity on the one hand, and a tendency towards world political, social and cultural fragmentation on the other. The recent flourishing of comparative studies seems to be a reaction to this con- tradiction. There are two main kinds of comparison: comparison between different things, and comparison between similar things. Several contem- porary scholars give preference to comparison between heterogeneous cul- tural traditions (e.g. between the West and the Far East) rather than compari- son between analogous cultural traditions (e.g. between the West and the Near East). Emphasising cultural differences, as a reaction to globalisation, is in- deed one of the main traits of contemporary philosophy. Our comparative analysis between Islamic and western medieval poetics is based more on their cultural similarities than on their cultural differences. We would like to sub- stitute post-modern fragmentation with the shaping of new, open and criti- cal forms of universalism. Moreover, as the subject of this congress is »aes- thetics as philosophy«, we are going to use a theoretical approach to poet- ics in preference to an empirical-literary one. First of all, to touch on the methodology, we shall expose the histori- cal basis of our comparative analysis. Constant references in the mass me- dia to the danger of Islamic fundamental ism make people think that there is a deep opposition between Islam and the West. So, why do we maintain that in the Middle Ages Islam and the West had a common cultural back- ground? In spite of their religious differences, dur ing the Middle Ages the Islamic East and the Latin West, as »the twin sons of Hellenism«, belonged to a unitary cultural system. The unity of the civilisations that f lourished around the Mediterranean Sea was broken at the end of the XVth century. After the discovery of America, the axis of international trade moved f rom the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, leading to the decline of the mercantile Islamic civilisation and to the flourishing of modern Europe. It is precisely on the basis of their common Hellenistic background that we have devel- oped a comparative analysis between Islamic and western medieval poetics. Of course, as far as the Middle Ages are concerned, one should not under- stand the word »Islam« in its narrow, religious (that is to say »modern«) Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 201-200 191 Giovanna Lelli sense. In its Medieval and broad sense, the word »Islam« refers to all the aspects of the cosmopolitan civilisation that flourished f rom the Atlantic Ocean (Spain and Morocco) to the river Hindus (today's Pakistan). We suggest developing a comparative analysis between Islamic and western medieval poetics on the basis of a typology of the Islamic medieval poetics itself. But medieval Islam, just as the Medieval West, had a structured and universal understanding of knowledge. For this reason, it would be in- appropriate to analyse Islamic medieval poetical thought independently of the general Islamic medieval order of knowledge. A typology of Islamic medieval poetics should then be related to a very general typology of Islamic medieval culture. In our opinion, it is possible to distinguish, within the medieval Islamic culture, between three main religious and cultural para- digms: 1) the dominant paradigm of religious orthodoxy which provided a largely literal and anthropomorphist interpretation of the Scriptures. The religious orthodoxy preferred a legal approach to religion to a metaphysical one; 2) the neoplatonic paradigm, which spread mostly in the eastern parts of the Islamic world and can be exemplified by the thought of the Iranian philosopher Avicenna (X-XIth century); 3) theprotomodern paradigm, which opened the way to an historical and a scientific approach to knowledge and can be exemplified by the thought of the Arab philosopher Averroes of Cordoba (Xllth century).1 On the basis of this very general typology of Islamic medieval culture, we propose a typology of Islamic medieval poetics, which nevertheless should not be considered related to the former either in a mechanic or in a direct sense. Such a typology would consist of: 1) the dominant poetics, 2) the neoplatonic poetics, and 3) the protomodern poetics. But let us see in more detail what is the meaning we attribute to these categories, both f rom an Islamic and a comparative perspective. 1) the dominant Islamic poetics is characterised by a mainly grammatical and rhetorical approach to poetic questions. Texts as treatis of rhetoric con- cerning style figures, or belles-lettres and letter-writing handbooks played a very important role in the education of the Islamic intelligentsia. Another im- por tant trait of the dominant poetics in the Islamic world is that, since the 1 As far as cosmology is concerned, such a typology of Islamic medieval culture has been proposed by the prominent orientalist Alessandro Bausani, who distinguished, within Islamic culture, between a fega/attitude, a gnostic attitude and a scientific-Attitude. Cf. Bausani, Alessandro, L'Enciclopedia deiFratelli déliapurità. Riassunto, con Introduzione e breve commento, dei 52 Trattati o Epistole degli Ikhwân as-safá, Napoli, Istituto Universitario orientale, 1978, pp. 21 ff. 202 A Typology of Medieval Islamic Poetics. Elements of a Comparative ... very beginning of its development, it was closely related to the holy exege- sis (theologians wondered whether they should give a literal or an allegori- cal interpretation to the Scriptures). From a comparative point of view, we may point out evident correspon- dences between Islamic and western poetics in the Middle Ages. The medi- eval West also had a mainly grammatical and rhetorical approach to poetic questions, which were also closely related to the holy exegesis; 2) the neoplatonic Islamic poetics. Apart from those concrete literary works that can be considered perfect specimens of neoplatonic poetics (for ex- ample, a large part of Persian poetry), the oriental trend of Hellenistic Is- lamic philosophy (the »oriental falsafa«) was characterised by a neoplatonic interpretat ion of Aristotle. This approach was rooted in the Hellenistic sources (e.g. Alexander of Aphrodisias) of the Islamic philosophers. The oriental Islamic philosophers (such as al-Farabi and Avicenna), apart f rom their original writings, commented on most of the Aristotelian corpus, in- cluding the Poetics and the Rhetoric. The most apparent characteristic of these commentaries is that, according to them (as a result of the influence of the Hellenistic commentators on Aristotle), the Poetics and the Rhetoric were considered a part of Aristotle's Logic. The neoplatonic interpretat ion of Aristotle on the one hand, and the logical approach to the Poetics and the Rhetoric on the other, largely influenced both the poetics and the aesthetics of medieval Islam. But we are unable to go into fur ther detail. From a comparative point of view, we should point out that the medi- eval West also gave, in its turn, a neoplatonic interpretation on Aristotle, which was likewise influenced by Hellenistic sources. Nevertheless, in the West, neoplatonism had larger influence in the general field of aesthetics than in the specific field of poetics.2 From the Xl l l th century onwards, as a result of the translation move- ment f rom Arabic into Latin, the logical approach to poetics also spread in the West. But what we would like to stress here, without going into detail, is that it was not because of the translation movement that Islam and the West came closer to one another, rather it was because they were already close (on the basis of their common Hellenistic background) that the translation movement could be achieved; 3) protomodern Islamic poetics. We understand the word »protomodern« in the sense of a tendency towards an historical approach to literature. Nev- ertheless, modernism is a typically western phenomenon (related to Human- ism and the Renaissance), while the Islamic world, in spite of various impor- tant cultural movements, until now has not produced an analogous histori- 2 Cf. Eco, Umberto, Arte e bellezza neU'estetica medievale, Sonzogno, Bompiani, 1987. 203 Giovanna Lelli cal process leading to a truly historical interpretation of its classical tradi- tion. For these historical reasons, it might be interesting to find, within medieval Islamic poetics, the protomodern elements which could culminate in a modern approach to literature. In our opinion, it is possible to find such elements in various genres of texts, such as philosophical texts (e.g. the Averroes' commentaries on Aristotle's Poetics and Rhetoric), books concern- ing the educat ion of the per fec t homme de lettres (similar to Baldassarre Castiglione's Uomo ideale), and others. The typology of medieval Islamic poetics that we have just proposed should not be unders tood as a catalogue for texts, nor as a triad of absolute hypostasis. On the contrary, the three categories we listed above are para- digms, and they do not exist in a pure state. There are texts in which the dominant poetic paradigm prevails, while there are other texts in which the neoplatonic or the pro tomodern paradigms are predominant . Conclusion The aim of our comparative, typological analysis of Islamic and west- e m poetics of the Middle Ages is to encourage medievalist scholars both from the Islamic and the western disciplines to cooperate with the ultimate goal of a wider interpretation of the Middle Ages. The contemporary crisis of modernism makes us think about the roots of modernism itself. The tradi- tional historical view which draws a straight line f rom classical Greece to Romanticism (through the Renaissance and the Enlightenment), could give way to a wider, non-eurocentric view of historical development. Ernst Rob- ert Curtius, in his masterpiece Europäische Literatur und lateinisches Mittelalter (1948) has already criticised the classicist approach to the meaning of west- ern culture.3 As Curtius pointed out, Late Antiquity represents a crucial m o m e n t in the shaping of the unity of western culture, which was mostly based on its literary and rhetorical tradition. We believe that Curtius' interpretation of western cultural identity might be enhanced by a discussion about a glo- bal notion of the Middle Ages, including both Islam and the West as two inseparable parts of a whole. Medieval comparative poetics is no more than an element of an analysis that should involve all the aspects of the civilisations rooted in Hellenism that flourished around the Mediterranean Sea. 3 Curtius, Ernst Robert, Europaische Literatur und lateinisches Mittelalter, Bern, A. Francke Verlag, 1948. 204 Grazia Marchiano The Enlarging of the Aesthetic Ecumene through Transcultural Studies The long, detailed title given to the ninth session of this conference seems to reflect a need and possibly a concern whose presence has been felt in varying degrees at the official conferences of the international aesthetic community preceding it. And since this IAA Conference in Ljubljana hap- pens to be the last to take place in the twentieth century, it may be useful to ponder a little on a problem implicit in the title, and look it squarely in the face. »Art, Culture and Aesthetics in the East, the West, the First, the Sec- ond and the Third World« conveys a message both reassuring and worry- ing. Reassuring, because in theory it would not seem to exclude any of the contributions to aesthetics as philosophy in any part of the world - at the very worst, sporadic lines of aesthetic research in the Arctic or in societies imper- vious to media coverage might resent not being an explicit part of an assem- bly described in such precise terms. However, the message is also in my view somewhat worrying, for in order to include contributions to aesthetics out- side the Euro-Anglo-American perimeter, whose hegemony has always been taken for granted, geopolitical criteria have been adopted. And this is wor- rying because there is a risk that these very criteria may widen rather than bridge the gulf between the so-called first, second and third worlds, and fur thermore that this is only the beginning of a list likely to become much longer. Not that I wish, with this preamble, to give the impression that I am getting over-concerned about what is after all jus t a title, nor that I have launched into lexical hair-splitting in order to hawk an expression, like the one in the title of this paper, that I consider preferable . Nevertheless, »Ecumene«, with all the semantic limits inherent in the word,1 seems to me The Greek word » oikumene« was of common use in the classical authors. From Homer onward, oikeo is used both in the intransitive sense of »1 dwell«, »1 inhabit«, referring to single individuals, groups and entire communities, and in the transitive sense of inhabiting a place, a territory, a city. Oikia is the habitation, the house, things domestic, even lineage, stock. In Attic law oikos is patrimony. Oikizo refers transitively to the enterprise of populat ing a country, establishing a colony, cultivating a region. Herodotus, however, dealt a pretty effective blow to the contextual use of the word. Ecumenexs, not a land inhabited in general, but a land inhabited by Greeks, compared Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 205-211 205 Grazia Marchiand to be a more appropriate term for designating a context which, at least in principle, cannot be measured on the same scale used to weigh stock-ex- change prices, Third World demographic figures, or human existence in terms of money. Consider for example Bertolt Brecht's remark: »What is man? I don ' t know what a man is, but I know his price.« It is clear that the word »price« deliberately circumscribes the idea of human being. Certainly it is not inappropriate to speak about human be- ing - in the first, the second and the third worlds - in terms of price, the price of a life being one of the faces of the »human condition« prism, but unless one wishes to impose or contest the idea that a human being is merely the price that one pays to suppress or save him or her, it it is tendentious and, to my mind, contrary to a truly philosophical approach to direct our enquiry exclusively in that direction. But what does »a truly philosophical approach« mean? According to Erjavec, the nature of philosophical activity is basically critical. I quote f rom his recent contribution to the Arezzo Aesthetic Conference (June 1998): »... no matter f rom which cultural tradition we commence our attempts to de- termine what philosophy is, we are confronted with the fact that philosophy proper doesn' t exist if it doesn' t possess this self-reflective strain, i.e. of be- ing not only a thought about extant reality, but also a critical thought about thinking as such«.2 In we now wish to consider what other features determine the struc- ture of philosophical thought, three concomitant factors seem to go together with whom all other peoples are barbarians: literally »stammerers«, in the sense that they speak Greek badly. The Greeks were by no means the only people of the ancient world to convert a linguistic handicap into downright inferiority. There is no human group that is not »programmed« to conceive otherness in terms that rarely admit equal dignity. How could philosophy, which according to Heidegger has its foundations in the Greek mind, be an exception to this rule? This is, however, a prejudice which needs to be exposed and torn out root and branch. It has gone on too long and has restricted our studies in many senses. My major issue in this pape r is to claim a truly ecumenical approach to aesthet ic mat te rs philosophically, anthropologically and historically considered. See also the present author's: »Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom, Birds and Crabgrass notwithstanding«, Proceeedings of the Pacific Rim Conference in Transcultural Aesthetics, E. Benitez ed., University of Sydney, June 1997 (an electronic publication ISBN 0-646-28504-1). And Introduction to East and West in Aesthetics, G. Marchiano ed., Pisa-Rome, Istituti Editoriali Internazionali 1997. 2 A. Erjavec, »Aesthetics and Philosophies«, Proceedings of the Arezzo Conference on Reconfiguring Aesthetics?, Turin, Trauben, 1998 (text in Italian). 206 The Enlarging of the Aesthetic Ecumene through Transcultural Studies with it, namely a conceptual lexicon, a dialectical structure and a textual body of reference. In whichever cultural milieu we meet with these concomitant factors, we may say that a philosophical activity takes place on a technically common basis. And it is here that »ecumene«3 may give a sound idea of the contexts - philosophical, religious, literary, artistic - in which aesthetic knowledge has been able to grow and expand in the last thousand years or so. If then we wished to visualise it as an imaginary »tree of knowledge« inscribed in a compass card, we would see that the vastest land-mass between the Atlantic and the Pacific, the Eurasian continent, is also that in which the tree of aes- thetic knowledge has put forth its branches in the principal linguistic koine of the ancient Eurasian world: Sanskrit, Greek, Persian, Chinese, Japanese. Those languages acted indeed as formidable propellers of learning, religious faith, artistic sensibility and aesthetic awareness both in their original areas and in those in which they came to be influential. This basic recognition, which is borne out by historical evidence, allows us to consider the branches and sub-branches of the tree of aesthetic knowledge as part of a common Eurasian heritage to be investigated in ways which, consequently, cannot but be cross-culturally and comparatively oriented. Put in these terms, our approach to aesthetics as a philosophical field becomes wider, and prismatic, not only because of its multi-faceted back- ground but also because it will also have to take into due account the mul- tiple ways in which a set of major recurrent issues pertaining to the aesthetic sphere have been dealt with on a technically common basis f rom one cor- ner of Eurasia to the other. At this point someone might object: »All right, aesthetic thought in Eurasia is no doubt an irreplaceable legacy, but here we are at the thresh- old of the 21st century of the common era, and a lot of water has passed under the bridges of aesthetics. And unless one wants to be exclusively con- cerned with an archaeology of aesthetic knowledge, it is surely more impor- tant to join forces to re-shape aesthetics in ways - like those proposed by Wolfgang Welsch4 - that are in key with the new times.« To this per t inent objection I would answer: To claim a truly cross-cultural approach to philo- sophical aesthetics is part of a research strategy perfectly in line with a time, like the present one, of radical transformations in all avenues of knowledge and in all directions of life at a personal and collective level. The varieties 3 See Ref. 1. 4 Particularly in Die Aktualität des Ästhetischen, ed. W. Welsch, Munich, Fink, 1993; Undoing Aesthetics, London, Sage, 1997; Aesthetics Beyond Aesthetics, Proceedings of the Arezzo Conference on Reconfiguring Aesthetics?, Turin, Trauben, 1998 (text in Italian). 207 Grazia Marchiand of investigations made in European and Asian thought in the sphere of aes- thetic experience and aesthetic cognition offer some formidable keys to plumbing that region where - in Keiji Nishitani's words - »resides the mar- row of the mind of men.«5 There are in my opinion few spheres of human experience as close to that elusive region as the aesthetic sphere, and it is the task of aesthetics in its theoretical capacity to explore that region with the support of the investigations conducted in several other non-philosophic fields. In fact, no discipline today, least of all philosophy, can afford to be self-sufficient to such an extent as to discard, in principle and practice, the benefits of interdisciplinarity. Two examples may concretely illustrate my point. Suppose we want to ascertain whether beauty is universally acknowledged as an aesthetic value, or whether it is not, rather, a »local« cultural trait, depending on the extent to which an aesthetic sensibility is present in a given human community where speculations in abstract, conceptual and dialectical terms are fash- ioned in a consistent body of knowledge, as has happened in Eurasia. In order to obtain evidence relating to the latter question, philosophi- cal aesthetics will have to rely on cultural anthropology and on the results of its field-research in native communities. It would then be somewhat point- less for the aesthetician to predicate beauty as if it were a »universal«, like Plato's to kalon, given that ethnological research provides enough evidence that no traces of a notion and of an appreciation of beauty are found among so-called primitive societies. A report given by Garry W. Trompf on his field research in Papua New Guinea is in this respect illuminating, and I shall briefly summarise it. In the company of Kai, a young educated Papuan native from the Wahgi ethnic group, Garry arrives at the edge of a ridge overlooking the Wahgi River, near Kup, in highland New Guinea.® The magnificence of the place is such as to make him exclaim: »What an extraordinarily beautiful valley!« To which Kai replies: »Ah, Garry, yes, but we don ' t really talk about it that way, or in the way whites usually do.« For the Wahgi people, Trompf tells us, »the valley was not, at least traditionally speaking, scenically beautiful, not even con- ceived as a »joy to the senses«. It was ka- via the most commonly used adjec- tive in the Wahgi language and usually translated as »good« — or in other words it »pleased« insofar as it brought the benefits, or »riches« that the local people needed from it. But apparently (or at least prima facie) it was not an 5 Nishitani K., Religi on and Nothingness, Jan Van Bragt ed., Berkeley, University of California Press, 1982. fi G.W. Trompf, »Croce and Collingwood on »Primitive« and »Classical« Aesthetics', Literature and Aesthetics, University of Sydney, October 1997. 208 The Enlarging of the Aesthetic Ecumene through Transcultural Studies object of aesthetic appreciation, and certainly, Kai insisted, no one would ever have thought of painting it, or evoking the whole scene in art.« »My prior experience of his culture,« Trompf continues, »soon made me realise an experiential chasm yawned between myself and his people, with Kai, a clever undergraduate at the University of Papua New Guinea, mediat ing between the two. The Wahgi, I accepted, clearly possessed art« (a long list of items is ment ioned by the author) — yet »Ka, we might presume, can never be used to articulate a strictly »aesthetic« judgement , for any possi- bility of art's genuine independence is precluded while a »total traditional life-way«, the »religion of the solidarity group« is triumphant«.7 These last two phrases, which are quoted f rom O 'Hanlon , 8 and the direction taken by Trompf's fu r ther analysis offer an oppor tuni ty to ap- proach the issue of an »aesthetic ecumene« from an angle significantly dif- ferent from and wider than that encompassing Eurasian philosophies but apparently excluding African thought and what is currently referred to as ethnophilosophy." It is true that the ways of thinking highlighted by this kind of philosophy do not rely on a conceptual lexicon, a dialectical structure and a textual body of reference in their original formulations. Yet they no less conspicuously ar- ticulate customs, common beliefs and worldviews of ethnic groups in the whole of Africa and in a number of native communities scattered in the rest of the world. And since there is no justification today in denying folk philosophies their admission to the club of world phi losophies , the very no t ion of »ecumene« - be it related to philosophy in general or to aesthetics as a branch of it - is duty b o u n d to inc lude bo th kinds of ph i losophies , the reby reconfiguring the body of philosophic knowledge in entirely new terms. To fur ther illustrate my point f rom within the aesthetic domain, I shall turn to a case considered by Hou Weirui of the University of Shanghai in 7 Ibid., p. 126. 8 M. O'Hanlon, »'Handsome is as Handsome Does': Display and Betrayal in the Wahgi«, Oceania 53/4 (1983). 9 »Ethnophilosophy« is a term employed in the current debate on the existence and nature of African philosophy as it has been articulated by such notable scholars as PlacideTempels in his Bantu Philosophy,John Mbiti in his African Philosophy and Religion, and William Abraham in his The Mind of Africa, to mention just three. These and other scholars of similar orientation in African philosophy have come to be known by what Paulin Hountondji has referred to as »ethnophilosophy«. This explanation is by Fidelis U. Okafor in his l ea rned article »In defense of Afro-Japanese Ethnophilosophy«, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 47, No. 3, July 1997. On the Western notion of rationality and its relativity, see G.W. Trompf, »African Philosophy and the Relativities of Rationality. In response to Carole Pearce«, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, Vol. 24, No. 2, June 1994. 209 Grazia Marchiand his comparative analysis of metaphor in Chinese classical poetry. I shall quote a few passages f rom Hou's contribution to the »Pacific Rim Conference in Transcultural Aesthetics« (University of Sydney, June 1997).10 »Literary im- agery,« he says, »especially long-established and widely accepted imagery, is the crystallization of the aesthetic values and literary taste of a certain na- tion, and, to a certain extent, reflects its way of thinking. Therefore , the preservation of the original image is essential to the conveying of cultural flavor and national color.« ... »Imagery with strong national character arises usually f rom a nation's special way of life or living environment. It cannot always be treated by direct translation. When direct translation is no t pos- sible the second best choice is substitution. Substitution means f inding an- other image which conveys a similar meaning and produces a similar effect on the readers of the target language as the original imagery does in the source language. A case in point,« Wou says, »is the treatment of zhu (bam- boo) . Bamboo is an image of vigorous and luxurious growth and the usual translation is »to spring up or grow like bamboo shoots after a spring rain«. Native readers of English may not be familiar with the way bamboo grows in spring. If we replace »bamboo« with »mushroom«, an immediate picture of rapid growth is evoked in the mind of an English reader. Equivalence, however, is only relative. »To grow like bamboo shoots after a spring rain« is used in Chinese only for rapid and vigorous growth and never for quick decay, while mush rooms , accord ing to o n e def in i t ion o f f e r e d in the Longman Modern English Dictionary, means »like a mushroom in a rapid- ity of growth and decay«. The substituted image,« concludes the author, »has to be in harmony with the entire cultural atmosphere and literary tradition of the original work.«11 Hou's relevant point is that the procedure of replacing »bamboo« in the original language with »mushroom« in the target language is a rather unfaithful , though unavoidable, device whereby the resulting picture be- comes something rather different. A perceptive analysis of this syndrome of »aesthetic ineffability« is in Kuki Shuzo's treatise The Structure of »Iki« (»Iki« no Kozo), which first appeared in the Japanese journa l Shiso (»Thought«) in 1930, and is now available in an accurate English version by the Australian scholar J o h n Clark.12 10 Hou W., »Bamboo or Mushroom: Imagery in Chinese Poetry and its Translation«, Proceedings of the Pacific Rim Conference in Transcultural Aesthetics, University of Sydney, E. Benitez ed., quoted. 11 Ibid., p. 188. 12 Kuki S., An Essay on Japanese Taste: The Structure of »Iki«, translated by John Clark; edited by Sakuko Matsui and John Clark; introduction by Nakano Hajimul, Sydney, Power Publications, 1996. 210 The Enlarging of the Aesthetic Ecumene through Transcultural Studies According to Kuki, aesthetic concepts are subtle revealers of the ways of feeling shared by people of the same linguistic and ethnic community. The case of iki is in this respect illuminating. A term recurrently employed in Edo times to connote the peculiar gracefulness and charme possessed by the geisha, iki emanates a plethora of nuances which only native customers of the »flowered quarters« in XVIII century Edo and Kyoto could taste and emotionally enjoy in their own, unique way. Trompf's and Wou's investigations in their respective fields bring to light two curiously equivalent, though opposite, cases of a scarce permeability of aesthetic emotion to transcultural and linguistic transfer. In the case of the Wahgi term »ka«, its range of meanings, pivoted on a generalized idea of »life-power«, seems however to lack specifically aesthetic connotat ions; whereas in the case o f j a p a n e s e »iki«, not a deficiency but rather an excess of emotional overtones emanating f rom it will prove to be impervious to adequate renderings in contexts different from the original one. Some provisional conclusions Since the time for presenting this paper is nearly over, I shall devote the remaining minutes to focussing on a couple of factors relating to my working notion of the aesthetic ecumene. The first of these factors concerns an increasing awareness among schol- ars, mostly of the younger generation (in their thirties and forties), that to approach aesthetic matters in transcultural terms is no longer, at least f rom the Western side, a rather bizarre attitude displayed by a handful of exoticists, but quite simply what needs to be done, and should it not be done it would be detrimental to the advancement of aesthetic research. In the last twenty years the successful attempts by a few distinguished comparative philoso- phers to relate Western and Asian thought in hermeneutically advanced ways, as in the case of J.J. Clarke's recent survey on Oriental Enlightenment,™ cannot but encourage endeavours of a similar quality and kind in the sphere of aesthetic studies. The second factor concerns the notable role interdisciplinarity will have to play in fu ture aesthetic research. Connections with all avenues of knowl- edge ready to provide cognitive inputs to aesthetic research have to be 13 J.J. Clarke, Oriental Enlightenment. The Encounter between Asian and Western Thought, London and New York, Routledge, 1997. 211 Maja Milcinski The Aesthetics of Decay The Japanese aesthetics of Wabi-Sabi among various interpretations can be understood as well in the sense of - »contemporary aestheticism which advocates the dissolution of the distinction between art and life.«1 The con- cept of Wabi, which developed its positive and profound meaning unde r a strong influence of Zen Buddhism, can be translated as »loneliness; insuffi- ciency, refined poverty; a humble life in solitude with nature as companion; to lead a solitary life, contemplating nature and appreciating the spiritual and aesthetic values underlying insufficiency.«2 Wabi-Sabi, the two central concepts of Japanese aesthetics, can be found already at the transition of Chinese painting to Japan. In their later development the concepts have been remodeled in a specific Japanese way, so that today only their Japanese character is being stressed. If we look back into Chinese philosophy, in which the Ji (in Japanese Sabi) originates, we come across it in the sense of absolute quiet, tranquil- ity and peacefulness. However, if we try to systemize some of the common meanings of this notion, we come from a broad apparent heterogeneity into sedimental thought which approaches the tranquil support as a potential position of change, namely movement, whose mover itself remains unmoved. In Daoism, we come across the notion o f j i in the Dao de j ing, as well as in Zhuang Zi. Dao de j ing (25) »There was something formed out of chaos, That was born before Heaven and Earth. Quiet and still! Pure and deep! It stands on its own and doesn' t change. It can be regarded as the mother of Heaven and Earth. I do not yet know its name: I 'style' it ' the Way'. 1 Amy Newman, »Aestheticism, Feminism, and the Dynamics of Reversal,« in Aesthetics in Feminist Perspective, ed. Hilde Hein and Carolyn Korsmeyer (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1993), 193. 2 Setsuko Kojima and Gene A. Crane, A Dictionary of Japanese Culture (Tokyo: The Japan Times, 1987), 380. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 2 1 3 - 2 0 0 191 Maja Milcinski Were I forced to give it a name, I would call it ' the Great'.« ... 8 that is solitary quiet, tranquil, voiceless, spaceless. In Zhuang Zi the same character appears in the connection with the state of quiet tranquility and peacefulness. In Tian dao it appears in relation with the »absence of activity — quiet sitting«. In Buddhism we come across Ji as peace, silence, calm in connection with nirvana. It is used, in a sense, to extinguish various unnecessary ruminations, so that the ultimate reality could spring out. The various complexities of meanings that appear in Buddhism could be united in the following catego- ries: -calm, silent, mute, sad, tranquil, deserted; -tranquility and silence of the truth - i n connection with the true wisdom as yoke of two virtues (truth and intelligence) that should in Buddhism lead one to salvation - t h e transition into nirvana - the state without troubles and sorrows, without the movements of time - the condition for delight in peace and nir- vana. According to its meaning Sabi is Ji. It expresses the liberation of the human path from sorrow and torments. It is interesting that the other pos- sible translations - silence, sadness, abandoned state, loneliness, negligence, melancholic standstill - lead us to the world of nirvana, which in its essence is not somethingjoyful. It is the notion of spiritual condition of withdrawal, lib- eration from perplexed reflections. At the description of the place, the char- acter is used as designation of entirely silent, mournful place without people. When the landscapes are described the character is used for a tranquil, silent, deserted condition without any voice, shape or form. In an artistic sense it reveals the impression entirely voiceless and shapeless, and as a point where everything is extinguished and there in no existence left. In the works of early Neo-Confucians (brothers Cheng) Ji appears in connection with the demand of removing the turbulent thoughts as: - t h e entire tranquility and peace - o n e should wait until the point where everything is extinguished and the absolute quiet is achieved - o n e should keep the inner peace and protect oneself from inner move- ments -with this experience and feeling you can reach whatever place without obstructions and remain tranquil, unexcited. This is the way to accomplish the entire world.4 3 Lao-Tzu, Te-Tao Ching, trans. Robert G. Henrichs (NewYork: Ballantine Books, 1989), 77. 4 Ercheng quanshu fu suoyin (Complete works of the Brothers Cheng), ed. Zhu Xi (Tokyo: Chubun shuppansha, 1979). 214 The Aesthetics of Decay The notion of Ji as a condition emptied f rom everything - the point where everything is extinguished, where one can find tranquility and peace, leads us to the aim of various yogic or meditative techniques, which should help us to achieve the transcendence of logical, discursive pattern of search- ing and gets to a basis for a different approach with oneself. It is the loss of Ego and the return into the condition where the body and mind are still uniform. There is no antagonism of body and soul, since in this state of egolessness the state of vacuity is achieved. »Aesthetic ekstasis«5 is not only »standing apart f rom self«, but reaching the state of transcending the Ego. The border between the outer world and oneself is overcome — or better said, between that which conditions us to think about the external existence of »external« world, the process in which mind's false notion about »one's« body, which cannot be separated f rom all the rest is overcome. The logic starts at the point where the body and mind are separated and is related to the level of intellect, whereas the body should represent the affective side of human personality. In the realm of Wabi-Sabi, however, the Sabi Kokoro is cultivated. The notion of Kokoro leads to the trans-linguistic sphere in which »the domain of internal language coincides with that of 'conscious- ness'«.0 Kokoro itself »in its broad sense,... signifies the whole domain of in- ner subjectivity covering both the 'not-yet-activated' and 'already-activated', the ground and its manifestation, including images, ideas, thoughts, feelings and emotions,«7 the notion of Sabi Kokoro depicts the human mind, which is released f rom profane engagements, far away from the noise of the world dwelling in the realm of mystical silence and peace. This condition is the liberation f rom human sorrow and gloomy rumination. To give oneself entirely without any second thought, but still stay tran- quil, unexcited, this is the basis f rom which one can reach the entire world. The condition of complete tranquility and the experience o f j i is the con- dition for anything coming into being. Another dimension of Buddhist notion of Ji and in later development Sabi is important , namely the one where the condition is reached where there is no alternative or differentia- tion anymore. How did the Japanese unders tand the notions of life and death in this context, on the level of realization of the truth in the sense of a psychophysical awareness far above the pure intellect? It is namely the spiritual level on which the bifurcations of good-evil, black-white, beautiful- 5 Hilde Hein, »Refining Feminist Theory,« in Aesthetics in Feminist Perspective, ed. Hilde Hein and Carolyn Korsmeyer, 11. 6 Toshihiko and Toyo Isutsu, The Theory of Beauty in the Classical Aesthetics of Japan (The Hague /Bos ton /London: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1981), 10. 7 Ibid., 8. 215 Maja Milcinski ugly, life-death are overcome since it opens up the way of transcendence in a sense of the wisdom of ultimate reality. It is the level far beyond the one described in Nietzsche as »Life itself recognizes no solidarity, n o 'equal rights', between the healthy and the degenerate parts of an organism: one must excise the latter - or the whole will perish. - Sympathy for decadents, equal rights for the ill-constituted - that would be the profoundest immo- rality, that would be antinature itself as morality!«8 It is rather an activity which leads one to a transrational level, which is not inferior to the rational cognition, since it encompasses all kinds and grades of experience. We must take into consideration the fact that in the realm of Buddhist aesthetics, particularly in the domain of Wabi-Sabi, rationality as such does not offer us universal, common, and generally valid standpoint, since many aspects of the concepts under investigation can be experienced in medita- tion and not understood just with knowledge, by pure erudition. They ap- pear by following a radical empirical experience - experience of intuitive recognition of the things in their undifferentiated unity. In the process of such an experience, the level of tranquility is reached, the absolute quiet, Sabi and voidness that are the basis of the profoundest and most important insights. One of them being the notion of death and decay which in the light of oneness of things and events never gained negative connotation, or to say it with Zhuang Zi: »Life is the companion of death, death is the begin- ning of life. Who understands their workings? Man's life is a coming together of breath. If it comes together, there is life; if it scatters, there is death. And if life and death are companions to each other, then what is there for us to be anxious about?«11 It is the attitude which is in accord with the notion of interrelatedness of everything: »The ten thousand things are really one. We look on some as beautiful because they are rare or unearthly; we look on others as ugly because they are foul and rotten. But the foul and rotten may turn into the rare and unearthy, and the rare and unearthly may turn into the foul and rotten. So it is said, You have only to comprehend the one breath that is the world. The sage never ceases to value oneness.«10 In the Buddhist context the metaphysical notion of impermanence , transience or ephemerality was created. It supports the Buddhist idea that all material things are considered to have come into existence through some cause and are subjected to the process of creation, abiding, transformation 8 Friedrich Nietzsche, The Will to Power, trans. Walter Kaufmann and R.J. Hollingdale (NewYork: Random House, 1967), 734. 9 Chuang Tzu, The Complete Works, trans. Burton Watson (New York: Columbia University Press, 1968), 235. 10 Ibid., 236. 216 The Aesthetics of Decay and exdncdon. This process, moreover, is cyclical: all things are born and die over and over again. The cycle of rebirth can be escaped only by elimi- nating all desire and thus attaining nirvana or enlightenment, the only stable, nontransient state. Such an attitude is present in the aesthetics of classical Japanese works like The Tales oflse, and it also makes it possible to find beauty in its vanishing and to accept the fact that the transience and evanescence of all things make everything even more beautiful. The Japanese model has not offered any illusions. At various stages of Japanese history it was felt necessary to educate people in confront ing the inevitability of corporeal death. Therefore the temple images were formed which are very naturalistic and therefore even more persuasive than the frescoes of the Death dance in Europe, where death takes the form of the skeleton. The Japanese images take a different form and have a slightly dif- ferent idea behind them. The fact that humanity is sentenced to death and to impermanence is shown by the temple images, which depict the entire process of decay of the human corpse, f rom death to final disintegration. Such was just one of the ways in which the deep acceptance of death has been shown in the realm of aesthetics in the Japanese history. T h e other one is the tradition of writing the death poems, the poems in which the Buddhist monk, philosopher or poet expressed his views on life and death on the verge of his own death. Usually they were written by Zen monks, some of which were believed to have the power of predicting their own m o m e n t of death. The poems show us the attitude of these Buddhists towards death, which is not something unexpected, an event which they would want to evade or postpone. The blossom became one of the dominant symbols of the transience of human existence and its beauty. In various stages of the year it got either the under tone of hope, longing or sadness, depending on the stage in which the blossom has been. Unlike Europe which cherishes the stage of the full- blossom and India which worshipped the blossom itself, Japan developed a deep aesthetics of dead blossoms lying on moss or stones. This reflects the worship of the entire life-cycle, including the stage of decomposit ion and decay, and does not worship only youth, vigor and vitality. The aloness, solitude, which is not loneliness, with its negative conno- tation has been cultivated as the way of positive alienation.11 In the death poems, also it is an important under tone, since it makes us aware of the fact that death is the very moment which is essentially experienced by each in- 11 Futing Liao, »Positive Alienation and its Reflection in Taoist Thought,« International Sociology, Vol. 4, No. 1 (March 1989), 5-17. 217 Maja Milcinski dividual alone, without the interaction with the others which characterizes the life. The Japanese attitude towards death, or better, towards acceptance of it in all its manifestations, including the stages of dissolution and decay, has of ten been unders tood wrongly, like certain morbid mysterious and esoteric practice. However, it cultivates the sense of beauty, which is present also in the death poems, based on the equilibrium and equanimity and on subjective fulness of Awareness, born from a specific form of contemplation, which enables a continuity between the inner and outer speech of the poet. This can be experienced only on the basis of enlightenment, a state in which the consciousness has liberated itself from any form of theoretical rumina- tion and has reached the natural simplicity very close to the Daoist practice of wu-wei, the absence of any form of intentional activity, which influenced also their attitude towards death: »1 received life because the time had come; I will lose it because the order of things passes on. Be content with this time and dwell in this order and then neither sorrow nor joy can touch you. In ancient times this was called the 'freeing of the bound ' . There are those who cannot free themselves, because they are bound by things. But nothing can ever win against Heaven - that's the way it's always been. What would I have to resent?«12 Sabi, which in its later development has been connected with simple, rustic utensils for the tea ceremony, can be translated as: »patina; agedness; solitary look; rustic simplicity; the quiet beauty of things in a state of natu- ral decay; active appreciation of the value of things seemingly negative, such as rusticity, agedness, loneliness, deficiency«13 has been cultivated also in the landscape painting. The solitary angler, never seen from the front, enclosed and surrounded in the haze, represents the tranquil beauty of a highly re- alized man and his place in the Cosmos in desolation and solitude, covered with a patina of simplicity. Striking, with the air of naturalness, transcend- ing the notion of what would be called the poverty that is, indifferent to material luxury. In the midst of life but still far f rom others, distanced f rom them, as to be fishing, diving deeply into the ultimate reality holding to it in its suchness. Deeply aware of the fact that when we most badly need a neighbour, we always happen to be alone, he sits in the boat, knowing that the path of discovery has to be walked by each of us alone. What would be called his own Self has been identified with the ultimate reality which left no room for feeling lonely. Everything was one and realizing this, one is not separated f rom anything anymore. In this realm of nonat tachment nothing- 12 Chuang Tzu, The Complete Works, 84-5. 13 Setsuko Kojima arid Gene A. Crane, A Dictionary of Japanese Culture, 278. 218 The Aesthetics of Decay ness became the basis of existence and the distinction of him and o ther disappeared. Knowing his own heart, he was pursuing the activity not yet differentiated into this or that. There he was meeting with original face. With no expectations and hopes from the Other and for the future, the fisherman, solitary angler, knows that it is not the virtue, which is the basis of human relationships, but insufficiency. Virtue being distinctively human and very limited, shaping the temporally agreements that regulate people's coming together, being together and separating during their momentary existence in the flow of eons. With this realization, there is no space for mourn ing and recovery f rom it, since the solitary angler represents the unlimited spiritual richness of the realized man, the quality of satoric aware- ness. Therefore , he is able to place his life in the proper relation to the universe. Leading a solitary life he contemplates the enormity of all things and his own powerlessness. In his embodiment of Wabi-Sabi, he represents the refined poverty and rustic simplicity, the profound aesthetic apprecia- tion of poverty, deficiency, loneliness, agedness. There is nothing to tend to or aim at, no remoteness and no horizons of the future well-being anymore. Still, the mind is directed to infinity, free from frustrations caused by limita- tions, aware of the permanent changes of nature as well as the ones in touch with it. The transience gives the deep appreciation of the life as such, its shortness and each and every moment in it. As the inhabitant of the world of Wabi-Sabi, his state goes beyond conceptualization, beyond being grasped by the words, since it transcends the expression. Subtle intuition gives room for nature to apply patina of age and appreciate all transformations as be- ing each in themselves beautiful. The aesthetics of decay, so well expressed in the Sino-Japanese concepts ofWabi-Sabi(ji), as well as in the tradition of japanese death poems, directs us to the fact that the solution of the existence puzzle is not to be searched for outside, but in our heart-minds. The pure, absolute reality in its suchness, as revealed to the enlightened mind is beyond the distinctions as: beauti- ful-ugly, good-bad, death-life, Wabi and Sabi. Therefore it gives no room for the illusions, since it represents the sobering down from the impoisonment of the existential illusions. Various techniques of achieving harmony and the practices of purification of one's heart formed part of the realm of aesthet- ics in the Sino-Japanese tradition. The individual spirit has been developed by mind-expanding exercises, and the sense of the illusionary Self or Ego has been undercut through the direct experience of the universe and one's place in it. Such a process is developed on a level different f rom the logi- cally-discursive one, which in the Buddhist context gets t ranscended by the switch of consciousness, where the distinctions reveal themselves as illusion- 219 Maja Milcinski ary and arbitrary. Death poems point at the liberation f rom the bonds of death and life by the deep insight into human existence, which is experi- enced on the level where one teaches »with the voice of silence«.14 The initial stage of my research of Wabi-Sabi has been conducted in 1989-90 while I ivas the Japan Foundation Felloiu to which I zvish to express my appreciation. 14 Japanese Death Poems, ed. Yoel Hoffmann (Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle, 1986), 91. 220 Evanghélos Moutsopoulos La création musicale comme expérience esthétique Le champ dans lequel s 'exerce l 'action de la musique a été de tout temps un champ privilégié pour le quest ionnement philosophique, don t l 'aspect esthétique n'est pas le moindre. Nombreux sont les philosophes s'y sont référés et très diversifiées les doctrines qui en ont résulté. Il suffit de ment ionner les noms de Pythagore et de Platon, d'Archytas et de Boèce, d'Augustin et de Thomas, de Leibniz et de Rousseau, sans oublier les my- thes cosmogoniques toujours en vigueur dans diverses religions. J e m'attar- derai sur trois questions majeures résultant de la mise au point du problème, à savoir celles de l ' importance de l 'expérience esthétique en général; de la signification de la création musicale dans ce contexte; et du rôle que l'ex- périence de celle-ci est capable de j oue r dans l 'élaboration d ' u n e axiologie de l 'objet esthétique à la fois crée et savouré, avant de tirer quelques con- clusions relatives à l'évaluation de la contribution du fait musical pour une meilleure compréhension de la créativité, du point de vue esthétique. L'expérience esthétique On désignera d 'emblée la spécificité de l 'expérience esthétique en général par rapport à l 'expérience tout court, en évoquant l 'homologie des structures véhiculées par l 'objet de cette expérience et des structures viscé- rales du sujet contemplateur, qui procure une satisfaction p rofonde dans la mesure où l 'homologie est parfaite, relative si elle est partielle, ainsi que Platon et ceux qui s'en sont directement inspirés l 'ont déjà envisagée1. A l'évi- dence, si une telle homologie est inexistante, une absence de satisfaction, voire une aversion et une répulsion envers l 'objet en résultera. Dans ce cas, il ne conviendrait même pas de parler d 'expérience esthétique, puisqu'elle s'avère complètement négative. Cependant le système de structures viscé- rales réceptives est susceptible de s 'adapter au milieu environnant artistique 1 Cf. Platon, Timée, 80 a-b; Arist. Quintilien, ¿temwi., p. 117 Meibom; cf. E. Moutsopoulos, La musique dans l'œuvre de Platon, Paris, P.U.F., 1959; 2e éd., 1989, pp. 38-44; Idem, La participation musicale chezPlotin, Phitosophia, 1, 1971, pp. 379-389. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 221-200 191 Evanghélos Moutsopoulos et culturel, et de s 'agencer en un ensemble de critères «gustatifs» d 'après lesquels les divers objets esthétiques peuvent être évalués et appréciés. Plus cet ensemble est orienté vers la réception de structures esthétiques particuliè- res à une culture donnée, plus il lui est difficile de s 'adapter à celles qui se rat tachent à une culture différente. Ce même ensemble ne résiste néan- moins guère aux structures esthétiques universellement reconnues et inhé- rentes au grand art. Ces considérations s 'appliquent, certes, à tous les arts, mais tout particulièrement à l 'expérience esthétique musicale. Le langage musical est universel par excellence, tout en ayant la faculté d 'ê t re extrê- memen t spécial à des cultures marginales qui communiquent difficilement entre elles. Une conscience esthétique peu ou mal cultivée peut alors éprou- ver un sentiment de réclusion et afficher une «fin de non-recevoir» vis-à-vis de tout objet esthétique provenant d 'une culture étrangère à la culture (ou, et c'est le cas le plus fréquent , la sous-culture) où elle est ancrée. Cette ré- clusion et cette «fin de non-recevoir» sont même susceptibles d 'affecter des objets esthétiques dont le langage relève de l'universalité propre au grand art, provoquant l ' isolement et le refus de ces consciences esthétiques débi- les à toute ouverture vers d'autres horizons. Dans un souci de fausse dispo- nibilité elles n ' admet ten t que des produits musicaux de facture non pas artistique, mais artisanale, qui affichent un faux-semblant de langage uni- versel, sont privées, en fait, de toute structure et de toute originalité pro- pres aux créations du grand art. Ainsi se perpé tue l 'éternel malen tendu culturel qui fait du grand art, déjà difficile d'accès, l 'apanage de certains esprits créateurs et de certaines élites contemplatrices, et demeure exclu de l ' intérêt, ne serait-ce que limité, dont pourraient bénéficier les masses, en même temps que s'amplifie, en raison d 'une diffusion de plus en plus sou- tenue par une technologie galopante au service d ' une commercialisation sans cesse accrue de l'aspect musical de l 'entreprise du spectacle et de la distraction, une société de consommation indifférente à tout questionne- men t éventuel, et persistant dans son insignifiance béate. On se réjouira néanmoins de constater que ces techniques de production, de reproduction et de commercialisation sont s imultanément mises aussi au service de la grande musique, pour une meilleure diffusion de l'art musical à résonance universelle. La création musicale Ici encore, mention sera faite, au départ , de l 'homologie déjà envisa- gée ent re structures esthétiques viscérales et objectives. La création et la 222 La création musicale comme expérience esthétique contemplation musicales sont les deux aspects complémentaires d ' u n pro- cessus unique dans sa continuité. Dans ce contexte, on admettra que, sur le plan de la création artistique, no tamment de la création musicale, le créa- teur procède, par homologie, à l'objectivation de ses structures viscérales au niveau de l 'œuvre qu'il crée. Ce faisant, il affronte une dialectique aux termes de laquelle il doit éliminer toutes les particularités de ses propres structures internes individuelles tout en cherchant d 'une part à renforcer l 'expression de leurs aspects les plus conformes au langage musical préva- lant, c'est-à-dire les plus universellement acceptés, et, d ' au t re part, à en préserver les traits les plus personnels pour conférer à sa création une mar- que d'originalité, certes, mais surtout l 'expression la plus adéquate de ses propres vécus: dialectique subtile et difficile à respecter, mais nécessaire à l 'écoulement des formes créées vers des consciences prêtes à recevoir son message intime. Universalité et unicité différenciée à l 'extrême demeuren t ainsi les deux pôles entre lesquels le créateur se meut tout au long du conti- nuum créationnel que constituent l'inspiration, la gestation, l 'ébauche, l'or- ganisation, la structuration, la formulation et la finition de l 'œuvre musicale. Chacune de ces étapes se prolonge dans la suivante qui, à son tour, prend ses racines dans celle qui la précède. Un flux incessant les traverse toutes dans les deux sens. On est en présence d 'un mouvement qui rappelle étran- gement le mécanisme de la procession et de Yépistrophénéoplatoniciennes: là aussi, les hypostases se délimitent en entités quasi autonomes, mais sont, par ailleurs, reliées entre elles par leur propre fluidité qui résulte de leur tendance à s 'épancher les unes envers les autres. Toute proport ion gardée, une mobilité semblable se retrouve à l ' intérieur de la conscience du créa- teur, au point que, ne serait-ce que dans des cas rares, la forme définitive de l 'œuvre crée procure de précieux renseignements sur les étapes succes- sives que son instauration a traversées. Tout au long de cette démarche le créateur s 'impose à la fois comme démiurge et comme contemplateur. La Genèse offre déjà, quant à la création ex nihilo, un témoignage de cette dou- ble efficience. Après chaque étape de la création du monde le Créateur s'ar- rête devant sa création: à l'instar de l'artiste satisfait du résultat de son la- beur, «Dieu vit que c'était beau.»2 2 Cf. Idem, Contemplation et création dans l'art religieux, La filosofía cristiana hoy. Primer Congreso Mundial de Filosofía Cristiana, t. 2., Córdoba (Arg.), Univ. Nac. de Córdoba, 1980, pp. 933-942; L'œuvre d'art et son statut de témoignage, Diotima, 18, 1990, pp. 99-100; L'artiste, créateur et critique, Critique et différence, Actes du XVIIIe Congrès de l'ASPLF ( H a m m a m e t , 1990), Tunis, Soc. Tunis ienne des Études Philosophiques, pp. 551-555. 223 Evanghélos Moutsopoulos Au risque d 'ê t re taxé de «platonisme», j 'a i indiqué à diverses reprises et de diverses manières3 comment l'artiste créateur débute par une concep- tion globale (ou très particulière, voire élémentaire4) de l 'œuvre à réaliser et comment , à l 'opposé du Créateur de l'Univers, il y parvient après une longue élaboration de son projet initial. Chez le Créateur divin l'intelligence s'identifie avec la volonté, et celle-ci avec la puissance de réalisation: il suf- fit que le verbe divin soit prononcé pour que la création soit effective et exactement telle qu'elle a été conçue. Il en est tout aut rement pour le créa- teur humain: obligé qu'il est d 'œuvrer laborieusement, il tente, quant à lui, d'arriver à ses fins par une succession d'efforts dont aucun n 'about i t à l'ins- tauration d 'une forme définitive qui représente exactement l 'idée qu'il s 'en est fait initialement; elle en dévie tant soit peu. Dès lors, pour la b o n n e marche de son travail, il doit concevoir, d 'après le résultat de son premier effort, une forme nouvelle dérivée, pour ainsi dire, de la forme initialement conçue et comme son prolongement . A son tour, cette forme dérivée non réalisée pleinement verra, en vertu d 'une nouvelle déviation, une nouvelle dérivée conçue à partir d'elle, et ainsi de suite. Il s'agit en l 'occurrence d 'un problème de maîtrise de la part du créateur: plus il est maître de son art et plus le nombre des dérivées intermédiaires sera réduit. Une nouvelle dia- lectique apparaît ici, aux termes de laquelle le créateur doit à chaque pas osciller entre dogmatisme apriorique et pragmatisme finitif. Ce processus a été admirablement illustré à propos de la musique de Beethovenr ', mais il est également décelable dans d 'autres formes artistiques, no t amment en peinture où l 'examen aux rayons «X» permet de distinguer certaines cou- ches inférieures d 'un tableau recouvertes en raison de quelque »regret« de l'artiste6. Cependant , on tiendra compte également de l ' importance du gé- 3 Cf. entre autres, Vers une phénoménologie de la création, Revue Philosophique, 86, 1961, pp. 261-291; L'expérience esthétique: contemplation et expérimentation, Revue de Synthèse, 1963, pp. 303-305; Alternative Processes in Artistic Creation, Proceedings of the 8th International Wittgenstein Symposium, Part I, Wien, Holder, 1984, pp. 107-113. 4 Cf. Idem, L'imagination formative, ibid., pp. 389-403 et Annales d'Esthétique, 2, 1963, pp. 64-67; Langage et inspiration poétique: le témoignage Valéryen, Recherches sur la Philosophie et le Langage (Grenoble), 11, 1989, Valéry: La philosophie, les arts, le langage, pp. 179-181. 5 Cf. Romain Rolland, Beethoven, à propos des esquisses successives du thème initial de la marche funèbre de VEroica. 6 Cf. E. Moutsopoulos, Les structures de la temporalité chez Watteau, Antoine Watteau, le peintre, son temps et sa légende, Paris-Genève, Champion-Slatkine, 1987, pp. 143-148, notamment pp. 146-147; L'art comme travail et l'artiste comme travailleur, Rotonde, 1971/3, pp. 277-279, et Questionnements philosophiques, t. 1, Conscience et création, Athènes, Hermès, 1971, pp. 327-332. 224 La création musicale comme expérience esthétique nie du créateur: en effet, le créateur génial ne s 'attardera pas à œuvrer la- borieusement sur chacune des dérivées conçues successivement, mais dé- passera d 'emblée cette dialectique en orientant sa création dans une direc- tion carrément inattendue. Ce «coup de génie» risque d 'arrê ter brusque- ment un processus déjà en cours, mais se révèle toujours salutaire pou r l 'œuvre à instaurer qui se voit ex abrupto réalisable sous un autre visage. Les procédés de cette nature sont différenciables à l'infini. Il convient seulement de ne point négliger, parmi eux, des cas extrêmes, tel celui de l ' intégration d'œuvres ou de parties d'œuvres précédentes dans des œuvres nouvelles que l 'on relève chez J.-S. Bach, Beethoven ou Bizet, par exemple. Le composi- teur se rend l ibrement à toutes ces possibilités et opte pour celles qui con- viennent le mieux à la situation particulière qu'il affronte. Néanmoins toute initiative à prendre en l 'occurrence est pour lui un occasion supplémentaire d ' un nouvelle expérience esthétique vécue. À la lumière de ce qui vient d 'être souligné précédemment , le compo- siteur maître de son art aura peu de difficultés à créer une œuvre rigoureu- sement construite. Une fugue, par exemple, suivra un plan de construction savamment élaboré (d'après un modèle quasi définitivement arrêté) , don t l 'unité sera assurée grâce à l'utilisation répétée d 'un thème unique selon les divers procédés dans lesquels on reconnaît le principe d' imitation. En- tre les deux groupes thème-réponse de l'exposition initiale un semblant de divertissement est susceptible d 'ê t re inséré. Par contre, entre deux appari- tions consécutives du thème à des degrés différents de la tonalité choisie, le développement d 'un véritable divertissement est de rigueur. Ainsi des périodes de tension et de relâchement voient le jour alternativement, témoi- gnant de l'objectivation de structures internes dont le compositeur extéri- orise la signification. Il les adapte de son mieux à des structures auxquelles il suppose que ses auditeurs répondront de manière universelle. Il compte sur leur consolidation progressive, d 'après le retentissement qu'elles ont eu préalablement auprès d 'une succession de publics plus ou moins homogè- nes et avant d 'acquérir une portée universelle. L'alternance entre tensions et relâchements se poursuit grâce à la tension extrême que représente la strette avant que l 'œuvre se termine dans l 'apaisement que procure sa so- lution finale. De même, l 'unité de l 'ensemble du premier mouvement de la Symphonie n" 5, en ut mineur, op. 67, de Beethoven, est assurée grâce à l 'em- ploi d ' un motif de tierce descendante rythmiquement scandée par la dou- ble répétition du son aigu initial. Encore plus simple est le motif «ré, ut dièse, ré» auquel Brahms a recours pour construire, à partir de lui, l 'unité formelle de l'Allégro non troppo de sa Symphonie n" 2, en Ré majeur, op. 73, en l'utili- sant de manière aussi bien mélodique que rythmique, afin de le r e n d r e 225 Evanghélos Moutsopoulos moins apparent , mais aussi plus substantiellement consolidant et fixatif de l 'unité de sa composition. Il existe, par ailleurs, des symphonies entières construites sur un seul motif, sur une seule idée qui les transperce et les traverse d 'un bout à l'autre. Le souci d'unité n'est toutefois pas toujours aussi r igoureusement manifeste. Chacun des morceaux dont tout un ensemble de pièces pour piano de Debussy est formé présente une unité certaine en dépit de son manque de forme précise, au sens traditionnel du terme, ou plutôt en dépit de la forme totalement originale qu'il épouse et qui suscite des résonances en t iè rement nouvelles chez l 'audi teur en provoquant le réveil de structures viscérales latentes. En recourant à des structures éprou- vées, mais qu'il renouvelle sans cesse par son originalité, autant qu ' à des structures qu'il découvre lui-même en «violant les symétries»7, au t rement dit en enfreignant des règles établies, le compositeur s'engage dans une suite de découvertes fortuites ou savamment préparées qui sont pour lui autant d 'expériences esthétiques qu'il éprouve personnellement avant de les com- muniquer à son audience réceptive moyennant le caractère structurel uni- versel de son apport. C'est ainsi que progresse et évolue le langage musical qui, lui aussi, se veut universellement compréhensible. L'axiologie de l'objet esthétique Il n'existe pas d 'expérience esthétique qui ne soit une pure évaluation de ce qui est à la fois sa cause et son objet. Tout un système, ouvert à l'in- fini, de catégories esthétiques forme un arsenal de la conscience, disponi- ble à cet effet8. Le compositeur s'en empare dans le but d 'en qualifier les produits de son inventivité, avant de laisser ce soin à ses auditeurs. Tout devient possible sur ce plan grâce à la médiation exercée par les structures universelles objectivées dans une création musicale. Pour sa part, le com- positeur véhicule ses propres structures viscérales dans ses créations qui les véhiculent, à leur tour, jusqu 'aux consciences des contemplateurs où elles suscitent des émotions esthétiques. Cette médiation s'entendrait comme une simple transmission indirecte, n'était-ce l 'œuvre musicale qui, elle, une fois instaurée, existe désormais en soi comme valeur unique et irrépétible qui 7 Cf. Idem, Le viol des symétries et le ta'roscorame métron de l'art, Metrum of Art, Third International Conference on Aesthetics, Krakôw-Przegorzaly, 1991, pp. 13-H37, et Poïésis et Technè. Idées pour une philosophie de l'art, t. 2, Instauration et vibration, Montréal, Montmorency, 1994, pp. 23-27. 8 Cf. Idem, Les catégories esthétiques. Introduction à une axiologie de l'objet esthétique, Athènes, Hermès, 1970; 2e éd. illustrée, Athènes, Arsénidès, 1996, pp. 11-17. 226 La création musicale comme expérience esthétique irradie en toute direction. Elle devient ainsi, dans son ensemble, un objet d 'expérience esthétique non seulement pour l'auditeur, mais encore pour son créateur qui s'y reconnaît d ' une part à un niveau existentiel en se réfé- rant au processus particulier d' instauration qu'il a suivi (creo ergo sum)9, et d 'autre part à un niveau purement ontologique, en raison de l 'assurance (hélas! passagère) que lui procure la présence de la réalité esthétique ins- t au rée , n o r m a l e m e n t des t inée à lui survivre (exegi monumentum aere perennius)10: assurance passagère par le fait que le créateur, son admiration première (elle-même entendue comme un expérience esthétique) pour sa création, vite dépassée, se passionne aussitôt pour une nouvelle expérience esthétique procurée par l'instauration d 'une autre œuvre envisagée dans son ensemble et dans ses détails, aut rement dit par chacune des étapes de sa réalisation. Le créateur d ' u n e œuvre musicale, comme tout créateur, se nourri t des expériences esthétiques répétées que lui offre sa propre activité. Au terme des réflexions qui précèdent il ressort que l 'expérience es- thétique en matière de création musicale résulte, pour le créateur, de l'éla- boration patiente de chacune des parties dont une composition est, coup après coup, constituée, autant que de la contemplation de l 'ensemble; et, pour l 'auditeur, de la découverte de l 'unité de l 'œuvre écoutée autant que de son analyse mentale qui fait réapparaître à rebours la suite des expérien- ces esthétiques particulières qu 'à l 'origine elle a procurées au compositeur par étapes, lors de son élaboration. Cette vision des choses serait privée de sens si on se refusait à admettre, ne serait-ce que comme hypothèse de tra- vail, le principe de l'existence d 'une homologie entre structures viscérales et structures objectives entrevu par Platon11. Ce principe semble pouvoir expliquer à lui seul l'existence indubitable d 'une «dialectique du plaire» telle qu'elle apparaît déjà dans l 'esthétique de Kant12, et qui associe la stricte subjectivité du plaisir esthétique à sa prétention légitime à une validité uni- verselle. 9 Cf. Idem, Vers une phénoménologie de la création, in fine. 10 Cf. Horace, Carmina, III, 30, 1. 11 Cf. supra, et la n. 1. 12 Cf. Kant, Critique du jugement, §§ 31-33; 36-37; 39-40; 56-57. Cf. E. Moutsopoulos, Forme et subjectivité dans l'esthétique kantienne, Aix-en-Provence, Ophrys, 1964; 2e éd., 1997, pp. 85-120. 227 Asanuma Keiji Sens de la matière D'après ce que dit Platon dans «Le Sophiste», le domaine de la tech- nique de production se divise en deux: divine et humaine. Celle-ci se divise elle-même en deux: une partie productive de réalité et les deux parties pro- ductives d'images, dont l 'une est la production de l'«eikon» et l 'autre celle du «phantasme» (265-266). Dans le contexte du «Sophiste», la technique de phantasme est opposé indubitablement à la technique d 'e ikon et donc doit être distingué distinctement de la technique imitative au sens stricte, dont le principe est la similitude entre l 'original et l ' image. Cependant , Platon considère, dans La République, la peinture (un des genres représen- tatifs de la technique imitative), comme l'imitation de ce qui s 'apparaît au sujet, c'est-à-dire l 'imitation de l 'apparence, dont le principe est la simili- tude entre l ' image et l 'apparence (598a-b). L'apparence changerait au gré de l 'attitude d 'un sujet et s 'accompagnerait occasionellement de la défor- mation de l'original ou de l 'addition de quelques qualités arbitraires à ce- lui-ci. S'il en est ainsi, il serait possible de dire que, tout en s'obeissant au principe de la similitude, l ' image contient en elle-même, comme son mo- ment indispensable, quelques qualités arbitrairement ajoutées. Et, en con- séquence de cela, on pourrait dire aussi que la peinture ou la technique imitative en général doit être regardée comme l'imitation de l 'aspect ou de la surface d 'un objet qui s 'apparaît au sujet et, en ce sens, la réduction d ' u n objet à la qualité purement sensible ou esthétique: son image contient déjà en elle-même le moment subjectif. C'est ainsi qu 'on peut supposer deux sortes de l 'imitation: l 'une dont le principe est la similitude entre l 'image et l'original, l 'autre dont le prin- cipe est celle entre l 'image et l 'apparence. Celle-là est l 'imitation au sens étroit et peut être qualifiée aussi de l 'imitation objective, parce que le mo- ment arbitraire en est exclu autant que possible et c'est le principe de l'ob- je t à imiter qui y règne. Dans le cas de celle-ci, il y a de la place pour l'acti- vité subjective, qui a la tendance de devenir vive de plus en plus. Ce qui est imité n'est plus l 'objet lui-même mais l 'objet qui s 'apparaît au sujet ou l'ob- je t qui est incorporé dans la conscience de peintre: la représentation. Le principe de l 'objet n'y est plus dominant et cède sa place graduel lement au Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 229-200 191 Asanuma Keiji principe du sujet, et enfin il y aurait une relation antagoniste entre deux principes: c'est ici qu 'on peut parler de l 'imitation subjective. Bien qu'il soit impossible de supposer en fait l 'imitation qui manquen t totalement au moment subjectif, on pourrait supposer en principe l'imita- tion objective en son état parfait et le simulacre comme son produit. Ayant conscience de quelques qualités sensibles d ' un objet, celui qui perçoit le simulacre aurait peut-être la croyance parfaite qu'il perçoive actuellement l 'objet lui-même. Il lui serait impossible de connaître que la qualité sensi- ble du simulacre a sa base ontique sur l 'autre matière que celle de l'origi- nal, que le simulacre est produit par un autre que celui qui a produi t l'ori- ginal. Or, en se reportant à la classification de l 'imitation que fait Aristote au premier chapitre de La poétique (1447a), on pourrait distinguer trois élé- ments de l 'imitation: les éléments objectif, matériel et subjectif1. Si l'imita- tion est parfaite comme ment ionné tout à l 'heure , celui qui perçoit son produi t (le simulacre) n 'aurai t jamais conscience des éléments subjectif et matériel. En d'autres mots, la disparition phénoménale de ces deux éléments serait la condition indispensable pour l'imitation parfaite ou idéale. Rudolf Arnheim parle, dans son Film als Kunst, que l 'image filmique (das Filmbild) comme matière du film est dangereuse pour le cinéaste, parce qu'elle est trop ressemblante à l 'objet réel2 . Pour lui, l 'art a sa base sur «le sentiment naturel de l ' homme pour la symétrie et la proportion» et n 'est jamais de produire encore une fois ce qui est déjà dans la nature. La fin propre de l 'art est de produire la forme dé-réalisée propre à lui et pour cela il est nécessaire que la matière soit suffisamment caractéristique pour la rélité. C'est à cause de la manque de cette caractéristique que l ' image fil- mique est dangereuse pour le cinéaste. En d'autres mots, l 'anéantisation de la caractéristique de matière ou la transparence de la matière pour l 'objet serait la condition de la coïncidence de l ' image et de l'original; on pour- rait qualifier l'image qui coïncide avec l'original de «simulacre». La matière est devenue transparente pour l 'objet aussi bien que le simulacre est devenu tout opaque pour la conscience du recepteur et ainsi cache le sujet de l'imi- tation derrière lui. Quant au sujet de l 'imitation, il est possible de dire qu'i l doit obéir au principe de l'objet. L' important n 'est pas de se manifester lui- même ou d 'exprimer sa personnalité mais de rendre transparente la matière pour l 'objet. 1 Ce que fait Aristote lui-même est la classification par l'objet, le moyen (la matière) et la manière, mis, parce que la manière est définie par l 'attitude de ce qui imite, il serait possible de la considérer comme l'élément subjectif de l'imitation. 2 Rudolf Arnheim, Film ah Kunst, Rowohlt, Berlin, 1932, S.51-56. 230 Sens de la matière Dans le cas de l 'imitation parfaite ou idéale, c'est-à-dire la technique d 'eikon au sens de Platon, l 'élément subjectif est exclu complètement . Le dévoument du sujet de l'imitation pour l 'objet y serait la condit ion néces- saire et cela signifierait peut-être qu'il y ait la différence ou la distance on- tologique absolue entre l 'objet et le sujet. Et c'est jus tement le cadre fon- damental pour cette espèce de l'imitation. Or, on pourrait supposer un tout autre cadre, dans lequel l ' homme se situe au centre et tous les autres de- viennent l 'être pour l 'homme (das Gegen-stand). Dans ce cadre, la signifi- cation de l 'objet aussi bien que la relation entre l 'objet et le sujet change radicalement: le monde objectif ne se suffie plus en soi et devient ce qui apparaît chaque fois pour le sujet qui se situe (sich einstellen) arbitrairement dans le m o n d e . De plus, en p r e n a n t a r b i t r a i r e m e n t sa pos i t ion (die Einstellung), le sujet incorporerait le monde objectif dans son m o n d e inté- rieur; en d 'autres mots, le sujet voudrait rendre présent (re-présenter) le monde objectif dans son monde intérieur. Ce qui est en question ici, ce n'est pas le monde objectif extérieur à la conscience mais le monde objectif rendu présent (re-présenté) dans la conscience: la représentation. Cela va sans dire que ce nouveau cadre n'est pas approprié à l'imitation idéale. S'il y a encore la possibilité de l'imitation, elle changerait sa caracté- ristique radicalement: au lieu du monde objectif, ce serait peut-être la repré- sentation qui devient son objet. Imiter la représentation, c'est de rendre trans- parente la matière pour la représentation par l'activité du sujet; en d'autres mots, de rendre présent (re-présenter) la représentation pour soi-même et pour l'autrui. Le sujet de l'imitation, subordonné autrefois presque parfaite- ment au principe de l'objet, se manifeste ici et rivalise avec l'objet, et l 'objet de l'imitation, extérieur là au sujet, devient ici la représentation, qui est née de la relation entre objet et sujet et elle-même le produit de l'activité subjec- tive. Ainsi on peut parler de la subjectivation de l'imitation ou l 'imitation subjective: la représentation (la re-présentation de la représentation). L'acte du sujet dans le processus de la représentation pourrait être résumé comme suit: primo, se situer arbitrairement dans le monde, secundo, objectiver la na- ture pour lui, tertio, produire sa représentation propre et enfin, réaliser la trans- parence de la matière pour la représentation. Dans tous les deux espèces de l 'imitation - objective et subjective - , ce qui règne sur le processus fondamental , c'est l 'objet aussi bien que le sujet mais non pas la matière, dont la caractéristique doit être anéantie pour réa- liser la transparence pour deux autres éléments. Comme dit Adorno, «le choix des matières, l 'application et la limitation dans son utilisation, est es- sentiel pour la production»3 , pourtant , au moins en ce qui concerne la 3 Theodor Adorno, Aesthetische Theorie, Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main, 1955, S.222. 231 Asanuma Keiji product ion artistique, on a considéré que la matière n 'ait aucune fonction essentielle. Elle n'est que la difficulté pour la production artistique et l'ar- tiste doit faire son effort pour la surmonter: le produit ne doit pas garder aucune trace de cet effort et, comme dit Kant, il doit être perçu autant que si c 'était le produi t de la nature. Dans la pensée esthétique moderne , la matière a été regardée, en général, comme le support de l 'être de l 'œuvre d 'art , qui n 'ai t pas d 'au t re signification - l 'exemple en est la pensée de Benedetto Croce. Dans ses livres Das Problem des geistigen Seins et Aesthetik, Nicolai Hart- mann a analysé la structure de l'œuvre d 'art comme l'esprit objectivé (der objekt ivier te Geist) et soul igné le rôle i m p o r t a n t de la ma t i è re dans l'objectivation, mais c'est surtout Theodor Adorno qui a donné une toute nouvelle signification à la matière (das Material). Il a vu la spécificité de l 'art moderne (die neue Kunst) dans la forme de la communication de ce qui est incommunicable et voulu l'éclaircir par une relation ironique entre l'esprit et la matière4 . Il est fort probable que tout cela reflète la tendance de l 'art depuis la fin de dix-neuvième siècle jusqu'au présent: artistes dont il a parlé volontiers sont Kafka, Schönberg, Beckett et les autres. Parce qu'il est impos- sible de parler ici de tout cela, citons un seul exemple: l 'œuvre de Monet. En considérant que le réalisme est la reproduction des objets réels dans leur relation significative réique et l 'impressionnisme celle de leur apparen- ces sensibles, quelques chercheurs regardent celui-ci comme le prolonge- men t de celui-là. Il est certain que les peintres impressionnistes ont voulu reproduire la couleur apparaissant à leurs yeux telle qu'elle est. Mais cela résulterait que la couleur, libérée de l'objet, devient la couleur apparente (die scheinbare Farbe). La couleur, enfermée autrefois dans le contour de l 'objet et n 'é tant que son attribut (la couleur locale), déborde maintenant le contour, et le fait fluctuer et enfin s'éffacer. Au lieu de contour, la cou- leur devient de plus en plus le moment constitutif central du tableau, mais, libérée de l 'objet, elle a perdu la base objective et universelle pour l'articu- lation. Comme dit Merleau-Ponty, la couleur est, par sa nature, «une pro- priété de l'objet» et «n'est déterminée que si elle s'étale sur une certaine surface»5 . Ainsi, si le contour s'éfface, il serait très difficile de donner une structure distinctement articulée à la couleur. Lévi-Strauss parle de la néces- sité du prétexte objectif et universel pour l'articulation de la qualité visuelle en même temps que de l'asservissement congénital des arts plastiques aux 4 Ibid., S.292. 5 Maurice Merleau-Ponty: Phénoménologie de la perception, Librairie Gallimard, Paris, 1945, p. 10. 232 Sens de la matière objets". Libérer la couleur de l 'objet et de plus réaliser l 'articulation ayant la base objective et universelle, c'est sans doute très difficile: voici l 'aporie et l ' ironie de la peinture impressionniste. Série de la «Cathédrale de Rouen» ou du «Nymphéa» de Monet. Dans ces tableaux, le contour ou la caractéristique de l 'objet a la tendance de s 'éffacer presque complètement. Monet veut saisir peut-être la couleur en son apparence incessament changeante, qui est, semble-t-il, re tenue à peine sur le canvas par le continu en mosaïque des touches, qui n ' on t pas par eux- même aucune caractéristique objective et ne sont que des taches colorées, simples traces des mouvements de pinceau. Parce que la couleur s 'apparaît ici de la mosaïque des taches colorées innombrables, il faut dire qu 'el le est en elle-même la couleur apparente, dont le rôle est à retenir à son tour des couleurs changeantes apparaissant au sujet. Certes, il est possible d'y discer- ner des figures de Cathédrale ou de nymphéa, mais ces figures ne sont que ce qui s'apparaissent des couleurs, elles-mêmes apparaissantes. Celles-là sont, en ce sens, ce qui sont tissus par ces jeux de couleurs et se différent essen- t ie l lement de celles c o m m e pré tex te au sens de Lévi-Strauss: f igures apparaissantes. Et voici le rôle important de la touche, qui préexiste aux couleurs et figures apparaissantes et les fait apparaître par sa mosaïque. Parce que la couleur - la qualité sensible en général - n'existe pas en soi-même mais co-existe avec beaucoup d'autres qualités, et qu'elle est dans la matière et supportée par elle, faire ressortir la couleur(la qualité sensi- ble) elle-même, cela signifie d 'anéantir l 'être concret de la matière et de la rendre tansparente pour la couleur (la qualité sensible). C'est ainsi que la fonction de la touche deverait être saisie en double sens: rendre transpa- rente la matière pour la couleur et faire fluctuer le contour d 'objet , c'est-à- dire rendre opaque la matière pour l'objet. Dans le cas de l ' imitation objective idéale, les éléments subjectif et matériel doivent être transparents pour l 'élément objectif: la matière ne doit pas y garder aucune trace du travail de peintre. Dans le cas de l ' imitation subjective, le peintre cherche à rendre transparente la matière pour sa pro- pre représentation, pourtant , il est possible que, sans aucune relation im- médiate avec la représentation, l 'état psychique très subtil de peintre laisse sa trace à la matière, que cette trace diminue la transparence pour la repré- sentation. C'est cette trace qui est la touche. Généralement parlant, la touche, en découpant la couleur de la rela- tion objective, contribue à son indépendance en même temps que, comme 6 Claude Lévi-Strauss, Mythologiques, Le cru et le cuit, Librairie Pion, Paris, 1964, p. 27- 28. 233 Asanuma Keiji trace immédiate du mouvement corporel de peintre, dévoile un peu son intériorité ou son inconscient. Ici on peut parler de l 'ambivalence de la touche. Par exemple, en comparaison de quelques tableaux de Van Eyck ou de Rogier van der Weyden, dont la surface est complètement lisse et transpa- rente comme celle de miroir, la surface des tableaux cités de Monet paraîtrait un peurugueuse et opaque. Dans le cas de ceux-là, la matière est complète- men t transparente pour l 'objet et sa qualité sensible, tandis que, dans le cas de ceux-ci, des touches assez grosses dévoilent un peu la caractéristique physique de la couleur à l 'huile, c'est-à-dire la matérialité de la matière. Rendant ainsi la surface opaque, la touche fait obstacle à l ' indépendance de la qualité sensible aussi bien qu 'au dévoilement de l 'intériorité. La tou- che est ambiguë ou contradictoire à soi-même et c'est bien par cela qu'elle dévoile l 'ambivalence de la matière. D'après Nicolai Har tmann, l 'œuvre d 'ar t - l 'esprit objectivé en géné- ral - gagne la durée permanente à cause qu'il est produit de la matière (die Materie), «un moyen réel qui dure (ein dauerhaftes reaies Médium)»7 . La matière est regardée ici comme la base ontique de l 'œuvre d'art . Mais, en même temps, il regarde la matière comme le «principe de la division du domaine (das Gebietsanweisende Prinzip)»; est-il vraiement possible que les genres artistiques soient divisés selon des matières au sens de Har tmann? Il est indéniable qu'il y ait un peu de l 'équivoque dans le concept de la ma- tière chez N. Har tmann, mais ce n'est pas le problème à discuter ici. Or, Et ienne Souriau suppose quatre modes de l 'existence de l 'œuvre d 'ar t : physique, phénoménale , réique ou chosale et transcendante. C'est l'exis- tence phénoménale (les qualités sensibles) qui se rapporte à la division de grands genres artistiques, dont les sous-genres sont définis par la relation avec l'existence réique. Certes, la qualité sensible ne peut pas être comme telle sans le support de l'existence physique, mais il est aussi certain que ce qui est la base de la structure de l 'œuvre d 'ar t et définit sa caractéristique n 'est pas la matière mais la qualité sensible, qui apparaît par le contact de la conscience du récepteur et de la matière formée. Ainsi la matière de l 'œuvre d 'ar t deverait être pris en deux sens: physique ou au sens de Hart- mann et phénoménal ou au sens de Souriau. Celle au sens physique est la base de l 'être de l 'œuvre d'art , celle au sens phénoménal de sa structure. La touche de Monet est, en un sens, le signe de la crise de la peinture moderne , parce que, en faisant fluctuer le contour, elle a exposé la perspec- tive au danger de mort, laquelle était longtemps la base constructive du ta- 7 Nicolai Hartmaria, Aesthetik, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 1953, S.83 u. a. 234 Sens de la matière bleau, tandis que, en dévoilant la matérialité de la matière, elle a rendu la surface de tableau toute opaque pour l 'objet aussi bien que pour la repré- sentation. Le plus important est qu'elle a mis en question la matière, le troi- sième élément de l'imitation, presque négligée longtemps. Et, après cette crise, l 'artiste a été obligé de p rendre n ' impor te quelle att i tude pour la question ainsi posée. Le cheminement de la peinture après la crise, lequel est contenu déjà, comme germe et à l 'état chaotique, dans des œuvres de derniers jours de Monet, serait abrégé comme suit. Premier chemin est de rendre manifeste le moment matériel. Il se di- viserait lui-même en deux suivant deux sens de la matière: l 'un est de ren- dre manifeste la qualité visuelle en elle-même, le sens de l 'art abstrait - ce chemin se diviserait aussi à l 'infini suivant des modes de recherche du pré- texte de l 'articulation visuelle en remplacement de l 'objet - , l 'autre, ren- dre manifeste la matérialité (le caractère physique) de la matière - dans ce chemin, la déconstruction de l'art moderne se poursuiverait le plus radica- lement; par exemple, le sens de dadaïsme ou d'objet. Le deuxième est de rendre manifeste le moment sub jec t i f - dans ce chemin, la relation avec la corporéité serait soulignée et la subjectivité moderne serait radicalement critiquée. Le troisième est de rendre manifeste le m o m e n t objectif - ce chemin ne serait pas le retour à l 'imitation objective ment ionnée ci-dessus mais la recherche de l'objectivité toute nouvelle. Ces chemins s'entrecroi- sent les uns et les autres et forment une relation très complexe. Il serait néces-saire de la décrire en détail en mettant la base sur la situation actuelle artistique, mais ce ne serait pas ici qu'il faille tenter cette discription. 235 Viktor Bychkov Ästhetische Prophezeihungen des russischen Symbolismus Der russische Symbolismus erreichte um 1910 seinen Höhepunk t und hatte zwei Richtungen, die wir bei vielen seinen Vertretern eng miteinan- der verflochten finden: 1. Symbolismus als Kunstrichtung u n d 2. Symbolis- mus als Weltbild, als eine Weltanschauung, eine bestimmte Lebensphiloso- phie. Diese Verflechtung läßt sich bei Vjaceslav Ivanov u n d Andre j Belyj besonders deutlich erkennen, obwohl die zweite bei beiden oft überwiegt. Das ist für den russischen Symbolismus im allgemeinen kennzeichnend. Die wahre Kunst sei immer symbolisch - so lautete die wichtigste Ent- deckung, die vom Symbolismus gemacht wurde. Andrej Belyj sah den Sinn des Symbolismus als einer ästhetischen Theorie darin, daß die Symbolisten »begriffen hatten, daß die Kunst durch u n d durch symbolisch ist«.1 Dabei war das Symbol für die Symbolisten ein polysemisches Phänomen, ein ver- mittelndes Element zwischen der materiellen, sinnlich empf indbaren Welt und der Welt des Geistes, der Noetik. Für Vjaceslav Ivanov waren die Sym- bole keine menschliche Erf indung, sondern eine von Gott ausgehende Emanation, eine Ausstrahlung, die von oben her n iederkommt (also ihrer Herkunf t nach göttlich!); sie seien Zeichen, die Einiges von der göttlichen Wirklichkeit e rkennen lassen. Sie führen ihr selbständiges Dasein u n d ha- ben viele Bedeutungen, die auf verschiedenen Ebenen des Seins u n d des Bewußtseins entsprechend unterschiedlich sind. »Jedes wahre Symbol - so Ivanov - ist eine Verkörperung der lebendigen Wahrheit Gottes«, also eine Realität, ein »wirkliches Leben«, das aber nur »relativ existiert« u n d im Ver- hältnis zu anderen Daseinsebenen nur »relativ ontologisch« (im Verhältnis zu den niedrigeren Ebenen) oder »meonisch« (d.h. »nicht-seiend« im Ver- hältnis zu den höheren) ist. Das Symbol sei eine Mittelgestalt ohne konkre- ten Inhalt, sie diene zur Vermittlung jener Realität, die »bald erglimmt, bald wieder erlischt, ein Medium für durchströmende Erscheinungen Gottes« (II, 646-647) ,2 1 Andrej Belyj's Werke werden nach folgenden Quellen zitiert: 1. Belyj, A. Kritika. Estetika. Teorija Simvolizma. Bd. 1. Moskau, 1994; 2. ibid., Bd. 2; 3. Belyj, A. Simvolizm kak miroponimanije. M., 1994. 2 Die Texte von Vjaceslav Ivanov werden zitiert nach: Ivanov, Vjac. Sobranije socinenij. Brüssel, 1974. In Klammern werden der Band und die Seite genannt. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 237-200 191 Viktor Bychkov Für Andrej Belyj ist das Symbol eine Hülle, die ihr Inneres verschlei- ert u n d vor profaner Eindringung schützt. Das Geheimnis wird nur j e n e n eröffnet, die es verstehen können. Das Symbol sei »ein Fenster zur Ewigkeit« (2, 212) und ein Weg zu dem Symbol (mit dem bestimmten Artikel), un te r welchem Belyj die absolute geistige Realität versteht: En, Christus, Sophia oder Gott überhaupt. Der Symbolismus wird von ihm daher als ein speizftsch geist iges System konzip ie r t , das weit übe r de r Gnoseolog ie u n d de r Ontologie steht und die Entdeckungen beider auf der ästhetischen Ebene synthesiert. Diese Symbolkonzeption Belyjs setzt in vieler Hinsicht, wenn auch unbewußt, die Tradition der Kirchenväter von Alexandria und Kappadozien fort, wo schon in der Spätantike ein umfassendes System des Symbolismus entwickelt wurde, das auf dem von Klemens von Alexandria formulierten Prinzip basierte: »verschleiernd entschleiern«.3 Der Symbolismus als Begriff war für seine Theoretiker mehrdeutig. Das war die Theorie der symbolischen Selbstäußerung der Welt des Geistes durch die Kunst, der Wegm diese Welt des Geistes, im Endeffekt also zu »dem Sym- bol« selbst, und eine besondere Art des Seins zwischen der materiellen und der geistigen Welt. Laut Ellis (L. Kobylinskij) habe der Symbolismus die Methode der »kon- templativen Komprehenz« vollkommen beherrscht sowie auch gelernt , »diese Durst nach dem letzten Geheimnis, diese Sucht nach Grenzenlosem bis ins Höchste zu treiben« (194).4 Die symbolische Leiter der Erkenntnis Stufe für Stufe besteigend, entwickelt der symbolisierende Geist in sich »un- vermeidlich das Streben nach Erkenntnis desjenigen Großen Symbols, das sozusagen das Symbol aller Symbole ist, das sie alle miteinander verbindet und voneinander löst, sie vorbedingt und verursacht. Das Große Symbol hält sie zusammen und bedingt damit auf eine geheime Art und Weise auch sich selbst vor. Jeder Symbolist kennt diese inbrünstige Sehnsucht nach dem Ursymbol; sein leichtes Glimmern ist wahrscheinlich gerade das Leitmotiv zum Aufbau aller anderen Symbole« (194). Die Geschichte der geistigen Kultur im christlichen Raum »kommt wieder he rum an den Ort, da sie anfing«. Nach Jahrhunder ten der Säkula- risierung und der Mode für Naturwissenschaften, Positivismus und Materia- lismus kommt die Kultur - diesmal in ihrem säkularisierten Teil (weltliche Kultur) - im 20. Jh. , am Beginn des Aufschwungs supertechnologischer 3 Mehr vom Symbolismus der Kirchenväter und Byzanz s.: Byckov, V. AESTHETICA PATRUM. Bd. 1, S. 241-243; Byckov, V. Malaja istorija vizantijskoj estetiki. S. 80-92. 4 Ellis wird (mit der Angabe der Seiten) nach folgender Ausgabe zitiert: Ellis. Russkije simvolisty: Konstantin Balmont, Valerij Brjusov, Andrej Belyj. Tomsk, 1996. 238 Ästhetische Prophezeihungen des russischen Symbolismus Zivilisationsprozesse, zur Notwendigkeit eines absoluten Urg rundes des Daseins, eines geistigen Ur-Antriebs der Welt, kurz gesagt zur Notwendig- keit des alten guten Gottes zurück, der in der Sprache der neuen künstleri- schen Reflexie Ursymbol, Großes Symbol oder einfach das Symbol genann t wird. Das ändert nichts an seinem geistigen Inneren. Der Symbolismus ten- dierte - in Person seiner führenden Vertreter im Westen wie in Rußland - zurück zur traditionellen Geistigkeit, wenn auch etwas modernisiert im Sinne der neuen Zeit. Der Symbol ismus stellte, so Belyj, e ine m e h r d i m e n s i o n a l e , poly- phänomenale Welt des geistigen und materiellen Daseins des Menschen als eine Grenzsituation zwischen dem Wesen und seiner Erscheinung, zwischen Leben und Tod, zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft dar. Das Moderne , d.h. das Symbolische - also vor allem die Kunst als Quintessenz des Symbo- lismus - »eröffnet sich der Zukunft entgegen, die sich tief in uns selbst ver- birgt; wir lauschen nach Lebenszeichen des neuen Menschen in uns - u n d wir lauschen nach Tod u n d Verfall; wir sind tot, und das alte Leben verfällt an uns - und wir sind noch ungeboren, unsere Seele ist zukunftsträchtig, décadence und renaissance kämpfen noch in ihr gegeneinander« (2, 222). Für Bely ist der Symbolismus die einzig mögliche Lebens- u n d Denkweise am Grenzpunkt zwischen Leben und Tod der Kultur und der Menschheit selbst. Daraus folgt auch der Inhalt der neuen Kunstsymbole: entweder das Licht, »der endgültige Sieg der wieder auflebenden Menschheit, oder die hoffnungslose Finsternis, Verfall, Tod« (2, 222). So erkannte Belyj schon am Anfang des 20. Jh . das Wesentlichste im geistig-künstlerischen Mythologem dieses letzten Jahrhunder t s unseres Jahrtausends, und er gab ihm diesen allumfassenden Namen: Symbolismus. Die russischen Symbolisten spürten diese innere Widersprüchlichkeit des Symbolismus, als er noch in seiner Blütezeit war; sie sprachen sogar von seiner Krise und sahen darin ein Abbild der allgemeinen Krise der Kultur. Für Ellis bedeutete diese Krise jedoch beiweitem noch keine »Agonie u n d Tod« des Symbolismus, wie es damals viele Kritiker behaupteten. Das wäre dann »der Tod aller Kultur und das Ende jeglichen Ideenlebens, was un- denkbar ist« (279) /' Auch der Ausweg aus dieser Krise wurde von den Sym- 5 Was einem russischen Symbolisten am Anfang des Jahrhunder t s »undenkbar« erschien, sieht am Ende dieses Jahrhunderts durchaus real aus. Die moderne POST- Kultur bietet ein unverkennbares Vorzeichen davon, wenn nicht die Tatsache selbst. (Mehr über die POST-Kultur s.: Byckov, V. Iskusstvo nasego stoletija. In: Kornevisce. Kniga neklassiceskoj estetiki. M., 1998. S. 111-186; Bychkov, V. The art of our century. In: KornewiSHCHe. A Book of Non-Classical Aesthetics. Moscow, 1998. P. 49-164; 194-198. 239 Viktor Bychkov bolisten selbst gefunden, z.B. von Bijusov als Vertreter des »klassischen« (d.h. rein künstlerischen) Symbolismus in seinem Artikel von 1905 (»Das heilige Opfer«) oder von Belyj in mehreren seinen Schriften. Der Ausweg sei: der Ausbruch der Kunst über ihre Grenzen hinaus in das Leben selbst. Der Symbolis- mus soll sich nicht nur als eine literarische »Schule«, sondern vor allem als »Dienst« für die Menschheit auf ihrem Wege zu höheren Ebenen der gei- stigen Kultur und des Daseins im Ganzen verstehen - so lautete das Credo des Symbolismus, das ihm von seinen Autoren schon 1904-05 verschrieben u n d zum Teil (bes. von Andrej Belyj) auch realisiert wurde. V. Ivanov hielt zwei Arten von Symbolismus auseinander: den realisti- schen Symbolismus, der für ihn wesentliche (reale), zeitlose Grundlagen von Dingen und Erscheinungen repräsentierte, u n d den idealistischen, der nur die ästhetisierenden Fantasierereien des Künstlers verkörperte, der sich für die Wesentlichkeiten des Daseins gar nicht interessiert. Der idealistische Symbolismus, d.h. jener, der damals gerade in Westeuropa dominierte u n d von den russischen Symbolisten zum Teil übe rnommen wurde, führe - so Ivanov - zum »großen weltweiten Idealismus«. Darunter sei der immer zu- n e h m e n d e Individualismus, der Subjektivismus und die Ent f remdung der Menschen voneinander, ihr Auseinanderleben als Resultat der »Ablehnung allgemeingültiger Realnormen des Mitdenkens und Mitfühlens« zu verste- hen (553). Jetzt, am Ende des 20. Jh., erkennen wir die Ergebnisse solcher Entwick- lung der humani tären Kultur und die Verwirklichung vieler Mahnungen Ivanovs besonders deutlich. Die humanitäre Kultur und die sich damit aus- einandersetzenden Wissenschaften verwandeln sich in unserer Zeit in vie- ler Hinsicht in ein (konventionelles) »Glasperlenspiel«, das auf ästhetischen Spielregeln basiert, welche ihrerseits von einer oder anderen Gruppe von Getreuen willkürlich festgelegt werden. Da heute aber sogut wie j e d e r ei- gene Spielregeln einführen darf, zerfällt die Gemeinschaft der Künstler und Intellektuellen in unzählige fast hermetisch verschlossene Gruppen u n d Grüppchen, die die »Spielsprachen« der anderen kaum verstehen u n d ei- gentlich nicht verstehen wollen. So weit hat sich also j e n e Kraft heute ent- wickelt, die von Ivanov als »idealistischer Symbolismus« bezeichnet wurde. Für russische Symbolisten hatte nur der realistische Symbolismus eine h i s to r i sche Perspekt ive . Ivanov sah in ihm n i ch t e ine Spie le re i des ästhetisierenden Bewußtseins, sondern ein bewußtes Streben nach der »ob- jektiven Wahrheit des Seins«, und diese Wahrheit liege für ihn im Mythos, der eine höhere Form der Realität als die sinnlich wahrnehmbare Wirklich- keit darstelle (554). 240 Ästhetische Prophezeihungen des russischen Symbolismus Für Andrej Belyj bestand »das Neue« der symbolischen Kunst in der »überwiegenden Präsenz des Alten«, cl.h. der antiken und mittelalterlichen Mystik des Orients sowie auch des Abendlandes in ihr (1, 55; 142-143). Al- les Vergangene sei in die moderne Kunst mit eingegliedert, meint Belyj. »...Wir erleben jetzt in der Kunst alle Epochen und alle Nationen wieder; das vergangene Leben saust vor unseren Augen. Das ist so, weil wir an der Schwelle einer großen Zukunft stehen« (1,143). Dieser Pathos der »großen Zukunft«/ ' den wir auch bei anderen Symbolisten sowie bei vielen Vertre- tern der russischen Avantgarde und der »religiösen Renaissance« der Jahr- hundertwende erkennen, ergab sich ausjener geistig-religiösen Ausrichtung der Kultur und Kunst, die damals wiederentdeckt und in vieler Hinsicht neu konzipiert wurde. Kurz vor Beginn der stürmischen Welle des antireligiösen wissenschaftlich-technischen Fortschritts und des allumfassenden Konsum- terrors des 20. Jh . sahen viele Vertreter des »silbernen Jahrhunderts« (Belyj, Kandinskij, Florenskij waren darin einig) neue Perspektiven der geistigen Kultur vorwiegend in einer neuen Vereinigung von Kunst u n d Religion (ob traditionell oder neu konzipiert, spielt ggf. keine Rolle). Der Postmodernismus, der in der europäischen und amerikanischen Kultur der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jh. dominiert, kann hier stolz vermerken (und tut das oft auch), daß sich alle Kulturen und Künste der Vergangen- heit in ihm vereinigt, vermischt und verflochten haben, und zwar in einem höheren Maße und mit viel größerer Freiheit und Fantasie als im Symbolis- mus (natürlich). Der Pathos des künftigen geistigen Wiederauflebens der 6 Man soll jedoch nicht vergessen, daß sich dieser »Pathos« bei Belyj aus seinem anhal tenden Gefühl einer globalen Krise (einer Umwendung) der Kultur, des Weltbildes, des Bewußtseins und des menschlichen Lebens überhaupt entwickelte, was sich in seinen apokalyptischen Prophezeihungen und Stimmungen, bes. in der Zeit des 1. Weltkrieges, deutlich erkennen läßt (s. seine vier »Krisen« - »Die Krise des Lebens«, »Die Krise des Denkens«, »Die Krise der Kultur« und die etwas später geschriebene »Krise des Bewußtseins«) .J. Niva sieht den Kern und das Haupträtsel des gesamten Schaffens von Andrej Belyj überhaupt in seiner »apokalyptischen Weltauffassung« (Istorija russkoj literatury. XX vek. Serebrjanyj vek. S. 110). In seinen »Aufzeichnungen eines Sonderlings« erzählt Belyj z.B. die apokalyptische Vision, die er in s e ine r J u g e n d in e ine r Kirche zu Os te rn e r leb t u n d s p ä t e r im anthroposophischen Sinne symbolisch interpretiert hat: »Als ob die Kirche mit einer Wand ins Nichts fiel; ich sah das Ende (meines Lebens oder der Welt? - weiß ich nicht), als ob der Weg der Geschichte mit zwei Kuppeln endete: eine Kirche - und die Menschenmassen, die dahinströmten; als ob Abgeordnete der ganzen Menschheit, in Glanz und Bysson gekleidet, dehnten sich aus, durch Klang und Farben, ins alles beendende Nichts« (Belyj, A. Zapiski cudaka. Bd. 1. Berlin, 1922, S. 96). Mehr über die Apokalyptik im Belyj's Symbolismus s. Cioran, S. The apocalyptic symbolism of Andrej Belyj. The Hague, 1973. 241 Viktor Bychkov Kultur, den wir bei Symbolisten erkennen, wurde im Postmodernismus je- doch mit einer alles ze rmürbenden Ironie oder einem bewußt zukunfts- indif ferenten Herumspielen des ästhetisierenden Bewußtseins mit allen Formen der f rüheren Kulturen und Künste ersetzt. Das Jahrhunder t ist (wie auch die ganze Kultur) alt geworden und hat die Träume und Hof fnungen seiner Jugend gelassen. Eine besondere Aufmerksamkeit genossen bei Symbolisten verbale Symbole, die als Träger der Energie der von ihnen symbolisierten Archety- pen verstanden wurden. Viele große russische Symbolisten waren da einer Meinung. Sie wandten sich an alte Zaubersprüche und magische Formeln, um die sakrale Magie des Symbols (vor allem des verbalen Symbols) in ih- rem Schaffen wieder zu beleben. A. Belyj ist überzeugt, daß das Aussprechen des Namens eines Gegenstandes seine ontologische Realität, sein Dasein bestätigt. Das erforder t eine besondere Sensibilität gegenüber dem sprach- lichen Element des Verbalsymbols und zu den Neologismen. Belyj wieder- holt seine Gedanken über die magische Kraft des Wortes, über das Wort als »Beschwörung der Dinge«, als »Evokation Gottes« mehrere Male, um uns seine reale Vorstellung von der starken Energie des Wortes zu vermitteln: sie läßt sich nicht verbalisieren, bezaubert aber j eden Lyriker und überhaupt j eden , wer die Gabe der poetischen Empfindung der Welt besitzt. Im gleichen Sinne sei auch Belyj's Worte zu verstehen, daß »das Ziel der Poesie die Erschaffung der Sprache« sei; »die Sprache ist das Schaffen der Lebensverhältnisse selbst«, d.h. ein Durchbruch durch den Rahmen der Kunst als solchen in den Bereich des realen Lebens, ein Ausbruch über die Grenzen der reinen Ästhetik hinaus - davon ist Belyj fest überzeugt. In die- sem Falle wird sogar ein »zielloses Spiel mit den Wörtern« sinnvoll: »die Vereinigung von Wörtern unabhängig von ihrem logischen Sinn miteinan- der ist das Mittel, mit dem sich der Mensch vor dem Drang des Unbekann- ten schützt« (1, 234). Belyj äußert damit einen für die damalige Zeit eher erstaunlichen, aber trotzdem prophetischen (sogar hellseherischen) Gedan- ken, in dem das Credo der im 20. Jh. praktisch dominant gewordenen Rich- tung der künstlerischen Kultur formuliert wird. Schon ein paar Jah re spä- ter f indet dieses Prinzip in Rußland (von Belyj's Konzeption zwar fast unab- hängig) eine aktive Verwendung in der Literatur, und sehr bald erreicht es seinen logischen Maximum in der Paradoxie von Krucenych, Burljuk, Chlebnikov und anderen Futuristen (in ihrer skandalös berühmten »zaum« - »Klügelei«)7; erst in den 30-er Jahren wird dies alles zwangsläufig unter- 7 Das klassisch gewordene Vers »Dyr bul scyr« von Krucenych wurde Ende 1912 aus völlig »unbekannten« Wörtern zusammengestellt. Mehr vom Einfluß A. Belyjs auf die Experimente russischer Dichter im 1. Drittel unseres Jahrhunderts siehe u.a. den 242 Ästhetische Prophezeihungen des russischen Symbolismus bunden. D. Charms und die OBERIUten waren die letzten in dieser Reihe.8 Im Westen wurden solche Praktiken von Dadaisten und Surrealisten aktiv erprobt , und später wurden sie von der Literatur des »Bewußtseinsstroms« und vom »absurden Theater« weiter getragen. Andrej Belyj hat dieses glo- bale Prinzip der modernen Kunst als einer der ersten formuliert - u n d als einer der ersten zu verwenden begonnen, zuerst mit Vorsicht, in seinem Schaffen in den ersten Jahren des 20. Jh. Kein Zufall, daß moderne Literatur- theoretiker ihn als einen »Vater des Futurismus«'-' und Vorläufer des »mo- dernistischen« Romans bezeichnen, in einer Reihe mit James Joyce.10 In seiner Spätzeit versuchte Belyj das Symbol sogar als die dritte, in-die- Tiefe-gehende Dimension des Dogmas (im allgemeinen u n d nicht nur im religiösen Sinne) im Geiste des anthroposophischen Astralgeometrismus zu konzipieren:11 »...im Symbol ist das Dogma kein Kreis, sondern ein aus der Spiralbewegung entstehender Drehkegel; die Evolutionslinie wird in diesem Kegel des Dogmatosymbols mit der Kreisebene und den in sie eingeschriebe- nen Figuren gebildet, die von einem einzigen, als erster vorgegebenen Punkt ausgeht und immer höher steigt... Alle Punkte aller Linien dieser Kreise und Ebenen strömen mit der Zeit und schwellen langsam an; in der ursprüngli- chen Spitze des Kegels ist der Augenblick der Ewigkeit konzentriert ; das Licht erfüll t den ganzen Kegel - und jagt, und plagt das Dogma in seiner Drehbewegung, u n d das Dogma flieht, u n d zieht, und eröffnet sich in den Inkarnationen der Zeit. Der Symbolismus ist die Tiefe des Dogmatismus und das Wachstum der dogmatischen Wahrheiten« (3, 292). Diese exstatische Theorie des russischen Anhängers der Anthroposophie, der sich erst von einer meditativen Trance erholt hat, sieht wie eine sinnlose magische For- mel aus (obwohl sie logisch durchdacht und mit einer graphischen Zeich- n u n g belegt ist), enthält aber j e n e wunderbare Magie der Worte (seine poetische Glossolalie), die Belyj als Theoretiker so oft propagierte und als Praktiker sehr gut beherrschte. Ihre scheinbare Sinnlosigkeit beinhaltet in interessanten Artikel: Ivanov, Viac. Vs. O vozdejstvii »esteticeskogo eksperimenta« AndrejaBelogo (V. Chlebnikov, V. Majakovskij, M. Cvetajeva, B. Pasternak) in: Andrej Belyj. Problemy tvorcestva. Statji. Vospominanija. Publikacii. M., 1988, S. 338-366. 8 Genauer davon s. bei: Jacquard, J.-F. Daniii Charms i konec russkogo avangarda. St. Pb„ 1995. ,J S.: Chizhevskii, D. Anfänge des russischen Futurismus. Wiesbaden, 1963, S. 9. 10 Mehr davon: Woronzoff, AI. Andrej Belyj's »Peterburg«, James Joyce's »Ulysses« and the Symbolist movement. Bern, 1982; Weber R. Der moderne Roman: Proust, Joyce, Belyj, Woolf und Faulkner. Bonn, 1981. 11 Vgl. die Versuche R. Steiners, die Urbilder der Kunst als geometrisierte geistige Konstruktionen zu beschreiben (seine Vorlesung zum »Wesen der Künste«, u. a. in: Steiner, R. Iz oblasti duchovnogo znanija, oder antroposofii. M., 1997, S. 336 ff.). 243 Viktor Bychkov Wirklichkeit den Schlüssel zu der großen Welt der Kunst der geometrischen Abstraktionen, die bei der russischen (sowie auch von der westlichen) Avant- garde als Kubismus, Futurismus, Kubofuturismus, Suprematismus, Strahlen- kunst, Kinetismus usw. ihren Ausdruck fand. Ob sich Belyj dessen selbst bewußt war, ist heute schwer zu sagen; wir f inden in solchen seinen Theori- en-Formeln jedoch j e n e tiefen Grundlagen, auf welchen viele Avantgardi- sten am Anfang des 20. Jh. ihr praktisches künstlerisches Schaffen aufbau- ten. Zu einer spezifisch russischen Besonderheit des Symbolismus wurde die Theorie der Theourgie als Grundprinzip der zukünftigen Kunst. Der Begriff Theourgie (griech. theourgia - göttliches Werk, sakraler Ritus, ein Mysteri- um) hatte im Altertum den Sinn eines sakral-mysterialen Verkehrs mit der Welt der Götter im Prozeß bestimmer Ritualhandlungen. V. Solovjov ver- stand die Theourgie als eine uralte »substantielle Einheit des von der My- stik begeisterten Schaffens«, und ihr Sinn bestand für ihn in der Vereinigung des Irdischen und des Himmlischen im Akt des sakralen Schaffens. Eine b e s o n d e r e B e d e u t u n g maß er der künf t igen Entwicklungsetappe de r Theourgie bei, die er als »freie Theourgie« oder »integres Schaffen« bezeich- nete. Das Wesentlichste dieser Etappe lag für ihn in einer bewußten mysti- schen »Kommunikation mit der höheren Welt durch das innere Schaffen« auf der Grundlage einer organischen Einheit der wichtigsten Bestandteile des Schaffens überhaupt , d.h. der Mystik, der »schönen Künst« u n d des »technischen Wirkens«. Diese Vorstellung von der Theourgie fand bei Sym- bolisten sowie auch bei den meisten religiösen Denkern Anfang des 20. Jh . in Rußland einen aktiven Widerhall. V. Ivanov verwies ganz besonders auf den Gedanken von V. Solovjov, daß die Kunst der Zukunft eine neue freie Beziehung zur Religion herstel- len soll. »Die Lyriker und die Maler«, schrieb er, »sollen wieder Priester und Propheten werden, nur aber in einem wichtigeren, im erhabeneren Sinne: sie sollen nicht nur von der religiösen Idee beherrscht sein, sondern auch selbst diese Idee beherrschen und ihre irdischen Verkörperungen bewußt lenken«. Gerade solche Künstler werden von Ivanov Theourgen, Träger der göttlichen Offenbarung genannt . Sie seien die wahren Mythosmacher, die Symbolisten im höchsten Sinne des Wortes. Auch Andrej Belyj schenkte der Theourgie als höchste Etappe des Schaf- fens, als Erschaffung des Lebens mit Hilfe der göttlichen Energie der Sophia und des Ursymbols eine große Aufmerksamkeit. Bis zu seinem Lebensende blieb er seinem künstlerischen und menschlichen Credo treu: Der Symbolis- mus habe den Sinn der menschlichen Geschichte und Kultur als theleologisches Streben nach Verkörperung des transzendenten Symbols im realen Leben eröffnet. 244 Ästhetische Prophezeihungen des russischen Symbolismus Eine sehr klare und deutliche Definition der Theourgie f inden wir bei dem russischen Philosophen Nikolaj Berdjajev in seinem Buch »Der Sinn des Schaffens: Versuch einer Rechtfertigung des Menschen« (1912): »Die Theourgie schafft nicht die Kultur, sondern ein neues Dasein, die Theourgie ist über jegliche Kultur erhaben. Die Theourgie ist eine Kunst, die einer anderen Welt, einem anderen Sein, einem anderen Leben u n d Schönhei t eine Existenz verleiht. Die Theourgie überwindet die Tragödie des Schaf- fens und zielt die schöpferische Energie auf ein neues Leben auf.« Jegliche traditionelle Kunst und Literatur, j ede Teilung des Schaffens f indet in der Theourgie ihr Ende; mit ihr endet die traditionelle Kultur als Menschen- werk und beginnt die »Superkultur«, weil die Theourgie ein »Zusammen- wirken von Mensch und Gott« sei, also »ein göttliches Schaffen, ein gott- menschliches Werk«. Viele russischen Symbolisten sahen den Sinn des Sym- bolismus und sein Endziel - die Theourgie - gerade darin. Das 20. Jh . gab uns bisher, wie es scheint, noch keinen unzweideutigen Beweis, daß die Symbolisten und die russischen Religionsphilosophen recht hatten. Es wäre m.E. aber viel zu früh, ihre Prophezeihungen u n d Hoffnun- gen zu vergessen. Die Krise der Kultur, die so viele Vertreter des »silbernen Jahrhunderts« der russischen Kultur ganz deutlich gespürt hat ten, ging tie- fer und weiter, als es sich die optimistischsten unter ihnen hat ten vorstel- len können. Laßt uns jedoch hoffen, daß sie ein Übergang u n d kein Unter- gang ist. 245 Jožef Muhovič Art <-> Aesthetics Philosophy I. Introduction The issue discussed in this contribution is the logic of relations between art, aesthetics and philosophy in their practical, everyday interactions, which is, in my opinion, a topical question for two reasons at least. First, because the postmodern era, oscillating between the cult of the radical distinction between phenomena and the opposing cult of their pragmatic (con) fusion, is itself calling out for an appropriate answer. And second, as an individual engaged in art theory and practice, I am interested in the logical conditions under which art, aesthetics and philosophy can — if at all — mutually support and inspire one another in establishing the most direct contact with reality, which is their »subject«, without losing their autonomy.1 II. Exposition: Mini-definitions A fundamenta l step in studying relations is the identification and defi- nition of their constitutive elements. And this is already the first crucial problem encountered in exploring the relations between art, aesthetics and philosophy. It is generally known that, because of their nature and com- plexity, a single and ultimate definition of these fields is no t possible. But if I am to proceed, I have no other choice but to risk some elementary defini- It is certain that by far the most competent individual for enlightening the issue discussed would be someone who is equally talented, educated and creative in all three fields, i.e. in the arts, philosophy and aesthetics, in the deepest sense of these words. Despite having studied all three fields, I do not fee! entirely qualified to fulfil this criterion, as I am creatively active only in the fine arts. And so, in attempting to explore the logic of relations between art, aesthetics and philosophy, I have consciously or unconsciously resorted to certain professional apriorisms and thus my view of the problem will most likely appear biased. Nevertheless, there are two reasons why I dare to present my personal conclusions to the public. The first is that I shall explicitly support my findings, allowing others to verify them at all times. And second, I consider a public presentation to be the best opportunity to have my views made more complex or rejected, with arguments, of course. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 247-200 191 Jožef Muhovič tions of these three fields. In spite of all the dangers involved. In order to capture the phenomenon as a whole and present its essence in a few words or sentences, it will be necessary to make reductions, simplifications and arbitrary syntheses, all of which can easily lead to vague, incomplete or over- simplified results. Nevertheless, I dare to ask (myself): What are the elementary charac- teristics of the p h e n o m e n a designated by the terms »art«, »aesthetics« and »philosophy«? 1. Art If one disregards all the particularities - stemming from means of ex- pression, technical procedures and ways of thinking - which make artistic phenomena and fields distinguishable, one may draw two maximally gener- alized conclusions: (a) art is the articulation and activation of thoughts and emotions with the mediation of sensual equivalents adapted to them, and (b) works of art are systems of organized sensations (A. A. Moles) provoking symbolic reactions when experienced. Both generalizations show art as a special »form of operating with experience« (L. A. White), whose goal is to make experience intelligible simultaneously on the sensual, emotional and spiritual levels, and thus help man to holistically adapt to his environment. However, there are two preconditions for such operating with experience: (i) practical sensual cognition, and (ii) effective »communication« between sensual recognizability and conceptional abstraction. (i) In art, the creation of forms to represent the artist's experience and touch the thoughts and emotions of the public is always an act based on sensations. Yet this act cannot be realized without a knowledge of the principles on which the production and organization of sensadons employed by a specific branch of art is based. For this reason, a work of art is always the result of the level of knowledge of such principles and the effectiveness of their application in practice. Its contents are not only the contents of the artist's thoughts and emotions, but also sensual cognition itself. O n e may therefore say that art is the expression of thoughts and emotions by means of sensual cognition, and that this fact is the basic element for its definition. (ii) If one of the determining characteristics of art is expressing spir- itual contents through mediation of the sensual, it is also evident that such expression can only function if art disposes with the means and methods enabling the effective »translation« of the sensual into the spiritual and vice-versa. Practice has shown that art masters such translation superbly. Even more: its artefacts are nothing short of exemplary and inspirational 248 Art <-> Aesthetics <-> Philosophy prototypes of the translation of the empirical into the conceptual and ideas into reality. In addition to the characteristics stemming from the reflections made, artistic phenomena have many other characteristics and aspects which will not be considered here. But since the articulated characteristics should not, in my opinion, be missing in any phenomenologically consistent descrip- tion of the differentia specifica of art, I shall take the liberty to make the following mini-definition: art is the expression of thoughts and emotions by means of sensual cognition; the operational form of such expression is the development of spiritual contents into an artistic form with the purpose of articulating human experience in a poetical way, simultaneously adapted to the sensual, emotional and intellectual abilities of man. 2. Aesthetics It is generally known that aesthetics was born as a philosophical disci- pline in the mid 18th century f rom the desire of systematic philosophy to cover one of the great white blurs on the map of its reflections - the sphere of the sensual. A. G. Baumgarten introduced this discipline as a philosophi- cal theory of sensual cognition (scientia cognitionis sensitivae), considering it to be, together with logic, an essential propedeutic discipline of theoretical and practical philosophy.2 His fundamenta l idea, inspired by the enlighten- ment, was that conceptional and sensual cognition are two separate and independent areas governed by their own unique principles and rules, and thus must be treated equally by philosophy. He developed his aesthetics in order to study, in a philosophical way, the sensual so ignored in the past, and use it to explore the immanent laws of the sensual in a similar way as logic reveals the laws of thought. The fundamental concept of Baumgarten's analyses of the sensual is »beauty« as the representative of the most perfect form and highest level of sensual cognition. And because it is generally believed that, in art, beauty appears in the most purified and perfect forms, for Baumgarten this meant that his aesthetics, as the »fundamental analysis of the beautiful«, is eo ipso also the theory of art. Hence, Baumgarten's aesthetics is, at its core, »dualistic«. On one side it is a philosophical theory of the sensual and sensual cognition, and on the other a philosophical theory of the beautiful and of art as an activity of creating beauty. The subsequent development of aesthetics grasped both concepts, continuing to develop them always in close connection with cur- rent philosophical debates. 2 Cf. Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, Aesthetica, Frankfurt a. d. Oder, 1750, § 1 - 3 (reprint lat./ger. Hildesheim 1961). 249 Jožef Muhovič My mini-definition: aesthetics is a philosophical theory of sensual cog- nition in the broadest sense of the word, and considering the fact that art is »expressing through sensual cognition«, also a philosophical theory of art, or, more precisely, a theory of the philosophical aspects of art. Bound by its subject to the sensual, and by its methodology to the high conceptual ab- straction of philosophy, aesthetics operates at the intersection of the spheres of interest of two key human cognitive abilities: perception and thought. This location allows it to study their interactions »on its own skin« and treat them »from the inside«. 3. Philosophy The problem of defining philosophy lies in its nature, in the fact that it is no t possible to once for all define neither its subject (as the subject of philosophizing may literally become everything that exists) nor its universal methodology (as each new approach to philosophizing is ipso facto an in- vention of a new methodology) ,3 Philosophical speculation begins with the notion of »being« (Sein) and its strong distinction from the notion of »the existent« (Seiendes). Only when an awareness of the unity or oneness of being awakes in connection with a multi tude of the existing does a specifically philosophical way of thinking about the world occur. But this thinking continues to remain linked to the sphere of the existing for a considerable time. The beginning, origin and foundat ion of the being is sought in the sphere of the existing. For philoso- phy, the particular must not remain particular, but should be included as a functional part in a certain whole, in a certain universal form of law and order. Therefore, the fundamental philosophical question is how to identify and articulate in notions the being and essence of the existing. Since, con- trary to existence, being and essence do not present themselves directly, and because the hidden foundation of a thing must be revealed by a spe- cific activity, philosophy can only arrive at an answer by developing various cognitive strategies. In addressing the question of the being and essence of the existing, philosophy has developed (and continues to develop) many concrete answers. A close look at their logical structure will reveal that all 5 From this aspect philosophy, in contrast to other sciences, does not dispose with a fund of generally accepted and conclusive knowledge, or with a specific "introduction to the profession" in the usual sense of the word. More precisely see for example Albrecht Wellmer, Adorno, Anwalt des Nich-Identischen. Eine Einführung, in A. Wellmer, ZurDalektikvon Moderne und Postmoderne (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 51993), p. 135 ff. 250 Art <-> Aesthetics <-> Philosophy these answers are, in a certain sense, the fruit of three macro-strategies which have developed through the long history of philosophizing. I will adopt W. Welsch's approach and call them metaphysical, modernistic and postmodernistic, a n d , as Welsch has d o n e , e m p l o y the n o t i o n s aesthetisation a n d anaesthetisation4 to illustrate them. The metaphysical macro-strategy is defined by the belief that the hid- den foundat ion of the existing can only be discovered by peeling off as thoroughly as possible its sensual, aesthetic shell. Thus, by means of deaesthetisation, which directs us from the sensual to the transcendental, f rom aesthetic (i.e. material, physical, sensual) to anaesthetic (i.e. nonsensual, reflective, spiritual). The metaphysical model attempts to maximize the dif- ference between the sensual and the transcendental, which is why the predi- cates of the transcendental sphere (non-movable, non-changeable, non- spatial, non-temporal, etc.) are in all cases the negative predicates of the sensual sphere. This is also one of the traps of the metaphysical model.5 - On the other hand, the modernistic strategy announces a completely differ- ent model: aesthetisation. The being and essence of the existing can not be reached by eliminating the sensual, but, on the contrary, by intensively ex- ploring its multiformity, by »attempting to penetrate through it« (but never successfully, due to the exclusiveness of a single direction and a single man- ner of such penetration). - The present-day postmodernistic strategy is seek- ing new ways of revealing the being and essence of the existing by function- ally linking both models in order to avoid their traps. Its maxim is: to graft the anaesthetic on the aesthetic0 and »the whole only via difference«.7 Therefore, I may briefly summarize my view of the action range of philosophy as follows: philosophy is a reflected contemplation of the being and essence of the existing, which, in its plurality, appears as the insepara- ble unity of the aesthetic and the anaesthetic. The goal of philosophy is to explore the logic of this unity and the conceptual integration of the par- ticular into a universal whole. Philosophy attains this goal by methodically questioning the existing and the known. 4 Cf. Welsch, Ästhetisches Denken (Stuttgart: Philipp Rec l amjun . Verlag, 1990), pp. 23- 30. 5 Ibid., p. 25. 6 Ibid., pp. 110-111. 7 Cf. Wolfgang Welsch, Unsere Postmoderme Moderne (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 41993), pp. 60-63. 251 Jožef Muhovič III. Topology of the Interactive Space 1. Context and its elements As incomplete as the definitions of art, aesthetics and philosophy given above may seem, they nevertheless point to an interesting situation. They make it perfectly clear that, in spite of all of their radically different objec- tives and methods, art, aesthetics and philosophy have a recognizable com- mon denominator: all three deal in one way or another with the relation between the aesthetic and the anaesthetic. - In my opinion this very fact is the proper basis for fur ther reflection. In other words, one could say that the working space of art, aesthetics and philosophy is the interaction area of the aesthetic and the anaesthetic. There- fore, I shall first attempt to show how this interaction area is manifested in man as the creator of these arts and sciences. - Man, says J. Huxley, is the indivisible and simultaneous unity of matter and spirit." This means that he lives at the intersection of two worlds and that man himself is the intersection of these two worlds: a closed material world, determined by physical impulses and determinisms, and an open, spiritual world, governed by the conceptual flexibility of the mind (intellect) and the liberty to make decisions (will). The first world existentially attaches man to »physics« or »aesthetics« (i.e. to the material and sensual objects and phenomena of the real world), while the second links man to »metaphysics« or »anaesthetics« (i.e. to phenomena founded on experience, such as substance, principle, essence, rule, law, etc.). This attachment makes man existentially unable to abandon neither the material nor the spiritual dimension of reality which he feels inside him, but even more, he extrapolates them to the external world and recognizes them as equal and equivalent parts of the whole comprised of the world and the universe. Man's existence is dependant on the functional cooperation of these two worlds, as the spirit can only constitute itself on a »background« of the material and the sensual, while the material and the sensual can only become humane reality when animated with the spiritual. In man, the relation between the aesthetic and the anaesthetic presents itself in concrete form through man's activities. From this aspect one could say that art, aesthetics and philosophy are nothing more than operational forms of exploring relatio n s between the aesthetic and the anaesthetic, adapted to their specific goals: (a) art is a form of exploring relations between form and content, (b) aesthetics is a form of exploring relations between percep- 8 Cf. Julian Huxley, Essays of a Humanist (London: Penguin Books and Chatto & Windus, 1964), p. 43. 252 Art Aesthetics <-> Philosophy tion and cognition, and (c) philosophy is a form of exploring relations be- tween material and spiritual reality. My fundamenta l question is, how do the particularities of these three forms of exploring relations between the aesthetic and the anaesthetic in- fluence their behaviour in practical everyday interactions? Due to the vital- ity and complexity of the three spheres, a conclusive answer to this question is evidently impossible. But it is perhaps possible to identify a certain basic logic of their interactions, both those that have become historical facts and those still slumbering in the potencies of their natures. For this purpose I will at tempt to enlighten the following relations: (a) philosophy <-» aesthet- ics, (b) aesthetics <-> art, and (c) art philosophy. 2. Philosophy <-> Aesthetics Of those mentioned, this relation is probably the most comprehensible and least problematic. It is an easily proven fact that, from the very begin- ning, even before acquiring its present name, aesthetics was a philosophical discipline in the full sense of the word. This means that it has always ap- proached its »subjects« (the sensual, beauty, art) in a philosophical way, with the help of philosophical concepts, and in consonance with the current philo- sophical debates. This, of course, has its consequences. - Every science, in- cluding philosophy, has developed a specific corpus of fundamental concepts for the purpose of studying those contents within the sphere of its interest. Thus, when a certain science throws the net of its concepts beyond the reality it is studying, it can catch only those contents which its concepts are able to identify and its specific terminology capable of expressing (Wittgenstein). For aesthetics as a philosophical discipline, this means that it is capable of catch- ing only the philosophical aspects of the realities studied. And, of course, reali- ties have many more, equally significant aspects. 3. Aesthetics <-» Art The relation between aesthetics and art is more complex and compli- cated, primarily because this is still an open relation. It may be approached f rom two aspects dictated by the very history of aesthetics. As already mentioned, aesthetics was not born of any special love of philosophers for art, but of their love for philosophy. The purpose of its interest in art was to develop and test philosophical themes and problems, because philosophy discovered that art was, f rom its viewpoint, an excellent »modelsphere of reality« in modern philosophical terms." One aspect of the 9 Cf. Welsch, Ästhetisches Denken, pp. 111-113. 253 Jožef Muhovič relation between aesthetics and art is the inclination of aesthetics towards philosophy: with the help of aesthetics in art, philosophy is searching for a path to itself. The second, also historically documented, but much weaker aspect of this relation is the inclination of aesthetics towards art, a t rend announced by Schiller10 and Nietzsche, which, in modified form, has extended into our period: aesthetics should stop being the maidservant of philosophy and should devote itself more intensively to its subject. a. Aesthetics as a »philosophy via art« There are several reasons why, for many philosophical strategies, art is an extremely useful »modelsphere of reality«. I shall mention only two, in my opinion, key reasons. The first is that art does not explore the relation be- tween the aesthetic and anaesthetic in a theoretical way, but establishes it in practice-, in its highest achievements, art even managed to establish such re- lations in an exemplary (archetypical), purified (catharsis) and holistic way, again and again, and employing extremely plural solutions. In this respect art often is, for philosophy, a representative of reality, its concentrated sucus, which is considerably easier (despite the difficulties) to deal with than real- ity itself. Philosophers confirm this when they say that, for them, art is an organon which opens the door to the totality of reality" and to its extremely plural nature.12 The second reason is that art as a phenomenon is so very complex and as a general notion such a flexible area that practically any philosophical theory can be tested and proven in this area. If I at tempt to schematically present the aesthetic strategy of »philoso- phy via art«, I could say that its basic purpose is the philosophical t reatment of the relation between aesthetic and anaesthetic in the totality of the exist- ing. But since unpleasantly extensive and unpurif ied reality makes the treat- men t of this relation difficult, philosophy attempts to attain the same goal indirectly: through the interaction of art (as a representational »model« of unpleasant reality) and aesthetics (as a philosophy open to the sensual). The goal of aesthetics with such orientation is to develop, in confront- ing art, the concepts, reflective strategies and methods that will help phi- losophy to establish closer contacts with its subjects. For this reason it is required to provide answers to particularly certain major (epistemological and ontological) questions of philosophy, or even »empirically« defend certain already formulated general philosophical theses and positions. Even 10 Cf. W. Welsch, Traditionelle und moderne Ästhetik in ihrem Verhältnis zur Praxis der Kunst. Überlegungen zur Funktion des Philosophen an Kunsthochschulen, in Zeitschrift für Ästhetik und allgemeine Kunstwissenschaft, vol. XXVIII/2 (1983), p. 265. 11 Cf. ibid. p. 266. 12 Cf. Welsch, Ästhetisches Denken, pp. 111-113. 254 Art <-> Aesthetics <-> Philosophy when it is r e sea rch o r i en t ed . Let me make the fo l lowing analogy: aestheticians of this provenience have a similar attitude towards art as art- ists do towards nature - they consider it the source of (philosopical) mo- tives and inspirations. In this perspective both art and aesthetics are treated instrumentally. b. Aesthetics as a philosophical inclination towards art A different attitude towards art (and, of course, toward themselves) is fostered by aesthetic theories, which I conditionally refer to as » art-devoted« theories. These theories declaratively abandon the positions of philosophi- cal instrumentalization of art and aesthetics, and attempt to approach art because of art itself. They attempt to meet art in its working environment, and are willing to view things from its perspective and contemplate art through the diopter of formative experience. There are several reasons for such an open inclination of aesthetics towards art. One of the main reasons is, in the opinion of followers of this aesthetic trend, that art with its broad range of results has reached far beyond the boundaries of its own sphere; not, as in classical aesthetics, regressively to the field of philosophy, but progressively to the field of life.13 More specifically, in modern civilization, modern art has great diagnostic, therapeutic and development potentials to funct ion as a »laboratory of sensual cognition«, as an indispensable modelsphere of reflection on the sensual and, consequently, of modern self-understanding.14 (However, it cannot be disregarded that even where there appears to be a sincere desire to bring aesthetics closer to art, there are still instrumentalizational motives immediately beneath the surface). The fundamenta l motive of art-devoted aesthetics is to analytically ex- plain the concrete formative strategies, development and social-critical potentials of each branch of art. Arts also explicitly wish to be - and this is supposedly even a criterion of their moderneness - useful in the process of their creative self-reflection and self-articulation. Any dogmatism and any normativism are explicitly excluded; f rom this aspect, the role of aesthetics should be limited solely to that of a »maieutic ferment« (Welsch). At this delicate point, art-devoted aesthetics always encounter difficul- ties due to the very »ontological difference« between the two fields, if I am allowed to employ such philosophical diction. The first problem is in the fact that aesthetics can study art only when art is already articulated. Because art is continuously recreating itself by 13 Cf. Friedrich Nietzsche, Geburt der Tragödie, in Kritische Gesamausgabe vol. I I I /1 , ed. G. Colli and M. Montinari (Berlin/New York 1977), p. 8. 14 Cf. Welsch, Traditionelle und moderne Ästhetik in ihrem Verhältnis zur Praxis der Kunst, pp. 272-273. 255 Jožef Muhovič defining itself and thus exhausting its creative abilities, aesthetics only gets the opportunity to study it post festum. In other words: art has to die (in the creative sense) so that aesthetics can dissect (analize) it. The primary posi- tion of an aesthetician in relation to art is the position of the user, not the producer . And, as P. Valéry writes in his famous Cours de la poïétique, the producer and the user are two essentially separated systems. For the first, the product is the end, and for the second the beginning, of development. The ideas which the two of them have regarding the same work of art are not compatible.15 Valéry s theory of absolute difference may be exagger- ated, yet I nevertheless support the opinion that the differences between the attitudes of an artist and an aesthetician towards a work of art should be considered. An aesthetician is - namely as an aesthetician, irrespective of his actually attitude towards art - the user of a work of art, although some- what special, a user a posteriori condemned within the limits of his position and his philosophical roots. An aesthetician is, on the one side, always too late to tell a creating artist what to look for and create, because when aestheticians finally dis- cover, through investigation, what this is, their discoveries are no longer significant for the producer of art (the very moment art stops walking in f ront of aesthetics, it would no longer be art, but would return among crafts). Like a philosopher, an aesthetician searches for the philosophical es- sence of art, which is why he finds it difficult to simultaneously take aes- thetic pleasure in a work of art. His interest is devoted to the philosophical aspects of a work of art (and not its immanent artistic aspects), though the purpose and meaning of a work of art are never exhausted by them. An aesthetician's »infrastructural« philosophical system represents a barrier between him and a work of art. This brings us to the second obstacle preventing aesthetics f rom being directly useful to art in the creative sense. Aesthetics as a philosophically formatted theory can never, in any form, be neutral towards art. It favours precisely those contents, forms, functions, problems, etc. in art which stem f rom the categories and axioms of its philosophical background. The basic method employed by aestheticians in relation to art could therefore be schematically described as follows: first of all they identify and delineate, depending on the categories and axioms of their philosophical infrastruc- ture, the area of art which these categories and axioms are capable of cover- ing, proclaim this area as art, and then, within such a restricted area, at- tempt to prove and »prove« that this is »true« art. Artists also use the same 15 Cf. B. Ghiselin, The Creative Process (London: A Mentor Book, 1961), p. 96. 256 Art <-> Aesthetics <-> Philosophy method when, through their work, they delineate that part of reality which they are able to capture with their means and modes of expression, and shape it as their (artistic) reality. Evidently, a considerable amoun t of real- ity remains on the outside and is left to future generations of artists, who usually find their uncultivated fields precisely on this »remainder«. Nature, i.e. the real world, is such an extensive area that it cannot be fully exhausted by any art, nor can any aesthetics embrace art in all its dimensions.16 The model of aesthetic inclination towards art could be schematically presented as follows: aesthetics tries to take a true interest in art, but on this path it implicitly drags instrumentalizational intentions justified in its philo- sophical background. On the one side one has to admit that, despite the »fatal attraction« that binds them, art and aesthetics are nevertheless two very different spir- itual postures, each with its own categorical apparatus and way of thinking. The concepts and categories which they occasionally lend to one another usually change their character as soon as they are integrated in a specific system of artistic or philosophical thought. On the other side, there is no denying that it may be assumed, without exaggerating, that in relation to art, aesthetics has far from utilized all its reflexive potentials and that all great art also has philosophical dimensions. c. Aesthetics as a philosophical »centralizing on art« This last approach is, in my opinion, an opportunity for fu ture inter- disciplinary shifts in the relation between art and aesthetics. I have desig- nated these shifts with the expression »centralizing on art«. In practice they are not numerous, but may be expected wherever (1) aesthetics begins to realize that artistic happenings are not merely a reflection of its philosophi- cal background, and, with the reflexive experience it possesses, it makes itself available to the artist as a collaborator in the purification and articula- tion of the artist's formative thoughts and desires,17 and (2) the theories that have autochthonously grown from individual disciplines of art develop to a level of conceptual consistency allowing them to establish fruitful con- 16 Today it is becoming increasingly more clear that it is not possible to generalize and systematize all artistic expressions and styles in a single philosophical system. In the same way as philosophical systems differ among themselves, so do artistic expressions and the valuations of the world and life expressed in them. Only those aesthetic trends that grow from the same life substance and the same valuation of the world as artistic systems of expression are able to merge with them into sufficiently h o m o g e n e o u s reflect ive and pa rad igmat i c emot iona l systems which allow understanding and mutual fertilizing. 17 Cf. W. Welsch, Traditionelle und moderne Ästhetik in ihrem Verhältnis zur Praxis der Kunst, p. 280. 257 Jožef Muhovič ceptual contact with aesthetics as a philosophical discipline. Therefore , I can see the perspective in the interactive linking of an emancipated aes- thetic theory prepared to offer art its reflexive philosophical services in the sphere of art's »philosophical dimensions«, and a theory of art that will give access to philosophical reflection and inspire aesthetics for the reflection of the artistic, aesthetic dimensions (i.e. bound to the sensual aspect of a certain branch of art) of arts. For aesthetics, centralizing on art does not mean stepping f rom one form of slavery (maid of philosophy) into another (maid of art), but fully devoting itself to its »subject« and giving back to art what it managed to »tear away« from art in purified form by the sweat of its face. An aesthetics which manages to reach the tip of the brush, chisel and heart... 3. Art Philosophy In its relation with art, philosophy can, in my opinion, equally utilize all three macrostrategies accessible through aesthetics: instrumental (phi- losophy via art), metainstrumental (philosophical inclination towards art) and phenomenologicalor investigative (philosophical centralizing on art). De- pending, of course, on the circumstances and current goals. Philosophy can see in art the key that opens the door of reality, a means of helping it to grow, a phenomenon that addresses and reflexively inspires it, or as a com- plex reality whose dimensions it wishes to discover. - Something similarly gradual is seen in philosophy by art or the artist as he replenishes his »philo- sophical« tanks for new expressive feats. IV. Code The relation between art, aesthetics and philosophy presented in this contribution is, as was expected, merely a rough (macro) »mapping« of the interactive space. I do feel, however, that this contribution has the potential to open a debate on the practical need for more systematic reflection on the relations between art, aesthetics and philosophy, and offers a good starting point. This starting point could be the following: thinking about art is possi- ble only with its assistance. Without its help we are unable to enter into it. If, in the course of creation, an artist thinks about his art, then theoreticians should also make an effort to understand his artistic »language«. This is the only way they understand and realize that art - in the same way as philosophy - is continuously questioning itself about itself, that it is questionable to its own self, and thus far from being something that is self-understandable. 258 Dabney Townsed Aesthetics and the Representation of Discovery I Aesthetics in its philosophical sense has its origins in the seventeenth and eighteenth century rationalist and empiricist assertions of the primacy of individual experience. The details of this have been worked out in the last thirty years by scholars such as Je rome Stolnitz and George Dickie,1 and we have come to an increased appreciation of the complexity of those ori- gins. In particular, concepts of taste, aesthetic experience, and the emer- gence of an aesthetic attitude have their origins in the primacy of individual perception in epistemology, in the emergence of individual feeling and emo- tion as legitimate parts of value systems, and in the turn to the natural sci- ences as the model for explanation. The systematic linkage between science and aesthetics is obvious in many instances. Both Leibnizian rationalism and Newtonian empiricism find their aesthetic counterparts in A. G. Baumgarten's »aesthetics«2 and Francis Hutcheson's »sense of beauty«3 respectively, for example. From these philo- sophical investigations there has emerged a parallel recognition of the cul- tural shifts that shape this modernist aesthetic. Taste as a metaphor for aes- thetic perception and value can be linked to renaissance art theory. The 1 Stolnitz,J. (1961). »Of the Origins of 'Aesthetic Disinterestedness'.« Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 20 (winter): 131-143. Stolnitz, J. (1961). »On the Significance of Lord Shaftesbury in Modern Aesthetic Theory.« The Philosophical Quarterly 2 ,43 (April): 97-113. Stolnitz, J. (1961). »Beauty: Some Stages in the History of an Idea.« The Journal of the History of Ideas 22, 2 (April-June): 185-204. Stolnitz, J. (1978). »The Aesthetic Attitude' in the Rise of Modern Aesthetics.« Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 36 (Summer): 409-422. Dickie, G. (1984). »Stolnitz' Attitude: Taste and Perception.« and Stolnitz,J. (1984). »The Aesthetic Attitude in the Rise of Modern Aesthetics - Again.« The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 43 (Winter): 193-208. Dickie, G. (1974). Art and the Aesthetic: An Institutional Analysis. Ithaca, Cornell University Press. Dickie, G. (1996). The Century of Taste. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 2 Baumgarten, A. G. (1954.). Reflections on Poetry (Meditationesphilosphicae de nonnullis ad poema pertinentibu). Berkeley, University of California Press. 3 Hutcheson, F. (1725). An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue. London, J. Darby. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 259-200 191 Dabney Toiunsed individualism of reformation theology and the political breakdown of divine authority motivate a move away from religious and court patronage in the direction of a more mercantile art world. Critical notions of history go hand in hand with the rise of the novel as a fictional form of historical narrative. Individual experience of nature finds its expression in a desire for the pic- turesque, which in turn helps shape the aesthetic categories of expression and imagination that lead to romanticism. The details of aesthetics as a philosophical language and as a mode of awareness can be traced in almost every level of culture f rom the lending library and reading public to the world of landscape gardening. Among the areas yet to be adequately explored, however, is the inter- relation of aesthetics with the process of discovery. Several aspects he re deserve attention. First, philosophers such as John Locke, who provide the empiricist foundations for aesthetics,4 are actively involved in the entrepre- neurial aspects of discovery. Locke, in his role as advisor to the first earl of Shaftesbury, provides the political foundation as well as participating as a director in the Carolinas colonization. The connection with aesthetics here may at first seem tenuous, but it becomes clearer when one examines the sty- listic and architectural elements in starting a new town or plantation. Just as landscape gardening provided a model for assimilating nature to the new aesthetic of sense and sensibility, so the new world provides a means of turn- ing Newtonian mechan i sm and invention into aesthetics expressions. London's squares and Edinburgh's New Town set the model for the aesthetic assimilation of an urban environment. The carefully laid out towns of Charles- ton and Savannah are works of art whose material is the new land itself. Second, the fascination with travel literature, both actual and imagined, brings discovery into literature. In much the same way that picturesqueness helps introduce distance into the rural landscape in such a way that land- scape itself becomes art rather than agriculture,5 travel provides distance from the ordinary and thus aestheticizes the otherness of the world. The step to imagined and impossible voyages (Robinson Crusoe and Gulliver, for example) is the logical aesthetic extension of this fascination with the new and physically distant. 4 Townsend, D. (1991). »Lockean Aesthetics.« The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 49, 4 (Fall): 349-361. 5 Barrell, J. (1990). »The Public Prospect and the Private View: The Politics of Taste in Eighteenth-Century Britian« in Reading Landscape: Country- City-Capital Ed. S. Pugh. Manchester, Manchester University Press: 19-40. Townsend, D. (1997). »The Picturesque.« The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 55, 4 (Fall): 365-376. 260 Aesthetics and the Representation of Discovery A particular exemplification of this impulse can be found in the history of cartography and the place of maps in the popular culture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Discovery both produces and relies on map mak- ing, and map making, in its turn, evolves in the context of mathematically sound science. Latitude, longitude, and projection are the cultural equivalent of freeing perspective and color f rom religious iconography in renaissance painting. Even in the most utilitarian maps, there is an underlying aesthetic of fascination with and thrill in the unknown and new combined with a scien- tific attitude toward geographical knowledge and information. E. H. Gombrich sets out an important contrast between maps and pic- tures: »Maps are normally designed to impart information about the invari- ant features of an area, in other words they leave 'appearances' on one side. There are no maps of Vienna in moonlight or of the museums out of focus. Nor would it be welcome if maps aroused unexpected visual sensations such as flicker. . . .We speak of reading a map, and its foremost requi rement is indeed that it should be as distinct as possible. Where such differentiation fails the use is put in jeopardy.«1' But maps are not independent of the con- ventions of representation by which they are read. So maps, like pictures, depend on background information. But in contrast to some ways of regard- ing pictures, maps serve to correct an extreme relativism about representa- tion. »The great variety of styles we encounter in the images of past and present civilizations cannot be assessed and in terpre ted without a clear understanding of the dominant purpose they are intended to serve. It is the neglect of this dimension which has suggested to some critics that the range of representational styles must somehow reflect a variety of ways in which the world is seen. There is only one step f rom this assumption to the asser- tion of a complete cultural relativism which denies that there are standards of accuracy in visual representation because it is all a matter of convention.« Gombrich continues »Once more it is useful at this point to refer to the example of the map. For it is hard to be completely relativistic about maps. There can be mistakes in maps which can be systematically rec t i f ied . . . . This technique [surveying], moreover, has nothing to do with the way the world is seen, for the surveyor who wants to map the invariant features of a region can and will never rely on that elusive guide, his visual impression of the landscape.«7 Thus maps have an informational function and a representa- tional function. They differ from pictures in not relying on appearances, but 6 Gombrich, E. H. (1982). »Mirror and Map: Theories of Pictorial Representation.« The Image and the Eye. Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press, 183. 7 Reinhartz, D. (1997). The Cartographer and the Literati-Herman Moll and His Intellectual Circle. Lewiston, MA, Edward Mellen Press, 188. 261 Dabney Toiunsed they share with pictures our need for prior information about the keys and conventions if we are to read them accurately. The analogy between pictures and maps used by Gombrich reveals the duality in the representational qualities of maps. They are not limited to their informational function. The interesting question is whether this is simply comparab le to any uti l i tarian object becoming an aesthetic object , or whether there is something specifically in maps that plays a role not only in their own aestheticization but in the conceptualization of the aesthetic more generally at the point in time - the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries - that philosophical aesthetics takes shape. I think that the latter is the case. II The dual aspect of objects such as maps leads inexorably to the sepa- ration of the aesthetic and utilitarian that slowly and gradually takes place in the eighteenth century on a broad scale. David H u m e and Adam Smith still regard beauty as having its roots in function and use, but by the end of the century, beauty is »all ye know and need to know.« It stands alone once again as it did in its Platonic forms, but now it is located wholly within the sensitive realm of individual feeling. One aspect of the separation of the utilitarian and aesthetic can be seen in the way that maps are produced and used. Color serves the funct ion of delineating areas, but its appeal goes beyond its utilitarian function because the map becomes an item of display. If one examines a typical late medieval map of Oxfordshire , for example, one finds representat ions of villages crowded together so that their sole use is to reinforce the written names. While the representation is pictorial, it makes little allowance for display. On the other hand, a Herman Moll map as discussed by Dennis Reinhartz8 is a form of display, designed as much for the eye as for guidance in location. It is an example of the engraver's art. Moll is an entrepeneur with his own shop, engraving maps for an audience that will never use them as guides to travel but wants to participate in the new knowledge that they represent. Maps assume a decorative role; they occupy a place on the wall of the Dutch burgher depicted by Vermeer not only as a representation of Dutch colo- nial expansion and wealth but also as a mark of taste. The new itself takes on value and confers on its owners and discoverers the kind of reputat ion for good taste recommended by Balthazar Gracian.9 8 Ibid., 23-28. 9 Gracian, B. (1945). The Art of Worldly Wisdom. New York, The Macmillan Company. 262 Aesthetics and the Representation of Discovery In renaissance painting, flora, fauna, and landscape come to play an important role in exhibiting color and form for its own sake ra ther than its religious and mythical significance. What begins as background becomes eventually itself the object of the painting. An eye for detail and direct ob- servation of nature so that individual plants and places can be identified transform painting into an individual exhibition of knowledge, skill, and taste. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the decorative embroi- dery of maps draws another element, the newness of the unknown and its subordination to exploration and conquest, into the aesthetic realm.10 While this is only one aspect of the aestheticization of nature, it exemplifies par- ticularly well the way that aesthetic categories emerge f rom the seventeenth and eighteenth cultural shifts in economy, science, and philosophy. Out of these shifts in cultural perception and intellectual assignment of evidential importance emerges Immanuel Kant's concept of the aesthetic as a fully disinterested form of pre-theoretical and pre-practical intuition. »Interest« is a complex concept, however. Jules Lubbock points out one complication in the development of different concepts of »interest.« Lub- bock distinguishes between an emerging market economy based on com- petitive consumption and the earlier economy based on a »stable but pros- perous rural economy.«11 In the latter economy, consumption by the landed gentry was a public obligation. Both private and public interest had to be defined differently than they are in the economy of competitive consump- tion. Lubbock observes: »It seems incorrect to say that the difference be- tween then and now is that the 'concept of a great nobleman serving the public for duty rather than gain' did not then exist. There is strong evidence of a sense of duty amongst leading statesmen and lesser gentry. But perhaps they did not possess our clear-cut distinction between the public interest and the private interest of a leading figure who was a member of the government. This blurring of distinctions is clearly seen in Burghley's gardens, one of the rare arts in which he seems quite genuinely to have delighted, so much so that one of his few relaxations was to travel round his gardens on a donkey. Such gardens as these were ornamental , ' the purest of human pleasures ... the greatest refreshment to the spirit of man ' but they also had a scientific and commercial importance.«12 For Burghley, private consumption was a public obligation. In contrast, a new distinction between public and private interest develops in the seventeenth and eighteenth century. Interest is con- 10 See, for example, the Sheldon Tapestry map of London mentioned by Jules Lubbock. Lubbock, J. (1995). The Tyranny of Taste. New Haven, Yale University Press, 82. 11 Ibid., xiv. 12 Ibid., 68-69. 263 Dabney Toiunsed ceived as private interest, and public interest must be defended as disinter- ested in the private sense. One may not profit f rom public responsibility, but one is also not privately obligated to spend for the public good. Public life and private character are separated in away that disturbed the third earl of Shaftesbury.13 Public, moral disinterestedness continues to develop into the notion of »aesthetic distinterestedness« that is finally fully conceived in the early nineteenth century. Utilitarian objects such as gardens and maps appeal both to the eye and the ends for which they are made. But the complex relations of personal, individual pleasure, private interest, and public interest introduce tensions, particularly when private and public interest are separated by the market economy. Lubbock argues that »good design« - the valuing of an object for its quality and style - is dependent on an ideological conservatism that seeks to stabilize society by maintaining class distinctions and an agrarian, non- commercial economy. A new taste for mass-produced goods that appeal to a more common taste and the economy that makes them affordable to a wider group promotes the commercial interests of London against the coun- try and of the lower and middle classes against the luxury-affording aristoc- racy. What follows for a range of art objects and objects of pleasure is that in order for them to continue to serve their aesthetic function, they must be distanced from their utilitarian functions because aesthetic appreciation brings them into conflict with the commercial economy and its new way of distinguishing between private and public interest. In that economy, instead of luxury being a social obligation so that wealth will trickle down to the peasantry, luxury must be justified by its own ends. That cannot be done if its social consequences are considered. Esoteric, individual pleasure conflicts with social need. The demands of the masses threaten the social stability based on landed obligations to consume so that others might work. If one belongs to the rising classes, then luxury is increasingly seen as the illegiti- mate ends of the ancient regime that exists at the expense of the lower and middle classes. If aesthetic pleasure is to be retained by anyone, it must be reconceived as an end in its own right, f reed f rom the interest of ei ther luxury or utility, and that is just what the rise of modern aesthetics does. What this means, of course, is that while aesthetic pleasure is a reality in both earlier and later ideologies, and in fact may be fairly close to a uni- versal wherever the exigencies of survival permit, our conceptualization of 13 See, for example, Cooper, A. A. Earl of Shaftesbury (1964). »The Moralists: A Philosophical Rhapsody« in Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times. J. M. Robertson. Indianapolis, Bobbs, Merrill. II. 264 Aesthetics and the Representation of Discovery it as disinterested and autonomous - the root meaning of »aesthetic« that emerges f rom the eighteenth-century theories - must be viewed with some skepticism. Whether one is considering gardening or maps, the utilitarian and aesthetic are not independent of each other nor of the context in which they emerge. They are, if one will allow a bit of jargon, different actualiza- tions of possibilities inherent in aesthetic objecthood. The case of maps is especially clear. A map is at once a picture and a guide. It is used to plan such things as gardens and new towns — to map out a landscape - and it is used to provide travel directions and conceptual schematizations of a world not immediately known. As a picture, a map in- vites embellishment and imagination. Herman Moll drew maps not only of real places but of imagined ones. A map's representative funct ion is satis- fied best by making it a thing to be viewed, and that easily includes viewing it independently of its guiding function. But as a guide, it also is a conceptual scheme. The importance of dif- ferent projections depends both on how they make the map look and the information that they can convey. Before satellites, no one actually was able to view the patterns and topography of the earth. How lands and routes are conceived requires a symbol-system for the mind to employ. When the un- known is labeled, »there be dragons,« more than simply a confession of ig- norance is implied. One is moving into the chaos of the ill-formed f rom the cosmos of the ordered world. Neither as picture nor as guide is there any conflict between the functions and the pleasure that eventuates f rom a pic- ture and f rom the ordered conceptualization of space. The purely utilitar- ian aspect of a travel guide may be served as well by an unembell ished map as o n e ar t ful ly co lo red and d e c o r a t e d , bu t the util i ty itself involves conceptualization. One does not simply travel f rom A to B but f rom Lon- don to Edinburgh - places of the mind as much as geographical locations. The tensions arise because conceptualization itself is no t neutral. Terry Eagleton is right to remind us that the aesthetic autonomy that results is not itself autonomous.1 4 One factor in the larger picture of middle-class, mer- cantile appropriation of the symbols of power and art that contributes to the aestheticization of the middle class's own material interests can be found in maps used for display and decorated for aesthetic effects. Everyone can adopt this symbol of power and conquest without having to consider the actual consequences of colonial and mercantile conquest.15 If a map becomes 14 Eagleton, T. (1990). The Ideology of the Aesthetic. Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 3. 15 In the same context, and as a part of the same aesthetic movement, one might consider Thomas Lawrence's portrait of Queen Charlotte - at once a royal portrait in the tradition of court painting and a representation of the German hausfrau, stripped of regal trappings. (It is also an entrepreneurial effort on Lawrence's part that failed.) 265 Dabney Toiunsed a symbol of the breaking out of the old world into a wider new world; if it is connected with the making of new fortunes, independent of the old order and the old landed assignments, if it is an instrument of commerce and thus opposed to the stable, agrarian society longed for by the old order, then thinking in terms of maps and what they show is a threat to that old order. If a map belongs to a class and an economic ideology, then it is never just an autonomous conceptual structure. To hang a map on the wall or to use it as the cartoon for a tapestry is to make a statement, to identify oneself with the aspirations of the explorers and commercial interests that depend on its information. But it does so in a way that does not require the risk and danger of exploration, any more than the fictional worlds of the novel re- quire one to experience the real vicissitudes of society. Tom Jones would certainly be hanged in that world. Yet as a picture and as an ordering device, a map cannot be limited to a single ideology. The kind of reductionism that would make any symbol noth ing more than an expression of some political or economic ideology ignores the phenomenology of the aesthetic. To save the aesthetic, there- fore, one must move the symbol f rom its ideological and utilitarian setting. That is already implicit in the detachment that arises from display. To hang the map on the wall, to include it in a painting, to weave it into a commer- cial product is already to detach it f rom its basic informational and utilitar- ian function. Thus the aesthetic in its modern signification emerges f rom the tension between what the map is and what it must be in order to be enjoyed. That too results in a conceptual ideology, however. Modern aesthetics is no t a simple analytical detachment. The promotion of the aesthetic as an autonomous realm is a »saving of the appearances« that is fundamental ly in conflict with its own origins. The result is the kind of nineteenth-century aestheticism and twentieth-century anti-social and avant-garde movements in art and philosophy that deny the context of the object. Ultimately, such de tachment makes the aesthetic irrelevant and unable to fulfil the expres- sive funct ion assigned to it. If we cease to care what maps are maps of, they cease to be maps. Then not only the utilitarian function but the enjoyment that belongs to their aesthetic appeal is lost. Ill What is needed is to extract from this economic, political, and ideologi- cal mix a coherent philosophical argument as well. A first a t tempt at that 266 Aesthetics and the Representation of Discovery might consider that maps and other forms of symbolic appropriat ion of the trappings of upper-class power are a form of symbolic action along the lines of speech-act theory or the theory of conferral advocated by George Dickie.16 They serve not merely to represent, as Gombrich argues, bu t also to create a relationship between an audience and what becomes a form of expression. The imitative aspect of maps, found in their utilitarian funct ion to repre- sent invariant properties, gives them legitimacy as forms of representation. But imitation theories of art belong to the ideal world that supports the aristocratic power structure. The rights of the aristocracy are based on a complex chain of being that gives legitimacy to their right to rule. For the new map-makers and map-users, however, the maps work to shift power to those who appreciate them. They empower the ent repreneurs , and they allow others to exhibit them and participate vicariously in this expansion of the world. As such, it is not their imitative possibilities but their expressive ones that are important. It does not matter much to the aesthetics of maps whether they are accurate or not. It matters a great deal how they look, in- cluding what they are taken to bring forward. An imaginary landscape will do as well as a real one if the object is to express and evoke feelings, so Salvatore Rosa, Claude Lorraine, and the seventeenth-century Dutch genre and landscape painters create the kind of landscape that will be picturesque. Gardens imitate art. Maps work the same way. They create an imaginary world of expansion and feelings of excitement. Then bourgeois life imitates art in this respect as well. Underlying this analysis is something impor tant about the relation between representation, fiction, and the functioning of language and sym- bols. I have argued elsewhere (without much success, it must be admit ted) , that metaphors and fictions work by creating quasi-imperative rules that guide the player - that is, the person who seeks to understand something metaphorical or to participate in a fictional world - and that those impera- tives take precedence over the normal structure of indicative description and assertion.17 One of the basic powers of symbolic construction is this kind imperative activity that both establishes and teaches the rules by which one is allowed to understand a world. Because those rules are both constrained by reality and subject to modification arbitrarily within limits, they account for the dual nature of metaphors as at once non-literal and legitimate forms of speech. Similarly, they account for our ability to instantiate fictions and 16 Dickie, G. (1974). Art and the Aesthetic: An Institutional Analysis. Ithaca, Cornell University Press and (1984). The Art Circle. New York, Haven. 17 Townsend, D. (1989). Aesthetic Objects and Works of Art. Wakefield, NH, Longwood Academic Press. 267 Dabney Toiunsed incorporate them into our emotional lives in spite of the absurdity pointed out by Colin Radford.18 I now suggest that in the transitional period when aesthetics becomes aesthetics in its modernist sense and ceases to be the neo-Platonic theory of beauty, the transformation of symbols of power by quasi-utilitarian forms such as maps, gardening, and royal portraiture act as part of this larger sym- bolic construction. They provide forms by which one is enabled to play the games coherently in a new way. Or, to adapt Dickie's vocabulary, they are part of the institutional shift that confers authority on one part of symbol users to establish new ways of using old symbols and creates new symbolic forms as well (e.g. the novel and the reading public, the bourgeois theater in place of the masque, history instead of allegory, etc.) Unlike Dickie's ear- lier versions of the institutional theory, I argue that not jus t anyone can prac- tice this conferral. The authority required comes from the economic and material realities of a culture. But what is created as a result of that author- ity is itself implicated in an expanding ability to practice such conferral and to establish the rules of the metaphorical and fictional games. Those meta- phors, fictions, and symbols, reciprocally, empower that portion of a culture that creates them. The important thing is to recognize that this is not simply a cultural relativism. It all takes place within very real constraints. Some of those con- straints are physical - as physical as the plague that undermined the medi- eval synthesis or the map-maker's surveys. Other constraints are economic, the no less real constraints of the theories and systems of exchange and wealth. Art exists in every situation thus far known to us. The aesthetic theo- ries that arise in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries supply one form of art and appreciation, one based on individual sensibility and aesthetic autonomy. That does not make that appreciation and autonomy any less real, however. One cannot do everything at any time. But at any time, there will be something that art is capable of doing. I am arguing that if we look at what is actually happening in the artworld in relation to its economic, cul- tural, and social context and simultaneously at the way that representational and referential systems work, we will be able to see, judge, and appreciate the art that belongs to that particular artworld. That is at once the timeless- ness and the timeliness of art. It is not bound by its point of creation, but it depends on that point for its concrete form, and without that concrete form, there is no art. 18 Radford, C. (1975). »How Can We Be Moved by the Fate of Anna Karenina?« Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 49: 67-80 and Radford, C. (1977). »Tears and Fictions.« Philosophy 52: 208-213. 268 Aesthetics and the Representation of Discovery Maps are thus both one of the ways that we determine what is actually happening and one of the clearest instances of how it can happen . It would have been pointless and unthinkable to treat maps as objects of decoration for the bourgeois until the bourgeois were in a position to change the eco- nomic and political rules. Once they were, maps also become a means of advancing the new order, including a new aesthetic sensibility. One might compare them to what goes on with book illumination as it moves f rom sa- cred to royal and then profane contexts and finally issues in the traveling libraries and reader subscriptions of a reading public. The aesthetics of dis- interestedness and aesthetic attitudes is at once the reality and the ideology of that new, modernist order. 269 Richard Woodfield Photography and the Imagination1 Debates over the status of photography as an art form have more than a theoretical interest, they have practical implications as well. It was only very recently that the Tate Gallery in London allowed photography into its col- lection of modern art. The previous policy was to collect artists' photographs on the basis that their interest was parasitic on the artist's actual artworks. Thus Paul Nash's photographs were held on the basis that they were impor- tant to his creation of paintings, they were, if you like, documents for the study of his practice, and Richard Long's photographs were collected on the grounds that they documented or, even, authenticated his land art. Given a choice, the gallery would still prefer to collect photographs on the basis of their links with a centrally acknowledged art world than on the basis of their links with general photographic practice. While one finds documentary photography included in the history of photography as an art form the Tate has, up until this moment , declared a strong lack of interest in collecting works by leading documentary photographers . Photographs have been col- lected on the basis that they have been used to document art but not on the basis that they are interesting as a documentary art form. In the British artworld, the most important collections of photographic art are housed by the Royal Photographic Society in Bath, which is in the Provinces and therefore artistically marginal, and in the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is the country's leading museum of decorative arts. While there have been strong arguments over transferring the V&A's collection of drawings by J o h n Constable to the Tate, there have been no similar argu- ments over its photographic collection. Looking at the photography that the Tate is currently in the process of collecting one may see that it has a pedigree in sculpture on the one hand and conceptual art on the other. In the same way that back in the 70's The Art of the Real was conceptualized as effectively two dimensional sculpture or three dimensional painting, Tate sponsored photography has been con- ceptualized as a two dimensional realization of a three dimensional subject, 1 This is the first part of a tripartite paper on the possible status of photographs as works of art. The first part of the paper is historical, the second part will have a theoretical perspective and the third part will be philosophical. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 2 71-2 78 271 Richard Woodfield as in the work of Andy Goldsworthy, or as a material realization of a thought, as in the work of Victor Burgin. This isn't confined to the Tate. It is a cur- rent curatorial practice. There is a growing sense of a difference between artists' photographers and photographers ' photographers in the terms in which critics describe their work and the galleries in which their work is exhibited. This is where we get to the starting point of my paper. It is the artworld which determines whether or not photography will achieve recognition as an art form and it is the artworld which provides the rationale. In the same way that titling and context of production have a bearing on our response to Dan to's fictional red paintings, described at the beginning of The Trans- figuration of the Commonplace, strategies of curation and criticism have a bear- ing on the ways in which we might be invited to respond to photographs. With this in mind, I would like to turn to Baudelaire's famous Salon of 1859in which he celebrated »Imagination, the Queen of the Faculties« and berated photography for its at tempt to achieve the same status as Art. Photographs had previously been exhibited in the Great Exhibition held in Paris in 1855 but on that occasion they were excluded from the Palais des Beaux-Arts and included in the Industry section. In 1859, the Société Française de la Photographie persuaded the Ministry to allow it to exhibit at the same time as the Salon des Beaux-Arts, in the same building, but in a different area; it had to be entered by a separate door. Baudelaire's paid employment, as a critic, was to review the art so he concentrated his attentions on the painting, on which he spent 56 pages. He also spent 12 pages on sculpture, probably more out of a sense of duty than conviction. And he spent 3 to 4 pages on photography, using those pages to reinforce his attack on the contemporary taste for realism in paint- ing. For him, photography was a minor issue; there could have been no way in which even the best photographs could have been a match for his favorite paintings. One can't even be sure that he bothered to look at the photo- graphs as we know f rom his correspondence with his fr iend Nadar that his Review had been written with little regard for the work actually on exhibi- tion. As he described it, his review offered »something like the account of a rapid philosophical walk through the galleries«.2 His central concern was the state of contemporary painting, which he saw as suffering f rom the blight of realism. In his rather brief discussion of photography, his central concern was the way in which it might offer an absolute value in terms of the possibili- 2 »The Salon of 1859« in Art in Paris 1845-1862: Salons and Other Exhibitions reviewed by Charles Baudelaire, translated and edited by Jonathan Mayne, London 1965, p. 144. 272 Photography and the Imagination ties of realistic depiction. As he said, the realist painters and their admiring audience shared the creed »1 believe in Nature , and I believe only in Nature ... . I believe that Art is, and canno t be o ther than, the exact reproduct ion of Na tu re ... T h u s an Industry that could give us a result identical to Nature would be the absolute of art.« Thei r wishes were answered A revengeful God has given ear to the prayers of this mult i tude. Daguerre was his Messiah. And now the faithful says to himself: »since Photography gives us every guarantee of exactitude.. . , then Photography and Art are the same thing.«3 From a rhetorical standpoint, it was only necessary for Baudelaire to warn of the absurdities of photographic practice which aspired to the con- dition of art in order to be able to condemn realist painting. He had already set the stage for his attack on painting by addressing the subject of the dis- cord between their titles and their appearances: Amour et Gibelotte! Doesn ' t that immediately whet the appe t i t e of your curiosity? »Love and Rabbit-stew!« Let me try and make an in t imate combinat ion of these two ideas, the idea of love and the idea of a rabbi t skinned and made into a stew. I can hardly suppose that the pain ter ' s imagination can have gone so far as to fit a quiver, a pair of wings and an eyebandage upon the corpse of a domestic animal; the allegory would be really too obscure. I imagine that the title has been invented u p o n the recipe of Misanthropie et Repentir. The true title would thus be Lovers eating a Rabbit-Stew. Now you will ask, are they young or old, a laborer and a working-girl, or perhaps a tired veteran and a waif, in some dusty bower? I really ought to have seen the picture!4 There is an obvious gap between what the artist thinks that he is achiev- ing, an Idea, to use the jargon of academic theory which was still very alive in the nineteenth century, and what he actually achieved, which was a scene of the utmost banality. The artist used his title to pitch his painting at a higher level of accomplishment than he was actually capable of achieving. In an- other context, speaking of the 'painter of modern life', Baudelaire spoke of his desire that the artist should amalgamate the actual with the ideal. The flâneur, the solitary man »gifted with an active imagination, ceaselessly jour- neying across the great human desert« is looking for a quality called »mo- dernity« He makes it his business to extract f r o m fashion whatever e lement it may contain of poetry within history, to distil the eternal f r o m the transitory. 3 Ibid, p. 152. 4 Ibid, p. 150. 273 Richard Woodfield ... By »modernity« I mean the ephemera l , the fugitive, the cont ingent , the half of art whose o ther half is the e ternal and the immutable . 5 Baudelaire's criticism of the painter of Amour et Gibelotte was that his image was rooted in the merely contingent and a contingency which would make no demands upon a complacent audience. He was as hostile to the audience which admired the painting as he was to the painting itself despite the fact that he hadn ' t even seen it and that it might be half decent. He underl ined the discordancy between ambition and result by imag- ining a photograph which tackled a subject of the highest artistic value, a history painting: Strange abominat ions took form. By br inging together a g roup of male and female clowns, got u p like butchers and laundry-maids at a carnival, and by begging these heroes to be so kind as to hold their chance grima- ces for the t ime necessary for the pe r fo rmance , the opera tor f la t tered himself that he was reproduc ing tragic or e legant scenes f r o m ancient history. Some democrat ic writer ought to have seen here a cheap m e t h o d of disseminating a loathing for history and paint ing a m o n g the people , thus commit t ing a double sacrilege and insult ing at one and the same t ime the divine art of paint ing and the noble art of the actor.0 Baudelaire is, here, actually engaging in a thought exper iment . He invites his readers to imagine the clash between a heroic subject and a real- istic representation of the models who would normally pose for the subject. He was as well aware as everyone else that the figures in such paintings were supposed to be idealized products of the imagination; the true artist would never leave his model uncorrected. Uncorrected models are bad enough in the imagination, they simply exist at the level of bad drawings, bu t bad models in photography are worse than that: they are downright ungainly if no t plug ugly. Remember that Baudelaire was writing for a middle class audience, which prided itself on its airs and graces. He is asking that audi- ence to believe that its most cherished ideals could be represented in the form of butchers and laundry-maids, practitioners of smelly, stench-gener- ating trades. As there could be nothing to admire in such people, why should realist painters believe that there is anything to admire about their subjects: 5 The Painter of Modern Life, pp. 12-13. 6 Salon of 1859, p. 153. Note also George Bernard Shaw's observation in Wilson's Photographic Magazine, L VI (1909): »There is a terr ible t ru th fu lness abou t photography. The ordinary academician gets hold of a pretty model, paints her as well as he can, calls her Juliet, and puts a nice verse from Shakespeare underneath , and the picture is admired beyond measure. The photographer finds the same girl, he dresses her up and photographs her, and calls her Juliet, but somehow it is no good - it is still Miss Wilkins, the model. It is too true to be Juliet.« 274 Photography and the Imagination the painterly equivalent of butchers and laundry-maids was people devoid of any human interest. It might be thought that Baudelaire's enthusiasm for the painting of modern life might have opened his mind to the possibilities of photographic practice. But in its state of technical development in 1859, that would have been only a remote possibility, demanding a more imaginative response to the image than Baudelaire was prepared to offer. Baudelaire 's favorite »painter of modern life« was Constantine Guys whose interest in the fugi- tive aspects of life was developed through his use of the sketch and whose subject was the crowd »responding to each one of its movements and the flickering grace of all the elements of life«.7 The long exposure times de- manded by photography in 1859 rendered it incapable of simulating flicker, indeed its central problem, in artistic terms, was the complete continuity of detail in its imagery: it did not offer the possibility of selective focus, as did painting. If the painter of modern life could focus on the transitory changes of fashion, that neckline or that collar, the photographer could not be so selective. That neckline could be easily undermined by that neck! The problem with realistic painting, for Baudelaire, was its at tention to technique as the expense of an imaginative treatment of subject. In 1859, Baudelaire felt that photography's t rue duty,. . . is to be the servant of the sciences and arts ... (L)et it be the secretary and clerk of whoever needs an absolute factual exact i tude in his profession ... But if it be allowed to encroach u p o n the doma in of the impalpable and the imaginary ... then it will be so much the worse for us.8 While Amour et Gibelotte, like photography, tied the imagination down, Guys' sketches released it. For later critics Baudelaire's mistake was not to underestimate the possibilities of photography, it was to hold up Guys as a hero rather than his fr iend Manet. For the historian of photography, 1859 was early days and, as Lady Eastlake observed, in her very thorough essay for the London Quarterly Revieiu two years earlier, there were a great many technical problems still to be overcome. At the end of his Short History of Photography Walter Benjamin, who was one of Baudelaire's greatest admirers, commented : O n e th ing ... was no t grasped ... by Baudelaire, and that is the direct ion implicit in the authenticity of the pho tograph . It will no t always be pos- sible to link this authent ici ty with repor tage , whose clichés associate themselves only verbally in the viewer. T h e camera will b e c o m e smaller 7 The Painter of Modern Life, p. 9. 8 Salon of 1859, p. 145. 275 Richard Woodfield and smaller, more and m o r e prepared to grasp fleeting, secret images whose shock will br ing the mechanism of association in the viewer to a comple te halt. At this poin t captions must begin to funct ion , captions which unders t and the photography which turns all the relations of life into literature, and without which all pho tographic construction must remain b o u n d in coincidences.0 This is, of course, a typically inscrutable Benjaminian remark: what can we make of it? He was certainly not interested in elevating photography to the status of Art. As he declared in his essay on the work of art in the age of its mechanical reproducibility: ... m u c h futi le t h o u g h t had been devoted to the quest ion of whe the r pho tography is an art. The primary question - whether the very inven- tion of pho tography had not t ransformed the entire na ture of art - was no t raised.10 What he is talking about is the use of the photograph as an object of social insight: Not for no th ing were pictures of Atget compared with those of the scenes of a crime. But is no t every spot of our cities the scene of a crime? every passerby a pe rpe t r a to r? Does no t the p h o t o g r a p h e r - de scendan t of augurers and haruspices - uncover guilt in his pictures. It has been said that »not he who is ignorant of writing but ignoran t of photography will be the illiterate of the future.« But isn't a pho tog raphe r who can ' t r ead his own pictures worth less than an illiterate? Will no t captions become the essential c o m p o n e n t of picture? Those are the questions in which the gap of 90 years that separates today f r o m the age of the daguerrotype discharges its historical tension. It is in the light of these sparks that the first pho tog raphs emerge so beautifully, so unapproachab ly f r o m the darkness of ou r grandfa thers ' days.11 Benjamin took the view that the spectator who was sensitive to history and to social life would experience the shock of confront ing the optical unconscious in the photographic image. Photographs of the Parisian bour- geoisie betrayed, for him, their very social being, their mode of existence in social life, in the same way that August Sander's photographs revealed, for him, the very structure of contemporary German society. If photography was to be an Art then it would be one produced by the imaginative caption writer, no less a person than Walter Benjamin himself. Benjamin was one of the many writers for whom the business of being a critic was co-extensive with 9 »A Short History of Photography« reprinted in Alan Trachtenberg (ed.), Classic Essay on Photography, New Haven 1980, p. 215. 10 »The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction« in Walter Benjamin, Ruminations, translated by Harry Zohn, London 1970, p. 229. 11 Ibid. 276 Photography and the Imagination being an artist. Photography stood in need of completion and he was the person who was going to complete it. As the saying goes, what comes around turns around. In 1981 Roger Scruton published an essay in Critical Enquiry on Photography and Repre- sentation and like Walter Benjamin before him he discussed both photog- raphy and film.12 Working f rom the notion of an »ideal photograph«, an ideal based on the essential differences between painting and photography, Scruton came to the conclusion that photography cannot be an art form: In looking at an ideal photograph, we know that we are seeing someth ing which actually occurred and seeing it as it appeared . Typically, therefore , our at t i tude toward photography will be one of curiosity, no t curiosity a b o u t the p h o t o g r a p h bu t r a the r a b o u t its subject . T h e p h o t o g r a p h addresses itself to our desire for knowledge of the world, knowledge of how things look or seem. The photograph is a means to the end of seeing its subject; in painting, on the o ther hand , the subject is the means to its own representat ion.1 3 One way of looking at this conclusion is to say that it is massively naive. Classic photography, meaning photography of the photographers ' kind, is an art because of the distinctive qualities of vision it embodies in looking at the world. This is not simply a matter of making the world look beautiful, as Scruton might hold, but also a matter of capturing something which might have escaped the ordinary spectator's attention. Quite apart f rom the spe- cific qualities which attach to a well p roduced print, qualities which are shared by other graphic arts, a good photograph is a product of the pho- tographer's vision. Not just vision in the literal sense, but vision in the meta- phorical sense as well. It is a vision which offers us a grip on our lives and our experience of the world. But this is not the art institutional way to deal with Scruton. One only needs to point out that in 1981 the art world is a different place from what it was in 1857. It is extremely difficult to maintain after Duchamp and the adventures of modernism, not to say postmodernism, that arguments about the simi- larities or differences between painting and photography carry any weight in debates about Art any more. The argument is more, now, about what the photographer brings to the creation of an image and the critic bring to its appreciation. If the photographer chooses to work in a gallery or museum environment there are tacit understandings of the issues and practices which maybe addressed. Alternatively, the photographer may simply choose to opt 12 Roger Scruton, »Photography and Representation«, Critical Enquiry 7(1981) reprinted in The Aestetic Understanding, Manchester 1983. 13 Ibid, p. 114. 277 Richard Woodfield out altogether and simply be as successful as possible in practicing the trade. The rewards are different. This situation is no t particularly new. In the earliest days of photogra- phy there were practitioners who celebrated its existence as an industry and pursued its potential mass appeal. There were others who wanted to remain exclusive and not get involved in the tedious business of commerce; their ambition was to produce art. The difference between art and commerce was def ined in terms of a difference between an appeal to an élite and an ap- peal to the mass. This is a view now shared by Roger Scruton. He has argued that it is precisely because the masses can make photographs, photography cannot be an art: the ability to create, to appreciate, to resonate - the ability to stand back f r o m the world and record its mean ing in an aesthetic j u d g e m e n t - is the proper ty of the few.'4 He has failed to recognise that it has been by stategies of curatorship and criticism that photography has, actually, become an art form. 14 Roger Scruton, »But is it Art?«, Modern Painters 2 (1), Spring 1989, p. 65. 278 Ernest Ženko Modern Artist and his Space: László Moholy-Nagy 1 Introduction The word »space« does not necessary have a strictly geometrical mean- ing, i.e. it does not always represent the idea of an empty area. Space con- sidered in isolation is an empty abstraction, but although in one sense this »substance« is hard to conceive of, it is also true that we cannot avoid its »existence«. Every period in human culture has developed a spatial conception. If we ignore geometry as a direct means for depicting space, one of the pow- erful methods of explaining space is its articulation. On this basis it can be said that in contrast to »real« space, articulated space is a reality in our sen- sory experience, i.e. a reality that can be grasped according to its own laws. In the light of these considerations the evolution and development of modern art can also be recognised in terms of articulated space. Moreover, each modernist artist has been desperately seeking his own vision of space articulation. Within this framework the Hungarian avant-garde artist László Moholy- Nagy was one of the most versatile. He worked in several media and jo ined collaborative enterprises rather than being a specialist in just one. His space conception originated mainly through his use of new materials and construc- tions introduced by the technological revolution. In this paper I intend to show how his concepts of space are linked with some major ideas of modern physical space and where and how those ideas are presented in some of his art-works. 2 Modern Physical Space The physical concept of space (and of what is happening »inside it«) actually appeared in the first two decades of the 20th century, mostly through the ideas of Albert Einstein. So-called »modern« physical space differs a great deal f rom the concept developed by Isaac Newton in Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica. In this monumental work Newton tried to show the very Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 279-200 191 Ernest Zenko nature of movement as elegantly as he could; the movement that occurs in an empty space (the fact that movement requires space was already known to the Greek atomists). Nevertheless Newton's space has nothing to do with common sense - quite opposite: it is the identity of an absolute, true and mathematical entity; the absolute and infinite stage according to which all material bodies (or particles) are moving, and in which the forces between them are exerted.1 The first difference between this mechanicist view and the contempo- rary one is shown in the way that forces are described. In the first picture the forces are central, that is, the direction of the force always lies on a straight line between the centres of two material particles (which can be ei ther attracted or repelled) and are independent of particle velocities. All bodies around us are systems of such infinitely small particles, whereas those forces on the micro level can be simply summarized into the macro force of a rigid body (e.g. the gravitational force between Earth and Moon). In the modern picture, the situation is different. In the second half of the 19th century, new concepts appeared in connection with problems in unders tanding electric and magnetic phenomena . As Einstein put it: »In physics a new idea has risen, the most important thought after Newton: the field.«2 To determine the force radiating f rom a certain mass or charged particle, it is no t needed to know the location of all hypothetical bodies a round it. We fill empty space with force-lines that show the direction of the force (which is always perpendicular to each force-line) and also its strength (the density of the force-lines is proportional to the force strength). Not material particles or electrical charges, but the space between them is what it matters. The idea of the field helped physicists to solve the problems of elec- tromagnetic and optic phenomena , and has led Einstein to formulate his Theory of relativity. There are actually two theories. The first, special? is based on the special relativistic principle: all coordinate systems, moving one upon another uniformly in a straight line, are equal.4 (This is equally suitable for 1 We are dealing here with two different concepts of space, e. g. Newton's and Einstein's, but we should not forget that those two scientists were not alone. There were so many others who can't be even mentioned here, even though their ideas are of great importance for an understanding of nature and space. 2 Albert Einstein, Leopold Infeld, Die Evolution der Physik von Newton bis zur Quantentheorie, Rowohlt, Hamburg 1956. (Slovenian transl., MK, Ljubljana 1961, p. 174.) 3 Albert Einstein, Zur Elektrodynamik bewegter Körper, Ann. der Physik 17, 1905. 4 The second theory, general relativity, deals with the problem of gravitation. Here Einstein finally left the realm of Euclidean geometry and turned to mathematical structures developed previously by Georg Riemann. (See: Albert Einstein, Die Grundlagen der allgemeinen Relativitätstheorie, Leipzig 1916.) This theory is not our concern now. 280 Modern Artist and his Space: Läszlö Moholy-Nagy the description of natural phenomena. ) This means that there can be no difference between events occurring in the same place (space) or at the same time, and others, because there is simply no such - absolute - space or time. The form of space that Einstein used in this case is actually a combina- tion of space in time, named space-time. It is a structure, invented by Hermann Minkowski, in which physical events are defined by four dimensions (three spatial coordinates plus time). Time has been present in physics f rom Greek times onwards because it is impossible to imagine movement in space with- out time. But in spite of that, this was the first instance, that time found its place within geometry. Space-time simply means that time has become a formally equal coordinate and that distances between (four-dimensional) events are measured in terms of space and time inseparably. We should ment ion another important and influential property of m o d e r n space that is no t directly linked with its geometrical meaning . Namely the kind of transparency of bodies, or better of matter occupying space. In 1895 Wilhelm Rontgen discovered X-rays that opened ano ther dimension of space - a space inside of solid bodies, where, in the classical picture, there should be no space at all. And yet another one: in 1911 Ernest Rutherford published his theory, inspired by previous experiments (the scattering of alpha particles on thin golden leaves). He introduced the concept of the atom that consists mostly of empty space. In this picture, a very small nucleus is positioned at the centre of an atom (ten thousand times smaller than the atom itself) with electrons moving around the nucleus in circles like planets around the sun. If a ma- terial substance consists of such atoms, all the things around us are mostly made of empty space. Now we can try to find out how those modern ideas of space are con- nected with conceptions developed by a modernist artist - Laszlo Moholy- Nagy. Let us follow some of his ideas of space through his artistic life. 3 Modern Artistic Space Laszlo Moholy-Nagy was born on 20 July 1895 in Bacsborsod, Hungary. When he was sent to secondary school in Szeged, he developed close rela- tions with some poets and writers, which probably explains why his first in- terest was in literature. After matriculation in 1913, he registered as a law student in Budapest. But it didn't last long - in 1914 he was called up in the army and sent to the front. In this quite specific situation he started to draw. His naturalistic figures of military life on postcards reveal his lack of educa- 281 Ernest Zenko tion in drawing, but also his artistic talent. Wounded in 1917, he became even more serious about painting during his recuperation in Odessa. The young man who, until then, drew postcards as a mere pastime, was now depicting the tired, haggard faces of his fellow soldiers. It was there, in the military hospital that Moholy-Nagy matured into a real artist. After he re turned f rom the front he became increasingly attracted to Hungar ian Activists. Social ideas of this avant-garde movement left their impression on his entire work (e.g. the ideal of »synthetic« art - art in the service of society and conducive to man's external and internal liberation). After the fall of the Republic of Councils Moholy-Nagy left the country. First he went to Vienna and then in 1920 he finally settled in Berlin. 3.1 Realistic Portraits During his period of wandering, Moholy-Nagy began to paint realistic portraits. These represent his own particular mode of expression even though he had not yet found his own individual style. His representational period was short but important for his future career, which led him to a more abstract mode of expression. The first discovery, which he regarded as his own, was that of line, and the result of this discovery was a series of portraits in which Moholy-Nagy sought not to copy other painters, but to understand them. Later he wrote in his autobiographical essay: »Through my 'problem' of expressing everything with lines I underwent an exciting experience, especially as I overemphasized the lines. In trying to express three-dimensionality, I used auxiliary lines in places where ordinarily no lines are used. The result was a complicated net- work of a peculiar spatial quality, applicable to new problems. For example, I could express with such a network the spherical roundness of the sky, like the inside of a ball [...]. The drawings became a rhythmically articulated network of lines, showing not so much objects as my excitement about them.«5 Moholy-Nagy was lost in the world of modern art and decided to return to the Renaissance, to the period of solid values. Thereaf ter he studied the drawings of Rembrandt and Van Gogh, where he realised that lines ought not to be mixed with half tones, and that: »[. . .] one should try to express a three-dimensional plastic quality by the unadulterated means of line; that the quality of a picture is not so much defined by the illusionistic render ing of nature as by the faithful use of the medium in new visual relations«.0 5 Läszlö Moholy-Nagy, The New Vision: From Material to Architecture. Abstract of an Artist, Wittenborn, Schultz, New York 1947, in: Krisztina Passuth, Moholy-Nagy, Thames and Hudson, London 1985, p. 361. 6 Ibid., p. 360. 282 Modern Artist and his Space: Läszlö Moholy-Nagy Objects are not those which carry the meaning, but the way in which the lines are organised and the relations between them. In the works of other artists - Lajos Tihayi, Edvard Munch, Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele, and Franz Marz - he learned that they regarded nature only as the point of de- parture. The real meaning lay in their interpretative power. Moholy-Nagy's understanding of this fact resulted at first in his realistic portraits. His free and energetic lines form complicated networks and they are not drawn to create only a decorative effect. These lines actually scan the surface of the model, the facial wrinkles - curls of the hair, wrinkles of the chin. The unders tanding of line that Moholy-Nagy adopted was the result of a rational analysis - the line appeared as the basic picture element. Lines that form and construct realistic portraits have become force lines, organ- ised into a diagram of inner forces sharing the emotional charge. 3.2 Glass Architecture In years 1920-21, al though still paint ing representat ional pictures, Moholy-Nagy was greatly concerned with achieving a more abstract mode of expression. Berlin was at that time an important avant-garde centre and influenced the young artist in various ways. The two basic influences were those of Berlin Dada and Constructivism, the particular a tmosphere of the big city - the industrial landscape, presence of machines, bridges, railway stations, etc. was also very important to him. The industrial civilisation that Moholy-Nagy met in Berlin offered new aesthetic ideals that differed f rom traditional ones. With the support of avant-garde trends, he adjusted to the new situation and started to explore. »On my walks I found scrap machine parts, screws, bolts, mechanical devices. I fastened, glued and nailed them wooden boards, combined with drawings and painting. It seemed to me that in this way I could produce real spatial articulation, frontally and in profile, as well as more intense colour effects. Light falling on the actual objects in the construction made the col- ours appear more alive than any painted combination. I p lanned three-di- mensional assemblages, constructions, executed in glass and metal. Flooded with light, I thought they would bring to the fore the most powerful colour harmonies. In trying to sketch this type of 'glass architecture', I hit upon the idea of transparency.«7 Glass architecture appeared as an at tempt to paint real objects, seen or found on his wanderings through the land of technology. There he encoun- tered three fundamental ideas that occupied him for the rest of his life: light, space and transparency. His paintings f rom the years 1920-21 reflect the 7 Ibid., p. 362. 283 Ernest Zenko Picture 1: Glass Arhitecture III atmosphere of the big city: railways, bridges, and machines. He named them simply: Bridges, Large Railway Painting, The Great Wheel, and so on. Besides the dynamism of machines and the magical attraction of technology, Moholy- Nagy also discovered the new laws of picture construction. In 1921 his paintings were concentric, expansive and tending outwards. They were mostly symmetric, with the centre of gravity in the middle plane. The importance of the central area was enhanced with the bare canvas. The brightly coloured, sharply outlined motif stands out against the impersonal light ochre texture of the canvas - it has almost nothing in common with the background. The composition is always centred, sometimes a strong horizontal axis lies in the lower or upper third of the picture. Upward-in- clining diagonals float freely in the picture space, not extending as far as the 284 Modern Artist and his Space: Läszlö Moholy-Nagy frame, giving an impression of incompleteness, which is the source of inner tension and dynamism of the picture. Later, in 1921-22, the whole structure moved out of the horizontal , turned in relation to the lower f rame of the picture and aligned with the diagonals. With this change, the earlier balance was disturbed and the mo- tifs, f reed f rom their horizontal attraction, started to soar into the space at their disposal on the surface of the canvas. Different geometrical forms were no longer impenetrable units but transparent elements through which other elements appeared. Through different layers, conveying picture elements, an almost infinite depth of the pictorial space appeared. (Picture 1; Glass Architecture III, 1921-22) The space of the picture had changed completely - the earlier plain canvas background, which contrasted sharply with the motifs, now became a vital c o m p o n e n t in the whole composit ion. The background (earlier: empty space) intermingled with motifs (earlier: elements of the picture), one appearing through the other. This was the birth of Glass Architecture, the artist's own pictorial world. In fact, glass architecture had two different meanings for Moholy-Nagy. On the one hand, it was a composition that was very close to the »pictorial« architecture (Bildarchitectur) of the Hungarian avant-garde, and on the other, an abstract symbol that was linked to the ideology of the Bauhaus at its out- set. This ideology can be clearly recognised in »The Bauhaus Manifesto«, written by Gropius himself: »The ultimate aim of all creative activity is the building! [...] Architects, painters, sculptors, we must all re turn to crafts! [...] There is no essential difference between the artist and the craftsman. The artist is an exalted crafstman. [...] Let us therefore create a new guild of craftsmen without the class-distinctions that raise an arrogant barrier be- tween craftsman and artist! Let us together desire, conceive and create the new building of the future, which will combine everything — architecture and sculpture and painting - in a single form which will one day rise towards the heavens f rom the hands of a million workers as the crystalline symbol of a new and coming faith.«8 This is probably also the reason (or one of the reasons) why Walter Gropius invited Moholy-Nagy to teach in his school of design in Weimar. He started to teach there in April 1923 at the age of only 27. He replaced Johannes Itten in the Preliminary Course and Paul Klee in the Metal Work- shop. This was the time when the school had just gone through one of its crises. T h e main p rob lem was the idealistic, romant ic a t t i tude of the 8 Walter Gropius, »The Bauhaus Manifesto« in Frank Whitford, Bauhaus, Thames and Hudson, London 1995, p. 202. 285 Ernest Zenko Bauhaus. Vilmos Huszar wrote in September 1922: »Where is there any at- tempt to unify several disciplines, at the unified combination of space, form and colour? Pictures, nothing but pictures [...].«'' Moholy-Nagy's appointment provided clear evidence that Gropius had changed his mind about the kind of institution Bauhaus ought to be. He an- nounced this in a public lecture during the Bauhaus exhibition in 1923 on the theme »Art and technology, a new unity«. If in the early years the em- phasis was placed on the investigation of properties common to all the arts and on the revival of craftsmanship, it had now shifted towards the educa- tion of a new designer capable of conceiving artefacts to be made by ma- chine. And if other teachers like Wassily Kandinsky wanted nothing to do with it, for Moholy-Nagy the machine was a kind of fetish. Moholy-Nagy was a brilliant teacher, and his abilities may have caused resentment among those colleagues whose relationship with the students was problematic. But what really was a problem for most of the other Bauhaus teachers was Moholy-Nagy's rejection of everything irrational. They were con- vinced to some degree that art is a spiritual revelation. In Klee's words: art's purpose was to »render the invisible visible«. Moholy-Nagy's ideas were quite d i f ferent . He once said to Lothar Schreyer (who was ano the r Bauhaus teacher): »You surely don ' t believe the old fairy-story about the human soul? What is known as the soul is nothing but a function of the human body.«10 During his Bauhaus period, Moholy-Nagy collaborated with Oskar Schlemmer and others on murals, ballet and stage designs; besides paint- ing he was engaged in photography, film and photograms, light and colour experiments, but he also worked in typography and layout. His ideas were close to that of Gropius and together they planned, edited and designed the four teen Bauhausbiicher - Bauhaus books which were an at tempt to define avant-garde views. 3.3 Light-Space Modulator Moholy-Nagy left Bauhaus in 1928, following Gropius's example. Two years later, Moholy-Nagy finished his masterpiece, The Light-Space Modulator (Picture 2), which represents most of the ideas he developed there. »The Lichtrequisit (later often referred to in English as the Light Prop or Light Dis- play Machine) is one of the finest and most clearly expressed creations not only of Moholy-Nagy's individual artistic aspirations, but of avant-garde new aesthetics of the entire period.«11 He started to work on the idea in 1922 and it took eight years for technology to be able to follow the imagination. 9 Cited in Frank Whitford, Bauhaus, p. 116. 10 Ibid., p. 127. 11 Krisztina Passuth, Moholy-Nagy, p. 53. 286 Modern Artist and his Space: Läszlö Moholy-Nagy Picture 1: The Light-Space Modulator Machine a r t was a t endency typical of the Dada m o v e m e n t a n d Constructivism. Various kinds of work appeared at that time, including Naum Gabo's Kinetic Statue: Standing Wave and Moholy-Nagy's own achievement: Nickel Sculpture. They are both real machines only partially, in the details, whereas The Light-Space Modulator is something different: a real machine metal and glass structure rotating and moving in space. The basis of the composition is a rotating disc with three metal frames whose edges meet. The oblique glass spiral placed on the disc traverses an inclined glass plate. Three metal screens with oblique axes and of different patterns, as well as two half perforated metal discs, are also in contact with a lower, rotating disc. When the spiral is set in motion by an electric motor, light is projected on the structure. The light passes through the metal screens 287 Ernest Zenko whose position, owing to the rotating movement, is constantly changing. The result is the silhouette projected at a distance of two or three metres. In h i s r e m a r k s M o h o l y - N a g y w r o t e a b o u t h i s s c u l p t u r e : » L i g h t b e a m s o v e r l a p as t hey c ross t h r o u g h d e n s e air ; t h e y ' r e b l o c k e d , d i f f r a c t e d , c o n - d e n s e d . T h e d i f f e r e n t a n g l e s of e n t e r i n g l i gh t i n d i c a t e t ime . T h e r o t a t i o n o f l i gh t f r o m eas t to wes t m o d u l a t e s t h e visible wor lds . S h a d o w s a n d r e f l e x e s r e g i s t e r a c o n s t a n t l y c h a n g i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p of so l ids a n d p e r f o r a t i o n s . « 1 2 The Light-Space Modulator embodies the idea of the beautiful machine, bu t it is at the same time (in a broader context) connected with Bauhaus and mostly with its theatrical experiments. The machine was also the em- bodiment of the Constructivist ideal and Russian Constructivists p lanned several such works - Vladimir Tatlin's Monument of the Illrd International is regarded as the symbol of the Utopia of the entire period, and Naum Gabo's Plan of a Radio Station remained a dream. In 1922 Moholy-Nagy published an article together with Alfred Kemeny: »Constructivism means the activa- tion of space by means of a dynamic-constructive system offerees within one another that are actually under tension in physical space, and their construc- tion within space, also active as force (tensions).«13 Moholy-Nagy m a n a g e d to real ise his p l a n a n d his w o r k b e c a m e a m o b i l e , spat ia l v a r i a n t of glass a r c h i t e c t u r e . H e m a d e use of t h e s a m e g e o m e t r i c a l fig- u r e s as i n his pa in t i ngs , wi th a p p r o x i m a t e l y t h e s a m e p r o p o r t i o n a n d distr i- b u t i o n . I n his p i c t u r e s h e s o m e t i m e s t r i ed to m o d u l a t e l igh t by s a t u r a t i n g t h e s u r f a c e a n d u s i n g glass o r a l u m i n i u m in s t ead of canvas . W i t h t h e Light-Space Modulator he c o u l d m o d u l a t e t h e b e a m of l igh t in actual i ty; t h e r e su l t was a m o b i l e p a i n t i n g t h a t s t a r t e d to insp i re t h e art is t h imse l f . H e a d a p t e d it f o r t h e s t age as » l ight p r o p for a n e lec t r ic s tage« a n d h e even m a d e a b lack a n d w h i t e film in w h i c h t h e rea l s u b j e c t is t h e b i r t h of t h e Light-Space Modulator. 4 Conclusion D e a l i n g wi th m o d e r n i s m , t h e r e is a q u e s t i o n of w h e t h e r o n e c a n find a n y d i r e c t c o n n e c t i o n b e t w e e n n o t i o n s d e r i v e d f r o m s e p a r a t e d s p h e r e s of h u m a n activity (l ike s c i e n c e a n d ar t ) . 1 4 I d e a s s e e m to r e m a i n s e p a r a t e d e v e n 12 Cited in Richard Kostelanetz, Moholy-Nagy, Allen Lane, London 1974, p. 160. 13 Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Alfred Kemeny, »The Dynamic-Constructive System of Forces«, DerSturm, No. 12/1922; cited in Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, Paul Theobald, Chicago 1965, p. 238. 14 One of the ideas I wanted to show is the difference between the field of science and the field of art, concerning the development of a concept or notion and personal 288 Modern Artist and his Space: Läszlö Moholy-Nagy if we find them in both spheres and even if they have the same names. One such example is the idea of space-time. We have already mentioned what this idea means in physics. Even though Moholy-Nagy was fully aware of this, for him space-time had a different meaning. He wrote in his last book, published after his death in 1946:15 »Since 'space-time' may be a misleading term, it especially has to be emphasized that space-time problems in the arts are not necessarily based upon Einstein's theory of relativity.« He continued with the explanation: »Einstein's termi- nology of 'space-time' and 'relativity' has been absorbed by our daily lan- guage. Whether we use the terms 'space-time', 'motion and speed' , or 'vi- sion in motion', rightly or wrongly, they designate a new dynamic and kinetic existence freed f rom the static, fixed framework of the past. Space-time is not only a matter of natural science or of an aesthetic and emotional inter- est. It deeply modifies the character of social ends, even beyond the sense that pure science may lead to a better application of our resources.«16 His own artistic achievements, ment ioned in this paper, can be consid- ered as the development of the same idea - namely the idea of space-time. In Moholy-Nagy's realistic portraits, the dynamism of the pictorial space is included in the force-lines forming an emotional field that corresponds to that of a physical force field. In his glass architecture, the artist forcefully expressed the ideas of transparency and light, and the new vision of space, which is very similar to the new physical ideas of the modern time. In the last example of Light-Space Modulator, he constructed a machine that finally embodies the concept of modern physical space and time. His explanation and his works of art can be considered an example of how concepts f rom different spheres - like that of space - can be understood. development of the artist or scientist (researcher). In the first case, that of science, it is more common to follow the development of an idea and to fill in personal achievements, while in the second case, when dealing with art, it seems more reasonable to follow the life line of an individual artist and to fill in the ideas. The consequence of this idea is also the form of the text. 13 After he left Bauhaus in 1928, Moholy-Nagy started to wander around Europe looking for a new teachingjob. In the meantime, he was painting on synthetic materials and transparencies (Plexiglas), experimenting with colour film, design, photograph and so on. In 1937 he was offered and accepted the directorship of the New Bauhaus in Chicago, but the school was forced to close down before the end of the year, so he opened his own School of Design the following year. Moholy-Nagy died of leukemia in Chicago on 24 November, 1946. At the time of his death he was President of the Institute of Design, then having 680 students. 16 Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Vision in Motion, p. 266. 289 Sven Arntzen Natural Beauty, Ethics and Conceptions of Nature The question I will address is: To what extent, and in what sense, can natural beauty help establish ethical constraints on our t rea tment of the natural environment? I will assume for my discussion that natural beauty is something real or objective.1 A question central to my discussion, but whose answer I will largely take for granted, concerns the marks of natural beauty, the characteristics that a natural region must possess in order to be beauti- ful. It seems to me that one such characteristic is complex order. This im- plies that the candidate for natural beauty must be a whole of integrated parts. The beauty of a natural region must require natural biological diver- sity, although the degree of such diversity, and of complexity, will vary with location and climate. As these remarks suggest, the focus of my discussion will be the beauty of nature or a natural region, not that of individual things. Accordingly, the ethic based on natural beauty as I will discuss it will be con- cerned with the treatment of nature or a natural region as a whole. I. Natural Beauty and Preservation of Nature It is not unusual in literature on environmental ethics to maintain that the aesthetic appreciation of nature can help establish ethical constraints on human actions affecting nature. Aldo Leopold sees natural beauty as one criterion of ethics when he formulates the principle of his land ethic as »A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic communi ty . It is wrong when it tends otherwise.«2 Eugene Hargrove thinks that the failure among ancient Greek philosophers to lo- cate beauty in the natural environment helps explain their lack of concern for that environment.3 1 For a discussion of this issue and its relevance to environmental ethics, see for example Eugene C. Hargrove, Foundations of Environmental Ethics (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.:Prentice Hall, 1988), Ch. 6. 2 Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac.And Sketches Here and There (New York:Oxford University Press, 1949), pp. 224-25. 3 Eugene C. Hargrove, op. cit., pp. 26-29. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 291-200 1 9 1 Sven Arntzen According to him, an argument establishing an ethical requirement concerning the preservation of nature or some part of it can based be on its beauty in much the same way in which one can argue from the beauty of a work of art to the necessity of its preservation.4 To the extent a work of art is beautiful and recognized as such, it is thought to possess a value which is independen t of its being useful to obtain some extraneous goal. For exam- ple, the appreciation of a painting as beautiful does not involve a consid- eration of the economic benefits one might derive from owning it and then selling it. The beauty of the painting is considered an intrinsic value, a value that ought to be preserved for its own sake. The beauty of a work of art re- quires that the object be preserved in its current state and that, in case of damage, it be restored to its original state. Hargrove and others use similar considerations to argue that we have a duty to preserve the natural environ- men t or parts of it.5 Natural beauty is a non-instrumental, intrinsic value which is lost in the case of drastic change. Furthermore, if, as positive aes- thetics claims,1' beauty is something original to a natural region and nature unaffected by humans has no negative aesthetic characteristics, then the beauty of a natural region makes it a candidate for preservation in a condi- tion in which it is unaffected by humans. With the additional premise that natural beauty is superior to the beauty of art,7 the argument is that we ought to preserve a natural region in its original condition because it is beautiful in that condition, and this beauty is a value which somehow exceeds the beauty of objects made by humans. This argument , the so-called »preservation argument«, calls for the exclusion of all human activity f rom the natural environment, with the pos- sible exception of low-impact recreational activities. Underlying the argu- men t is a dualistic view of man and nature: man and nature are essentially distinct; all or most human activity is detrimental to the natural environment and its beauty. Hargrove makes this supposition explicit: »In de fend ing natural beauty and biodiversity, it is essential that the argument be devel- oped in terms of a human-nature relationship in which humans are not part of nature, in which nature is viewed as an other.«8 Western approaches to 4 Eugene C. Hargrove, »The Paradox of Humanity:Two views of biodiversity and landscapes«, in KeChung Kim & Robert D. Weaver (eds.), Biodiversity and Landscapes: A Paradox of Humanity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), pp. 173-185. See also his Foundations of Environmental Ethics, Ch. 6, esp. pp. 191-98. 5 See for example Robin Attfield, Environmental Philosophy: Principtesand Prospects (Aldershot: Avebury, 1994), pp. 183-202, esp. pp. 197-201. 6 For an account of positive aesthetics, see Allen Carlson, »Nature and Positive Aesthetics«, Environmental Ethics 6 (1984), pp. 5-34. 7 See Hargrove, op. cit., pp. 185-191. 8 Hargrove, ibid., p 183. 292 Natural Beauty, Ethics and Conceptions of Nature nature traditionally fall into either of two extremes, both of which presup- pose a duality of man and nature. One is the drastic transformation of na- ture, which has resulted in to-day's environmental crisis. Man obviously re- gards himself as essentially distinct from that which he destroys or drastically alters. The other is the protection and preservation of natural areas to the exclusion of all activity designed to meet the needs of human life. The pres- ervation argument is, then, an attempt to justify the latter. It seeks to estab- lish an ethical requirement that one refrain from using undis turbed natu- ral regions or ecosystems and that one restore some areas that have been taken out of their pristine condition through human activity. Understood in this manner, the argument is indifferent to what humans do or how hu- mans live outside natural areas, provided their activities do not adversely affect such areas, e.g. through the use of fossil fuels with the resulting pol- lution and climate change. In other words, the argument is no t so much concerned with human lifestyles as with the confinement of human life and activity to certain locations or regions. The ethic that this a rgument is de- signed to support does not call for the integration of human life and activ- ity with the natural environment. The approach to nature supported by the preservation argument dif- fers f rom what can be loosely characterized as sustainable uses of nature, an approach to the natural environment that takes a middle course somewhere between the two traditional extremes. According to Arne Naess, ecological sustainability in what he calls the »wide sense« ensures the richness and di- versity of life fo rms on Earth.9 In accordance with this concep t ion of sustainability, sustainable uses of nature can be understood as practices and activities that help meet the needs of human life, yet are consistent with nature's own requirements for its continued existence as an intricate web of diverse, interdependent things. Here, one might think of humans as some- how living and acting in nature, in conformity with nature's own conditions. Can considerations of natural beauty support this middle course and help establish an ethic requiring sustainable uses of the natural environment? The preservation argument is weakened by the fact that there is an essential difference between art and nature, which in turn affects the con- ditions under which each is beautiful. A work of art is in and of itself static. 9 Arne Naess, »Deep Ecology for the Twenty-second Century«, in George Sessions (ed.), Deep Ecology for the Twenty-first Century (Boston & London:Shambhala, 1995), p. 464.Contrasted with sustainability in the wide sense is »narrow«, or perhaps »shallow«, ecological sustainability, which for Nasss consists of »the existence of short- and long- range policies that most researchers agree will make ecological catastrophes affecting narrow human interests unlikely.« 293 Sven Arntzen The goal of its preservation is to make its beauty permanent , to protect its beauty f rom externally caused change. Nature, on the other hand , is dy- namic; ecologists and geologists have emphasized the fundamental ly dy- namic character of natural processes.10 If positive aesthetics is assumed, this means that natural beauty is not adverse to change, but must itself be con- sidered dynamic. Natural change, for example the gradual draining and eventual elimination of a beautiful lake or the natural destruction of a beau- tiful forest, is compatible with natural beauty. Natural beauty cannot be made pe rmanen t in the manner in which the beauty of a work of art is made per- manen t through restoration and protection. In a recent article, Keekok Lee discusses the measures of the National Trust in England's Lake District to restore and protect Yew Tree Tarn from destruction caused by geological processes, in order to make its beauty permanent.1 1 However, such a meas- ure amounts to the sort of interference with nature which the proponents of the preservation argument want to reject. Given its dynamic character, natural beauty cannot support natural preservation in the sense of maintaining a natural region in its present state. Rather, as a foundation for environmental ethics, natural beauty would dic- tate that natural processes be allowed to run their course, on nature 's own terms. Does this preclude all uses of nature for productive purposes to meet the needs of human life? Leopold distinguishes between evolutionary, natu- ral change, and the sort of change humans are capable of affecting by means of advanced technology. Natural change is usually slow or local; anthropo- genic change, using advanced technology, can be swift and global.12 Using the distinction, one can perhaps say that acting and living in a manner con- sistent with natural beauty involves maintaining the human impact on na- ture at the level or scale of nature 's own changes and processes, slow or lo- cal. Natural beauty allows for human uses of nature insofar as those uses are no more than forms of participation in nature's own dynamic processes. 10 For a discussion of recent ecology's view of the dynamic character of natural processes, see J. Baird Callicott, »Do Deconstructive Ecology and Sociobiology Undermine Leopold's Land Ethic?«, Environmental Ethics 18 (1996), pp. 353-372; Donald Worster, »The Ecology of Order and Chaos«, in Worster, The Wealth of Nature (NewYork:Oxford University Press, 1993), pp. 157-170. 11 Keekok Lee, »Beauty for Ever?«, Environmental Values4 (1995), pp. 213-225. 12 Ibid., pp. 216-217; cf. Callicott, op.cit., pp. 369-372.Callicott expresses the distinction in terms of the ecological concept of scale, a concept which is both temporal and spatial. 294 Natural Beauty, Ethics and Conceptions of Nature II. Conceptions of Nature Some ecologists and environmental philosophers view nature or an ecosystem either as an organism or as a community.13 In either case, nature is regarded as a complex orderly whole, being in some sense self-determin- ing. It was suggested earlier that nature or a natural region is not beautiful unless it is a complex orderly whole. However, the normative implications of natural beauty and the status that humans are regarded as having with respect to nature will vary, depending on whether nature is viewed as an organism or as a community, respectively. It follows f rom the view of nature as an organism that the whole of nature or of an ecosystem is regarded as having primacy in relation to natu- ral individuals and species. Since the parts, like the organs, are considered significant or valuable only as they contribute to the whole or its well-being, the parts of nature, such as its species and individual organisms, do not have independen t status or value apart f rom the whole. The beauty of na ture viewed as an organism seems unproblematic. An individual organism can be considered beautiful and can be said to retain its beauty through the course of its development. On the other hand, the organism view has im- plications which may be unacceptable, or at least problematic. Since any value of the part of an organism depends on its function within the whole, it is difficult to say of a natural individual that it is beautiful in its own right, independently of its contribution to the natural whole. Yet, many nature lovers seem to find beauty in individual plants and animals as such. Another implication concerns the status of humans with respect to the natural whole. If one holds a monist view of man and nature, considering man as part of nature, then the human individual and the human species cannot be re- garded as having a status or value independently of their being part of the whole. Thus, one cannot make sense of the worth or dignity of the h u m a n individual or of hmmanity.14 Furthermore, one cannot claim autonomy or moral responsibility for human persons or groups of persons, for every human action is considered part of the organic process. In other words, view- ing the human being as part of nature conceived as an organism is incom- patible with the status of the human person as a moral agent. Here, a monist " Leopold and Nasss tend to view nature or ecosystems according to a community conception. Lovelock's »Gaia hypothesis« is a version of the organism view. For a discussion of these as two alternative, competing holistic models of nature, see Eric Katz, »Organism, Community, and the 'Substitution Problem'«, in Katz, Nature as Subject (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1997), pp. 33-52. 14 In my view, the idea of human dignity or worth is too fundamental to ethical and legal thinking to be summarily dismissed. 295 Sven Arntzen view of man and nature, in undermining the idea of morality altogether, rules out natural beauty as a foundation for moral obligation with respect to the natural environment. The alternative, given the organism view, is to maintain a dualistic view of man and nature. If the human being is no t part of the natural whole, viewed as an organism, it is possible to maintain that the human being has independen t status and value, and that he has moral responsibility and so, as a moral agent, is subject to moral obligation. And it makes sense to con- sider human activity as something distinct f rom and capable of being con- trary to natural processes and to pass ethical j udgmen t on human actions accordingly. Environmental ethics based on natural beauty, where na ture is conceived as an organism, supposes that the human being is essentially dis- tinct and separate f rom nature. In that case, natural beauty imposes on humans the obligation to refrain from interfering with that from which they are essentially distinct. This is in agreement with the preservation argument. An alternative to the organism view is the view of nature or an ecosys- tem as a community. For characteristics of community, one often looks to human communities: the association of people under some political author- ity, religious communities, communities based on some core activity or busi- ness such as a fishing community, and so on. Since nature or an ecosystem is not characterized by the kind of cooperation and mutual obligation that one finds in human communities, it must be considered sufficient for a natural community that its members interact and influence one another and that they share in the same fundamental conditions of existence and life.15 Even if the members of one species prey on those of another, this is neces- sary for the thriving of the animals that survive, and they do so unde r re- lated conditions. The community view of nature supposes that natural things in their great diversity are somehow connected. However, a community is a looser association of things than an organism. A community member may have a significant function with respect to the whole and yet have independ- ent status or value. When contrasting the community view of nature with the organism view, Eric Katz uses a university as an example of community to make this point.1" Students, faculty and staff who are essential to the univer- sity community also have lives and activities apart f rom it. 15 John Passmore, Man's Responsibility for Nature (NewYork:Scribner, 1974), p. 116, objects to the community view of nature on the grounds that it is a necessary condition for there being a community that those who count as its members recognize mutual obligations. As Callicott points out in his In Defense of the Land Ethic. Essays in Environmental Philosophy (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), p. 71, a community view of nature must reject Passmore's condition. 16 Katz, op. cit., pp. 57-58. 296 Natural Beauty, Ethics and Conceptions of Nature If these characterizations of community and community members are correct, then this view of nature does not have the problematic implications of the organism view. It allows for the individual thing in nature to be con- sidered beautiful in its own right, and not only in terms of its function within the whole. This view also allows for a monist view of the relationship of man and nature, according to which humans are members of the natural com- munity, without relinquishing the view of the human person as valuable and as morally responsible. Leopold regards human membership in the natu- ral community as a presupposition of his land ethic. He construes the evo- lution of ethics as a gradual development f rom its concern with the relation of one individual to another, through a concern with the relation of the individual to society to a concern with humans ' relation to the land and the things living on it, i.e., the land ethic.17 According to him, the last stage will be a reality when humans, as moral agents, view land as a community to which they belong, together with all other living things.18 For Leopold, the human person is not prepared to follow an ethic based on natural beauty unless he realizes that he is a member of a natural community. III. Natural Beauty, Place and Landscape One problem with the community view and the idea of natural beauty is that a community is not the sort of thing that is considered beautiful . Whereas it makes sense to speak of nature as a »beautiful organism«, it is not so obvious that it makes sense to characterize nature as a »beautiful community.« If natural beauty can justify an ethic concerning humans ' re- lationship to the natural environment, the question is how this is so, when the community view of nature is presupposed. One reason why a commu- nity is not the sort of thing that is considered beautiful is that it is not a mere aggregate of its members. A community also involves the complex relation- ships of its members and the conditions of their coexistence. Such relation- ships and conditions are grasped intellectually; they are not directly per- ceived but inferred f rom what is perceived. Writers on natural aesthetics generally agree that perceptual qualities of natural phenomena are relevant to their being beautiful or objects of aesthetic appreciation.19 If a commu- 17 Leopold, op. cit., pp. 202-203. 18 Ibid., p. viii. 1!l I make this claim on the basis of writings by people of diverse orientations on natural aesthetics:Arnold Berleant, »The Aesthetics of Art and Nature«, in Salim Kelam & Ivan Gaskell (eds.), Landscape, Natural Beauty and the Arts (Cambridge: Cambridge 297 Sven Arntzen nity is, at least in part, an intellectually grasped entity, natural beauty must pertain to perceptual aspects, i.e., what can be seen, heard, felt, etc., of the natural community. As objects of perception, it is typically uniquely identifiable particulars that are considered beautiful: individual animals, particular places and land- scapes. Perhaps one can also say that the beauty of a particular natural phe- n o m e n o n is as unique as the particular itself. If positive aesthetics is true, two natural landscapes, similar or dissimilar, are both beautiful and there- fore of equal aesthetic value. Yet, each is beautiful in its particular manner, by virtue of its unique character, so that the beauty of one is not exchange- able for the beauty of the other. The elimination of one landscape would then be an absolute, irreplaceable, loss. A place, landscape or natural region is dependen t for its beauty on the kinds of plants and animals and types of soil and rocks that are natural to it. Callicott, with reference to Leopold, suggests that certain species of plants and animals might be more central to the beauty of a region than others, such as the ruffed grouse in the nor th woods of Wisconsin and the alligator in the Louisiana swamps. He calls these »aesthetic indicator species«.20 Since, as ecology tells us, an ecosystem is an intricate web of in terdependent things, the aesthetic indicator species re- quire their support ing species and phenomena . The unique beauty and character of a natural area requires the presence of all the species of plants and animals and all the soil and rock types that are natural or original to it. Human communities were originally attached to specific places or re- gions, whose conditions were central to the determination of the individual character of the community. A small fishing village at a particular coastal location has its character to a great extent determined by the conditions of that particular location: the presence of certain species of fish, prevailing weather conditions, soil conditions, the surrounding landscape such as the presence or absence of forests nearby, the proximity to other villages, the topography, and so on. And for its survival, the community has organized its activities so as tp be in agreement with the natural conditions of its loca- tion. A natural community is similar in that it too is attached to a certain place and region, whose peculiar conditions and characteristics help determine its unique character, including the diversity and relationships of its mem- University Press, 1993), pp. 228-243; Emily Brady, »Imagination and the Aesthetic Appreciation of Nature«, The Journal ofAesthetics and Art Criticism 56 (1998), pp. 139- 147; J. Baird Callicott, »The Land Aesthetic«, in Callicott (ed.), Companion to 'A Sand County Almanac'. Interpretive and Critical Essays (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1987), pp. 157-171. 20 Callicott, »The Land Aesthetic«, pp. 166-167; cf. Leopold, op.cit., pp.137-138. 298 Natural Beauty, Ethics and Conceptions of Nature bers. A particular place, landscape or region possesses diverse perceptual qualities, and it is a complex orderly whole. Thus, a place, landscape or re- gion satisfies at least some of the conditions for possessing natural beauty. It is reasonable to think, then that if nature is viewed as a community, natu- ral beauty pertains to the place, landscape or region in which the commu- nity is located. According to dynamic ecology, a place in nature or a natural landscape has a history which accounts for its unique character. As such, every place or region embodies its distinctive narrative, a story of its developmental stages and their significance. The story is about the reciprocal influence of resident species and the places and regions in which they are located. Hu- mans can relate to such a narrative in either of two ways. They have the ca- pacity to disrupt the narrative so as to discontinue it, or they can, through their actions, con t inue the narrative. Nei ther Naess' d e e p ecology no r Leopold's land ethic prohibits human habitation in and interaction with nature. According to Naess, human activities or human habitation need not be incompatible with wilderness; only certain lifestyles are, especially those of Western industrial people.21 And according to Leopold, the land ethic does not oppose human activity in the natural environment, only the destruc- tion of this environment.22 Indeed, a truly holistic ethic of nature, which seeks to integrate humans in the natural whole, cannot prohibit human uses of nature, provided these uses are sustainable in the relevant sense and are confined in scope so as to be in conformity with nature's original processes. The idea of natural beauty can help support these ethical constraints on human activity in nature. If, as positive aesthetics holds, a place or landscape is naturally or origi- nally beautiful, and, as dynamic ecology holds, it is subject to cont inuous processes or evolutionary changes, the results of which are also beautiful, then natural beauty requires of humans that they conduct their lives in a manner which is consistent with nature 's own processes. In o ther words, anthropogenic changes, which are inevitable, given the presence of humans on Earth, must be such that they do not upset nature's own course. Human activity must be governed by a concern for the particular place or landscape where the natural community is located. For example, forestry practices must be determined according to the character of the place, such as its topogra- phy, soil conditions, living conditions of resident species, and so on. A road built in hilly country must be narrow and winding. Farming practices must 21 Naess, »The Third World, Wilderness, and Deep Ecology«, in George Sessions (ed.), Deep Ecology for the Twenty-first Century, p . 3 9 8 . 22 Leopold, op.cit., p. 204. 299 Sven Arntzen leave habitat for resident species, although the manner in which this is done will depend on climatic arid soil conditions, on what the resident species are, and so on. Since a place or a landscape is like no other, its beauty requires of humans that their activities maintain its uniqueness. Rather than exclud- ing humans from the natural environment, an ethic based on natural beauty in this manner imposes requirements on humans' lifestyles, that human lives and activities be de termined by the character of the place or landscape, ra ther than the other way around. According to some proponents of positive aesthetics, the aesthetic ap- preciation of nature requires scientific knowledge, the knowledge of a region's or landscape's natural history.23 Such a requirement seems counterintuitive and unreasonable, for it would imply that persons without the prerequisite knowledge of a certain region are incapable of aesthetic appreciation of that region.24 On the other hand, such knowledge is useful, and may even be nec- essary, for conforming to the requirements imposed by natural beauty. The requirement that human activity be in conformity with nature's own dynamic processes is a requirement that human activity be part of and a continuation of a narrative which is already present as embodied in the natural environ- ment. Knowledge of the history of a place or landscape is relevant to deter- mining what is involved in complying with the ethical requirement. The place or landscape in which a particular natural community is lo- cated is not any place, determinable by means of abstract coordinates alone. Rather, it holds a special significance to that community and its members. Thus, there is a sense in which the place or landscape of a natural commu- nity is h o m e to that community and its members . As Edward Casey has pointed out, the idea of home signifies an intimate relationship that a per- son or group of persons has to a particular place.25 Home is that particular place to which one belongs. It is part of one's identity, and the distinctive character of the home itself comes from one's living in it. Thus conceived, a home is something very different from a house. Whereas one's home is one 's dwelling in a fundamenta l sense, a house is a construction, a distinct other to which one has a merely external relationship. The relation to a place as one's home in this sense is a basis for one's caring for it, making sure it persists in its distinctive existence and significance. Similarly, if the idea of home is applied to the place or region of a natural community, which in- 23 See for example Allen Carlson, op.cit. Callicott attributes a similar view to Leopold, cf. Callicott, »The Land Aesthetic«, pp. 161-166. 24 For an extensive criticism of this view, see for example Emily Brady, op.cit. 25 EdwardS. Casey, Getting Back into Place (Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1993), e.g. pp. 121, 175-77. 300 Natural Beauty, Ethics and Conceptions of Nature eludes humans among its members, it makes sense to extend the same con- siderations of care to this place or region. The word »ecology« is derived f rom the ancient Greek words »oikos«, of ten translated as »home«, and »logos«.20 Accordingly, ecology is the study of the natural home, including the things inhabiting it and the relationships of their interdependence. The natural home has its beauty f rom all the things that naturally live in it and belong to it. As an intrinsic value, natural beauty requires of the morally capable members of the natural community that they care for the h o m e of all the community's members, that they act so as to enable it to cont inue to exist with its distinctive character. IV. Conclusion In opposition to the preservation argument, I do not think that natu- ral beauty prohibits human uses of nature altogether, when na ture or a natural region is viewed as a community of which humans are members. It does not follow, however, that there is no obligation to preserve wilderness areas in various parts of the world. Some of the considerations I have pre- sented can also be used in support of wilderness preservation. Although natural communities or ecosystems are distinguishable entities, they must still be connected. The distinct communities and their respective members must somehow interact or relate to one another across community bounda- ries, for they all exist in one inescapable world, Earth. Insofar as one can speak of a global natural community, the beauty of nature thus conceived is the beauty of Earth. If positive aesthetics is assumed, then Earth with its original biological diversity is beautiful. If natural beauty is a foundat ion of an ethic of nature, then such beauty on a global scale implies that humans should not, through drastic interference with natural processes, upset the conditions of Earth's original biological diversity. Failure to preserve vari- ous kinds of wilderness would diminish this diversity. Thus, the appeal to natural beauty can support an ethic of nature at the global level as well as at the local or regional level.27 2f) For an account of the origin of the word »ecology«, see for example J. Donald Hughes, Ecology in Ancient Civilizations (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1975), pp. 2-3. 27 I am grateful to Otto M. Christensen for conversations about issues of aesthetics. 301 Richard Conte Recherche et création Qui parle de recherche entre dans le champ des sciences et doit répon- dre aux objectifs généraux et aux exigences posées au jourd 'hui par celles- ci. Il s'agit de donner une description de la réalité dans et par laquelle nous existons, y-compris les êtres vivants et ceci grâce à des lois et des concepts, formulés et forgés par notre cerveau. «Connaître, c'est décrire pour retrou- ver»1 et cette description ne doit comporter ni incohérence ni contradic- tion pour être validée. On doit ainsi pouvoir, par la rigueur d ' u n dispositif d 'expérimentation, reproduire les mêmes effets à partir des mêmes causes2. De plus, les sciences, chacune dans leur branche, doivent édifier un savoir objectif et cumulatif que l 'expérience s'efforce de légitimer. Pourtant, même s'ils constituent un gain cognitif, ces savoirs se trouvent sans cesse question- nés par la recherche en cours jusqu 'à provoquer une crise des concepts qui existaient auparavant. Ayant un ensemble de vérités consensuelles et évolu- tives pour objectif de ses investigations, la repherche scientifique suppose que ce qu'elle révèle, possède une réalité en dehors d'elle. Sera donc cher- cheur celui qui tente d'établir des connaissances nouvelles, de produire cette plus-value cognitive, ayant valeur d'universalité dans son champ de réfé- rence, et souvent contre les certitudes acquises de sa propre spécialité. Mais les territoires des sciences se présentent avec des statuts variés quant à leur champ d'application et à leurs conséquences pratiques. Con- trairement aux sciences humaines, ce que l 'on qualifie de sciences de la 1 G. Bachelard, Essai sur la connaissance approchée, Paris, Vrin, sixième édition, 1987, p. 9. I l précise p. 10: «Ce qui pousse souvent à rejeter la description au rang d'une méthode de pis aller, c'est que, dans les sciences plus qu'ailleurs, on est amené à confondre la connaissance telle qu'on la transmet et la connaissance telle qu'on la crée.» 2 Dans sa fameuse «Lettre à Léo Ferrero», Valéry note en marge que «la science, au sens moderne du mot, consiste à faire dépendre le savoir du pouvoir; et va jusqu'à subordonner l'intelligible au vérifiable. La confiance repose entièrement sur la certitude de reproduire ou de revoir un certain phénomène moyennant certains actes bien définis. Quant à la manière de décrire ce phénomène, de l'expliquer, c'est là la partie muable, discutable, perfectible de l'accroissement ou de l'exposition de la science» Œuvres, T. I, Gallimard, p. 1253. De façon plus aphoristique, dans Moralités: «Il faut n'appeler Science: que l'ensemble des recettes qui réussissent toujours. Tout le reste est littérature.» Ibid. T. II, p. 522. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 303-200 191 Richard Conte nature s'avère épistémologiquement moins problématique. En effet, quel que soit le moment ou le lieu, un fait d 'expérimentat ion reste valable et si tel n 'est pas le cas, c'est qu 'une erreur a dû se glisser dans le dispositif ou la procédure , ou bien que les causes ne sont pas tout à fait identiques. Pou- voir reproduire une expérience demeure un critère de base de la mise à l 'épreuve scientifique. Ceci ne va pas d'ailleurs sans quelques difficultés au jourd 'hui compte tenu de l 'extrême sophistication des instruments, de la précision des mesures et du coût des expériences. De fait, les sciences humaines en modelant (modélisant) peu ou prou leurs méthodes sur celles de l'investigation des sciences de la nature, se heur- tent d 'emblée à un problème de quantité: le nombre de paramètres à con- sidérer pour la moindre tentative d 'expérimentation est immense et la mise en relation de ces paramètres oppose au chercheur un obstacle d ' u n e com- plexité difficilement appréciable. Cette situation rend l 'expérimentat ion ra rement significative. Le mot recherche conserve donc sa force intention- nelle mais perd en efficience quant aux résultats mesurables et à valeur généralisable. En épistémologie générale, le mot recherche recouvre, si on l 'applique à la recherche scientifique, dont l'Université est l 'un des lieux de prédilec- tion, «un processus par lequel on parvient à un but, plus ou moins bien représenté à l'avance, mais dont on ignore au départ comment l 'atteindre. L'idéal est évidemment de posséder une procédure qu'il suffirait d'appli- quer pour parvenir au résultat»3. Il s'agit donc de progresser dans la con- naissance de tel domaine. Or, tout se complique déjà quand le psychisme humain et sa socialisation sont à eux-mêmes leur propre territoire d'inves- tigation et se retrouvent en quelque sorte juges et parties dans la recherche. Établir des connaissances cumulables en ces domaines n'est pas sans achop- per sur de graves difficultés et toutes les sciences «humaines» ne se retrou- vent pas à égalité devant la spécificité de leur champ. On peut néanmoins parler de recherche dans ce cas, au moins en ce qui relève de la démarche utilisée, sinon de l 'universalité des résultats obtenus. Il n'existe pas, par exemple en histoire, une partition unique des objets culturels en domaines fixes. On sait que la vie d ' une culture est d ' u n e telle complexité que nous sommes probablement incapables d 'en débrouiller toutes les connexions. Ainsi les descriptions de deux historiens peuvent apparaître comme contra- dictoires sans pour autant que l 'une soit vraie et l 'autre fausse car cela dé- pend de la relativité des connaissances historiques au champ que chacun a 3 Encyclopédie philosophique universelle, T. 2, «Les notions philosophiques», Paris, PUF, 1990, art. Recherche. 304 Recherche et création défini au préalable et du rapport de leurs connaissances à la mobilité fon- damentale que constitue l'historicité. Le Vocabulaire d'esthétique considère à l'article recherche qu 'en effet, le tra- vail du chercheur consiste à «établir de nouvelles connaissances, ou d'obte- nir des résultats nouveaux». Le développement mérite d 'ê t re cité dans son intégralité car il fait la distinction entre deux cas qui é tendent la notion de recherche: «Le premier cas concerne la recherche en esthétique; elle s'ap- parente à la recherche philosophique ou scientifique, et travaille à mieux connaître tous les objets qu 'étudie l 'esthétique. Le second concerne la re- cherche de l'artiste, de l'écrivain, qui essaie des genres ou procédés neufs, ou travaille à découvrir comment réaliser certains effets; elle est souvent moins systématique et plus empirique que la première. Il ne faut pas mé- connaître le long travail de recherche qu'exige souvent l 'œuvre d 'art ; cer- taines œuvres n 'on t d'ailleurs pour but que la recherche, en ce sens que ce sont des essais, des tentatives, et non des œuvres ayant leur fin en elles-mê- mes»4. L 'auteur de l'article surligne le dessein scientifique de la recherche en esthétique, en posant le principe d 'une affinité épistémologique entre la recherche d 'ordre philosophique et la recherche scientifique. En revan- che, le travail de «recherche» des artistes est tiré du côté de la préparat ion documentaire et technique, ou de l 'expérimentation des procédés, c'est-à- dire vers les tentatives, les essais, etc., sous-entendant une distinction assez nette entre le moment où l'artiste serait un «chercheur» et celui où il en- trerait dans la singularité de son œuvre. Ceci suppose u n e parti t ion par exemple chez le même chercheur / artiste, entre celui qui cherche et celui qui crée, ou chez deux artistes différents dont l 'un dirait «je ne trouve pas, j e cherche» et l 'autre à l'instar de Picasso, «je ne cherche pas, j e trouve»!5 4 Anne Souriau, Vocabulaire d'esthétique, Dir. Etienne Souriau, Paris, PUF, 1990, art. recherche. 5 Jacques Drillon, de façon très documentée, étudie la réciproque solidarité entre «chercher» et «trouver» en ces termes: « 'Chercher' est attribut de 'trouver', et 'trouver' l'attribut de 'chercher'. Ils vont ensemble et du même pas.» Les citations qu'il tire du Dictionnaire des citations de Pierre Oster (Utilitaires Le Robert) démontrent l'ascendance philologique de la boutade de Picasso, sans parler de la formule de Jésus: «Tu ne me chercherais point si tu ne m'avais déjà trouvé.» Drillon fait remarquer que «Trouver est victime d'une irrésistible dévaluation, au profit du chercher; que l'un et l'autre ont même tendance à échanger leurs significations, ou du moins leurs positions respectives dans le déroulement chronologique. En tout cas, l'homme semble plus grand dans l'effort que dans la récompense.»Jacques Drillon, Eurêka, Généalogie et sémantique du verbe «trouver», Paris, Gallimard, Le promeneur, 1995, pp. 114-117. 305 Richard Conte En quel sens l 'artiste pourrait-il done être considéré comme cher- cheur?0 Probablement dans celui d 'une collecte et d 'une quête méthodiques aptes à fonder ou enrichir l 'élaboration d 'œuvres (études préparatoires, esquisses, réflexions théoriques), d 'une préparation expérimentale associée à un projet. Mais c'est jus tement pour les artistes qui privilégient le procès que s 'emploie le plus souvent aujourd 'hui ce terme de «recherche», qui devient presque synonyme d'expérience.7 Il y a donc très vite amalgame ent re procédure de recherche et processus créateur, qui peuvent opérer comme la chaîne et la trame d 'une même œuvre. C'est jus tement l 'un des buts que s'est fixée l 'é tude des conduites créatrices: démêler ce qui dans l 'œuvre en cours concerne une posture de recherche (avisée cognitive) et une posture créatrice (à visée singularisante). Par exemple, les savoirs tech- niques, les observations autocritiques, ou les documents iconographiques et historiographiques rassemblés par l'artiste au travail, peuvent appor ter des connaissances supplémentaires susceptibles de faire progresser, non pas la création de cet artiste en tant que telle, mais les savoirs et savoir-faire qui en sont les ingrédients nécessaires et dont l'artiste peut faire partager l'ex- périence et même généraliser les résultats. Quant à ce qui fait «l'exclusivité» de sa création, les saillies plus ou moins ardentes sorties du fond grouillant de la praxis, il est bien sûr au cen- tre de l 'entreprise poïétique, de «chercher» autant quefaire se peut, à en éclair- cir l 'événement par l 'avènement8 . Mais pour l 'heure, quand l'artiste réalise u n e œuvre, peut-on avancer qu'i l «recherche»? Ne vaut-il pas mieux dire qu'il «cherche»?1' Or cela correspond-t-il à quelque chose dans l ' idée que les sciences et l'Université se font de la recherche? Nous savons bien que la f' La réponse à cette question mériterait bien sûr un traitement historique des relations entre art et connaissance car ces deux notions s'associent ou s'opposent d'une façon toujours éclairante. Cf. Philippe Junod, Transparence et opacité, Lausanne, L'Age d'homme, 1976, pp. 149-151. 7 «La distinction (...) entre peintre à clientèle et peintre-chercheur nous apporte ici plus d'un critère de classification, (...). Comme André Lhote nous l'a bien fait sentir, le peintre-chercheur a moins tendance à faire des tableaux que le peintre à clientèle, il fait plutôt des expériences.» René Passeron, L'œuvre picturale et les fonctions de l'apparence, Paris, Vrin, sec. éd. 1974, p. 325. 8 Comme disait Goethe: «Notre opinion est qu'il sied à l'homme de supposer qu'il y a quelque chose d'inconnaissable, mais qu'il ne doit pas mettre de limite à sa recherche.» cité par Pierre Bourdieu, Les règles de l'art, Paris, Seuil, 1992, p. 12. 9 «Lorsqu'on cherche, on ne connaît pas exactement ce qu'on cherche. On sait ce qu'on cherche quand on le recherche; (...) La Chercherst donc de l'énergie pure, du désir, une appétence, un appel. (...) Ce qu'on cherche, c'est la fin du Chercher. C'est précisément la découpe du temps, la borne, le jalon, le bas de la page.» Jacques Drillon, op. cit. p. 117. 306 Recherche et création création artistique même si elle touche à une «vérité humaine», - le singu- lier et le local peuvent être à vocation universelle - et peut à ce titre être un «moyen de connaissance»10, ne veut nul lement établir des vérités «scientifi- ques», car c'est par son existence et non par ses lois généralisables q u ' u n e œuvre d 'ar t apporte un surcroît de savoir11. Nous touchons là à un problème litigieux qui est par exemple de dé- terminer ce qu 'on entend par «recherche» dans le domaine des arts plasti- ques. Mais il faut néanmoins préciser que, même sur leur terrain, et Edgar Morin12 ou Prigogine13 l 'ont bien montré, les sciences les plus «dures», on t rencontré dans leur fonct ionnement propre, la nécessité de composer avec le hasard, l'incertitude, l'indéterminisme, le pulsionnel et l 'esthétique. Il faut une imagination tenace, des efforts infructueux, des essais et erreurs inin- terrompus, avant de lancer le fameux Eurêka! Il y a aussi dans la recherche scientifique des repentirs, des recyclages, une fécondité par décent rement , bref la faculté d'articuler des connaissances sur un fond de méconnaissance. 10 Une des thèses couramment avancée par le marxisme, propose de considérer les arts comme «activité de connaissance». Elle s'appuie sur divers textes de Marx et d'Engels, du type de la célèbre lettre d'Engels à Miss Harkness (1888), disant qu'il a «plus appris, même en ce qui concerne les détails économiques (...)» chez Balzac «que dans tous les livres des historiens, économistes, statisticiens professionnels de l'époque pris ensemble» (Cf. Briefwàchsel, Berlin, Dietz Verlag, 1953, p. 481). Certes l'art peut être un moyen de connaissance mais faut-il pour autant faire entrer la pratique artistique réelle dans la définition, accommoder le mot «connaissance» à toutes les sauces? Une peinture de Kandinsky ne fait rien connaître d'autre qu'elle- même. Son intérêt est donc dans sa création, et non dans la prise de connaissance d'aspects déjà existants, mais non encore connus du monde. L'activité artistique n'est pas plus (ni moins) mode de connaissance que toute parole, tout écrit, toute fabrication. Et comme toute parole, tout écrit, toute Œuvre, elle peut jouer un rôle de désinformation, de méconnaissance. Lorsqu'en 1878, à Palo Alto (Californie), Muybridge obtint la première série d'instantanés d'un cheval de course, cela provoqua un grand émoi: ses résultats contredisaient Raphaël! 11 On écarte habituellement avec trop de promptitude la notion de création ex-nihilo, à cause de la gangue théologique qui l'emprisonne et surtout par conformité aux acquis des sciences physiques. Pourtant, il n'est pas sûr que cette notion, certes irrecevable stricto-sensu, ait dit son dernier mot. Si créer ajoute à ce qui existe déjà en transformant par l'action humaine des matériaux en matières, il est en effet absurde de vouloir créer à partir de rien. Cependant il est certain que pour un esprit moderne, seul a vraiment d'importance, le supplément de singularité qui paraîtra venir de rien à travers le maquis des formes imitées. Aussi, défendre un ex-nihilo méthodologiquen'est- ce pas défendre la création tout court? 12 Cf. E. Morin et M. Piatelli, L'unité de l'homme. Invariants biologiques et universaux culturels, Paris, éd. du Seuil, 1974. 13 Cf. I. Prigogine et I. Stengers, La Nouvelle Alliance, Paris, Gallimard, 1980. 307 Richard Conte D'autre part, ne parle-t-on pas de «scénario» et de «simulation» con- cernant les représentations du futur en Prospective, domaine essentielle- m e n t réflexif et exploratoire? On sait que la Prospective se d o n n e pour mission d'anticiper les développements scientifiques et technologiques fu- turs en posant des questions nouvelles pour la recherche. Dans toute simu- lation, dans toute anticipation, même la plus rigoureuse, entre u n e part d ' intuit ion et de projection mentale qui interdisent de penser la recherche scientifique comme procédure purement déductive ou mécanique. Toutefois, même si faire de la recherche au sens de recherche scientifi- que, comporte toujours en tant qu'acte, une part d 'engagement du corps et de l'affect, un investissement psychologique, c'est-à-dire jus tement une part de faire humain, il n 'empêche que c'est bien l'investigation et la vérification14 qui doivent l 'emporter quant à la méthode requise. L'objectif global est bien d'établir des savoirs où la part d 'un consensus de vérités doit augmenter. C'est dire que, certes, tous les rapprochements peuvent être poïét iquement tentés entre recherche scientifique et création artistique, - cela est stimu- lant pour l 'esprit et fécond pour la recherche - mais qu 'en fin de compte, distinguer vaut mieux que confondre. Or, s'il peut y avoir par exemple, des points de convergence entre un biologiste du CNRS et un plasticien, si l 'on peut considérer que tous deux, à leur manière «font des mondes»15, les buts réels, les moyens d'agir et les résultats obtenus ne peuvent s'identifier. Même si la recherche scientifique aime à se dire «créatrice», même si les artistes 14 Cependant, sur ce point aussi il y a débat. Par exemple, Karl Popper ne demande pas aux théories scientifiques d'être vérifiables, mais réfutables, falsifiables, testables. Voir: La logique de la découverte scientifique, (1933) trad. de l'angl., Paris, Payot, 1973. 15 Goodman va même plus loin et D. Chateau pose clairement la question: «Les goodmaniens développent ainsi le paradoxe que les mondes faits par l'art nous apprennent autant que les mondes faits par la science et cela dans la mesure où il n'y a pas de monde ready-made, mais diverses versions du monde créées par divers individus. L'idée est séduisante, mais correspond-elle à l'expérience que nous avons des choses et tout particulièrement, à l'expérience de l'artiste telle qu'elle se manifeste dans son activité et sa réflexion?» in Arts plastiques, Recherches et Formation supérieure, Actes du colloque, op. cit., pp. 164-165. Voir à ce propos l'article de Catherine Z. Elgin, «Comprendre: l'art et la science», in Lire Goodman, Combas, éd. de l'Eclat, 1992, pp. 49-67 qui écrit (p.50): «Toutefois, la science et la philosophie sont manifestement des entreprises cognitives. Une épistémologie incapable de les prendre en compte est trop anémique pour servir à quelque chose. Mais une épistémologie suffisamment vigoureuse pour expliquer leurs contributions cognitives ne peut, c'est ce queje suggère, éviter de prendre en compte les arts. Car pour l'essentiel, les arts font le même genre de contributions. Si j 'a i raison, la question n'est pas de savoir si les arts fonctionnent cognitivement, mais comment ils le font.» 308 Recherche et création sont souvent fascinés par les démarches diversifiées des sciences10, leurs res- sources inventives et leurs dérivés technologiques, indifférencier serait ouvrir la voie à un syncrétisme fumeux dont ces deux approches fondamentales de l'esprit humain que sont les sciences et les arts, auraient à pâtir. Cependant , on découvre un virus, mais on crée un médicament car créer un médicament, tout en participant de la recherche scientifique, fait intervenir des mixtures comme la cuisine des recettes. La recherche d ' u n vaccin peut apparaître, par exemple, comme une création et il est indénia- ble que celui qui le découvre y met une puissance créatrice, faisant ent rer e n j e u une part d ' intuit ion, d' «imagination scientifique»17, voire m ê m e quelquefois de hasard. Dans le cas d 'un prototype d 'automobile par exem- ple, il y a aussi étroite connivence de la création et de la recherche par les effets conjugués de la science des matériaux et d 'une sorte de «génésis non naturelle» utilisant par exemple des souffleries pour créer les formes les mieux adaptées aux multiples contraintes auxquelles doit obéir le construc- teur tout en singularisant le modèle18. Le prototype sera donc à la fois un lf' I l suffit de citer Klee: «En art aussi, on trouve un champ suffisant pour la recherche exacte, et les portes qui y donnent sont ouvertes depuis quelques temps. Ce qui était déjà accompli pour la musique avant la fin du XVIIIe siècle vient enfin de commencer dans le domaine plastique.» «Recherches exactes dans le domaine des arts», in Théorie de l'art moderne, op. cit., p. 48. Mais Klee s'empresse de rétablir contre toute «loi nue», la «réalité vivante», «l'intuition» et «le génie»... Reste que la tentative de Klee est un exemple souvent cité dans l'enseignement universitaire en arts plastiques. On sait à quel point il existait un rêve de Bauhaus chez les «pères fondateurs» de l'UFR de Paris I. et la mention «sciences de l'art» le signale encore aujourd'hui discrètement. Voir aussi à propos de ce passage de Klee: Hubert Damisch, Fenêtre jaune de cadmium, Paris, Seuil, 1984, pp. 197-199. 17 En psychologie, le terme d'imagination créatrice s'oppose à celui d'imagination reproductrice et correspond à la faculté de produire de nouvelles images. Cette faculté créative désigne le processus qui permet à un sujet de dépasser le déjà-là dans n'importe quel domaine des activités humaines. Cf. aussi, Gérard Holton, L'imagination scientifique, trad. franc., Paris, Gallimard, 1982. A propos d'Einstein, il montre le rôle des «idées fixes» du savant (themata), dans ses découvertes. 18 «Entre la nature qui génère et l'homme qui 'instaure', il manque un chaînon pour rendre compte du mode de fabrication de ces objets dont le faire n'est plus décomposable en une succession de gestes humains et qui ne sont pas non plus le produit d'une croissance interne ou de la sécrétion d'un mollusque. I l s'agit du chaînon, disons mathématique: un module mathématique appliqué de façon sérielle. Entre endogénèse et poïésis, existe une génésis non naturelle qui se développe non seulement à l'aide de traceurs et de calculs mais aussi par des profilages de laboratoire. On pense aux souffleries dirigées sur des corps mous pour étudier l'aérodynamisme d'un prototype automobile par exemple. C'estjustement la perte du fil mathématique, qui me semble, en revanche de l'ordre de la poïésis.» R. Conte, «Art et téléphone», communication au séminaire Le produit de la création, 14-15 et 16 déc. 1990, Hammamet, Tunisie. 309 Richard Conte produi t de la recherche technologique et une création qui, en tant que prototype sera unique, aura un statut de pseudo-personne AonX. la disparition par exemple accidentelle affligerait ses auteurs qu'elle compromet d'ailleurs en tant que collectif, tout comme le laboratoire est compromis en tant qu 'au teur dans la création d 'un vaccin.19 Notons qu'il y a une fâcheuse tendance à galvauder aussi bien le mot création que le mot recherche et cela ne peut être considéré comme une sim- ple querelle de mots. Quand on parle de recherche, on devrait pouvoir sous- en tendre «recherche scientifique» c'est-à-dire épistémologiquement la re- cherche d 'un consensus sur des vérités alors que création se rapporte à la survenue d 'une existence singulière, ce que faute de mieux, Souriau a ap- pelé instauration.20 L'idéal institutionnel des sciences, c'est qu'i l y ait le 19 On reconnaît entre ces lignes les trois critères de la création exposés par R. Passeron. Cf. «Les critères de la création», in Pour une philosophie de la création, Paris, Klincksieck, 1989, pp. 154-163. 20 Le terme d'instauration me paraît impropre, quelles que soient les raisons de Souriau, car à connotation pompeuse et officielle. I l n'appelle pas à considérer la fragilité poïétique de l'Œuvre en cours, ses repentirs, ses destructions. I l sollicite la force et se réfère à la part édificatrice et édifiante de la création. Dire que le concept d'instauration est «le point de départ de la poïétique» est très exagéré (Vocabulaire d'esthétique, op. cit., art. «Instauration»). Pour la genèse de l'appropriation de ce concept par les recherches poïétiques, voir René Passeron: «Le concept d'instauration et le développement de la poïétique», (in L'art instaurateur, Revue d'Esthétique, 1980, n" 3-4, Paris, UGE, coll. 10/18,). Les mots certes nous manquent et s'appliquent à manquer leur cible en ce domaine. On sait le toilettage indispensable qu'il a fallu faire subir au mot «création» et combien de fois «poïétique» a suscité (mais de moins en moins) l'étonnement, voire la perplexité. Peut-être faut-il recourir aux propositions des poètes. J'aime par exemple le mot-valise de Jean-Clarence Lambert: laborinthe pour dire à la fois le travail et le dédale de la conduite créatrice. Mais pourrait-on dire, sans ridicule, «laborinther» une Œuvre? Comment circonscrire par des mots justes, le mal de créer, en conservant la précision et la rigueur indispensables à l'analyse? I l n'y a pas de place pour le corps dans ce mot et ce concept philosophiques d'instauration, i l n'a qu'une vigueur solennelle. Qu'on pense par exemple au mot «production» que proposait naguère Ricardou à la place de création! Et pourtantje me souviens combien ce terme paraissait scientifiquement supérieur à celui de création, englué dans sa gangue métaphysique et religieuse. Créer me semble donc bien meilleur que produire et instaurer car s'il véhicule un lourd passé théologique, il ouvre sur d'autres sources comme la racine crecere (de creare, croître) qu'indiquait notamment Yves Eyot («La fonction irremplaçable de la création artistique», L'Humanité, 9 Janvier 1976, p. 8. note 7.) et qui pousse création du côté de la genèse. Ce qui ne va pas non plus sans quelque inconvénient puisque, précisément il faut sauvegarder la précieuse distinction aristotélicienne entre génésis et poïésis. En se référant à creare, le danger est certes de confondre la phusis dont le principe de croissance se trouve à l'intérieur de la chose et le poïein qui «importe» son principe 310 Recherche et création moins de créadon possible dans leurs produits mais il y en a toujours, au moins un peu. Réciproquement un processus créateur peut-il s 'élaborer sans aucune accointance avec les recherches scientifiques de son temps? Y aurait- il un inconscient épistémologique de l'artiste-créateur, par exemple, qui le rendrait «absolument moderne», devançant même quelquefois par ses in- tuitions le système de certaines découvertes scientifiques? Les arts plastiques et la notion de recherche Le mot recherche doit donc être interrogé quant à sa validité dans le domaine des arts plastiques à l'université et être confronté à celui de créa- tion.21 Sans doute chercher n'est pas forcément penser et chez le «penseur» entre certainement une part importante de ce que nous entendons par créa- tion. L'Université française n 'a pas pour vocation initiale, de former des écri- vains ou des artistes et à ce titre, elle résiste à leur intrusion dès qu'il y a ex- hibition de subjectivité. Derrière les rapports entre rechercher t création, sourd un problème beaucoup plus général, dont les arts plastiques ne sont que la partie flagrante, par le fait même d 'une pratique agissant sur le visible. Mais en littérature, où écrit-on des poèmes? Où apprend-t-on à faire un roman? La tradition universitaire, sauf exceptions, (fruits de concessions historiques ou locales), tend à réduire au maximum non pas l 'étude des œuvres, même en ce qu'elles ont de singulier, mais la création matérielle d 'œuvres d 'ar t en son sein. Il y a bien entendu une part indiscutable de «créativité» dans les travaux de beaucoup d'universitaires et de chercheurs, mais elle demeure in fine au service d 'un mouvement général vers le vrai, et vise à la constitu- tion de savoirs «ajoutés» qui modifieront le cas échéant les résultats de re- cherches antérieures du même champ. humain dans l'Œuvre. Mais crearea l'insigne avantage à mon sens de l'engendrement et de ce tamisage par le corps créateur, sans lequel la peinture et l'écriture, sans parler du théâtre ou de la danse, seraient de pauvres choses sophistiquées mais privées de leur moelle. I l faut donc travailler au corps les notions de création et d'Œuvre, quitte à les mettre en crise permanente, cela me semble plus fécond que de vouloir leur substituer des notions encore plus problématiques car, à mon avis, plus crispées et plus contestables, comme «production» et «instauration». 21 Sauf bien entendu à en faire un usage strictement métaphorique, d'ailleurs largement répandu, ou encore à l'employer de façon purement stratégique pour solliciter les bonnes grâces institutionnelles et administratives des autorités de tutelle. Mais ceci ne vaudrait pas que pour les arts plastiques... 311 Richard Conte L'idée d ' une recherche 5wrles arts plastiques ne pose pas de problème particulier.22 En effet, les arts plastiques sont un objet d 'é tude, un champ d'investigation comme un autre. Cela va de soi. Il est autrement plus pé- rilleux de parler de recherche en arts plastiques, c'est-à-dire dans le mou- vement d 'une pratique personnelle. S'agit-il d 'une recherche sur soi-même? Auquel cas il faudrait parler de psychologie de la création. S'agit-il d ' u n e recherche sur la signification de nos propres œuvres? Sommes-nous les mieux placés pour en analyser les ressorts? Réciproquement, tout artiste-créateur est habité par un esprit de re- cherche et travaille de façon concomitante et indissociable dans le sensible et le cognitif. Peut-être la nuance se situe-t-elle au niveau du chercheur-plas- ticien-universitaire qui problématise, c'est-à-dire questionne la dissociation du faire et de l'analyse du faire à des fins extérieures à son œuvre propre, à des fins de généralisation scientifique cumulative. A ce point, nous entrons dans le problème des conditions de possibilité d 'une auto-poïétique des arts plastiques, qui me semble la position de principe la plus cohérente et que j ' a i faite mienne. En tant que peintre, c'est d 'abord en moi-même que j e dois aller pui- ser les ressources de mon «corpus», plus que dans les livres ou dans les ar- chives et en ce sens, j e ne suis pas à p roprement parler un «chercheur». Ainsi la part de moi-même la moins maîtrisable serait l 'un des maté- riaux de ma recherche. Le peintre-chercheur exercerait sa curiosité cogni- tive à l 'égard de lui-même ou de cet inqualifiable de lui-même. Pourtant, ce qui se manifeste de ce moi-même, se heurte aux résistances du faire, aux aléas et aux aspérités du médium, de sorte que j e ne sais pas à l 'avance, comment l 'œuvre s ' informera. Loin d 'être une idée qui s ' incarne, elle est souvent au contraire l 'échec d 'une intention, l 'objet d 'une volonté contra- riée, en proie à une rectification2S permanente de son approche par des ac- tes empir iquement contrôlés. 22 Sans oublier, essentiellement en dehors de l'université, la recherche pour les arts plastiques, par exemple celle en vue de la restauration des Œuvres anciennes et contemporaines. Voir par exemple le livre de Ségolène Bergeon, Science et patience ou la restauration des peintures, Paris, RMN, 1990. 23 «Alors que le détournement diverge, la rectification, en tant que détournement détourné, ramène dans le droit chemin d'un projet créateur, même flou, une conduite qui ne veut pas s'égarer. On peut certes rectifier une opération pour en améliorer la capacité détournante, quand l'intention de détourner est l'axe d'un ferme projet. La rectification semble néanmoins, à l'opposé du détournement, une conduite normative de recentrage, de réorientation et de rigueur. Or, la conduite créatrice, pleine de ratures, de repentirs, de «remords» et de reprises, est souvent rectificative. Le concept de rectification me semble même devoir prendre une position éminente dans l'étude des rapports poïétiques entre l'étant et le devant-être.» 312 Recherche et création Peindre serait la dépossession d 'un moi pensant par un moi en acte dans un présent opérationnel dont il faut coûte que coûte accommoder la contrainte pour sauver la peau du tableau. Il ne s'agit pas d 'une recherche d 'ordre psychologique, d ' u n «travail» sur soi-même, mais de la confrontation d 'un état de mon esprit avec un état de mon pouvoir sur le monde à travers le médium pictural. Seul compte mon pouvoir d 'accomplissement dans lequel l ' idée germinale se perd et mue à l 'aune du matériau. Faire de la recherche en peinture, c'est paradoxalement ne jamais lâcher prise, avoir toujours une main «trempée» dans la matière24. Il serait commode de parler ici de tâ tonnement mais je préfère penser ceci en termes d 'approche et d 'approximation, car peindre c'est souvent ajus- ter. Mais d 'où me vient ce souci d'ajustage, de quelles règles procède-t-il? Si règle il y a. C'est à ce point que le savoir sur l 'art fait obstacle à la création et en même temps lui sert de repoussoir, voire de ferment.2 5 Ce qui me paraît René Passeron, La naissance d'Icare, Paris, AE2CG éd., 1996. L'auteur y fait bien entendu directement référence au Bachelard de La formation de l'esprit scientifique, Paris, Vrin, 1938, p. 10. 24 Comme l'écrit Philippe Junod à propos de Léonard, dans un chapitre d'ailleurs très éclairant pour les recherches poïétiques et intitulé, «L'aventure créatrice»: «Fasciné par le prestige de la poésie et de la science, il [Léonard] cherche à démontrer que la peinture leur est à la fois comparable et supérieure. - Vous aussi, vous avez recours à l'exécution manuelle et matérielle, dit-il aux poètes. Et aux savants: votre pensée reste inférieure en ce qu'elle ne comporte pas cette 'operazione' matérielle qui fait tout le prix de l'expérience picturale.» Transparence et opacité, op. cit. p. 223. 25 J'écrivais le 3 décembre 90 dans En attendant que ça sèche, éd. P. Weider & Musée de Bourges, Paris, 1993: «L'histoire de l'art est-elle un danger pour le peintre? Je me plais à répéter qu'aujourd'hui, l'artiste a la chance de disposer d'une vision historique et planétaire des Œuvres créées. Mais n'est-ce pas aussi dans le même temps un terrible obstacle? L'approfondissement des connaissances historiques multiplie les plaisirs du savoir et alimente la réflexion mais en même temps nous obnubile sur plusieurs plans. (...) Mais il y a plus: les événementsde la vie des autres peintres peuvent servir d'alibi à nos propres faiblesses; à trop parcourir les biographies, à trop rêver aux fictions des historiens, on ne vit plus la 'vraie vie'. (...) II ne s'agit pas seulement de l'histoire biographique; qu'elle soit iconologique, forma- liste, sémiologique, psychanalytique, etc., l'histoire de l'art me met à l'écart, à distance de mon Œuvre propre, comme si j 'y appliquais fantasmatiquement les analyses en question! Je passe donc mon propre travail au crible des valeurs véhiculées par telle construction historique. Est-ce une attitude qui me serait particulière, comme refuge honteux? Ou bien y a-t-il là une composante non négligeable de ce qui, par exemple, attire tant de gens vers les études d'histoire de l'art?» A ce propos, cf. Recherches Poïétiques n "1, sem., aut./hiv. 94. qui contient le dossier que j 'ai préparé, intitulé «L'histoire de l'art, ferment ou obstacle pour la création?», avec notamment les communications du Colloque du 26 mai 94 (Université de Valenciennes). 313 Richard Conte «juste» ne l'est point en fonction d 'une règle, fût-elle d'or, mais plutôt en fonct ion d ' u n e continuelle accommodation (et acculturation20) de m o n regard, c'est-à-dire de ma connaissance sensible de la peinture. Il y a bien sûr des facteurs externes, les visites d'ateliers et d'expositions, les catalogues, les débats, les travaux desjeunes étudiants et toutes sortes d'autres éléments qui viennent f inalement s'écouler d 'un seul j e t oujus , par le goulot d 'étran- glement du regard générateur. Mais le plus étonnant, c'est que mes propres œuvres sont probablement les plus normatives de ma pratique de la peinture et tendent à colporter leurs coordonnées sensibles de tableau en tableau, en sorte que le principal obs- tacle à ma recherche en peinture serait d 'abord ma propre peinture. Ce déjà- là, usant de son droit d'aînesse pour certifier conforme les tableaux suivants. Il se produit ainsi une véritable politique de l 'écart par rappor t à une no rme que j 'a i moi-même instaurée. Voici donc une recherche où il n'y a rien à trouver.27 Et jamais j e n ' en finirai de chercher car il n'y a rien à trouver que précisément la recherche même. A peine faite, l 'œuvre est abandonnée et la bête s 'en va en quête d 'autres habitacles pour abriter momentanément son être nomade. Je peux accumuler les toiles, j e peux les montrer, mais elles ne m 'apprendron t rien. Peut-on encore appeler recherche ce qui de fait, procède plutôt de la créa- tion? En fait, ce ne sont pas les œuvres qui constituent la recherche, au sens que j e m'efforce de rendre à cette notion, mais la conscience des rapports qui s'accomplissent en elles, q u a n d j ' e n éprouve l'existence. En témoignant de ces rapports, en étudiant la dynamique ou l ' inertie de leurs effets, en laissant la création produire un savoir en dehors de l 'œuvre, il est possible de rassembler sur la relation au pictural, par exemple, un certain nombre 26 J'emploie ce terme de façon un peu métaphorique; pourtant, si l'acculturation se définit comme l'adaptation d'un individu à une culture étrangère avec laquelle il entre en contact, c'est bien l'intrusion exotique de ce que je crée qu'il me faut admettre, y compris contre mes «convictions» de la veille. 27 «Le peintre-chercheur lutte contre son passé, tout en y trouvant mille nourritures. Le plus important pour lui, n'est donc pas de savoir (de rêver) où il va, mais de ne pas rester trop longtemps où il est. S'il a parfois, dans ses expériences, l'impression de piétiner, son impatience est compensée par le sentiment qu'il n'y a pas de temps perdu pour qui sait tirer la leçon, même de ses pires échecs. En ceci, chercher c'est toujours trouver suffisamment pour ne pas perdre pied. Mais, par ce qu'elle trouve, l'œuvre est alors surprenante.» R. Passeron, L'œuvre picturale et les fonctions de l'apparence, op. cit., p. 325. «Chercher, c'est aller au réel à travers le labyrinthe qui nous le cache. Et quand on arrive au bout, on trouve le vide.» René Passeron, «Recherche et création», in Arts plastiques, recherches, à?Formations supérieures, op. cit. p . 1 2 9 . 314 Recherche et création de connaissances dont on peut au moins constater l 'occurrence statistique. Il ne s'agit pas de règles techniques ou formelles mais de la connaissance anthropologique d 'un enchaînement d'actes dans ses rapports avec la «cause matérielle» et la «cause formelle». Qu'y a-t-il de généralisable dans l 'opéra- tion matérielle et symbolique du faire plastique? En même temps, qu'y a-t- il de spécifique? Ma recherche poïétique se trouve aux pieds de ces ques- tions. 315 Rachida Triki Esthétique et philosophie des limites La scène du nommable J'ai choisi d'intervenir dans le cadre de cette rencontre dans l'axe du rapport esthétique et philosophie (du corps et des sens). Pour cela, j e pren- drai comme problématique la philosophie comme pensée des limites et comme critique radicale de ce que j 'appelle la scène du nommable. Cette critique passe par la prise en considération de la dimension esthétique et poïétique du rapport du corps au monde. Je réfléchirai donc à partir de la mise en place de la scène originaire où se donnent à la co-naissance et les formes objets et leur désignation, en d'autres termes à partir de cette déli- mitation essentielle d 'un fond d 'où émerge le visible, séparé, distinct, discernable et nommable. Je poserai le problème à un niveau à la fois onto- logique et esthétique m'interrogeant sur le comment et sur les conséquen- ces de cette mise en place. Voici tout d 'abord deux très courts extraits : L'un par lequel débute la Genèse, l 'autre d 'un poème de Jean Laude «Comme à l 'aube la mer».1 Genèse : «Et la terre était sans forme et vide, et des ténèbres étaient sur la face de l'abîme, et l'esprit de Dieu se mouvait sur le dessus des eaux. Et Dieu nomma la lumière jour . . . ce fut le premier jou r Et Dieu nomma l 'étendue deux. . . ce fut le second jour Et Dieu nomma le sec la terre ; et il nomma l'amas des eaux mers.» Jean Laude : «L'aube tranquille pèse à peine Et la ligne de crête / s'éclaircit Une colline à l 'autre s'épaulant Epousa l'espace / un langage commun (comme à l'aube la mer)» Voici la scène (disons ses prémisses) sous ses formes mythique et esthé- tique. Et ces deux formes sont déjà grosses du lien ontologique entre lieu, mots et choses dont l 'avènement est un partage qui rend l'espace habitable et distinct parce qu'éclairci. Il porte en germe l'organisation du temps dans la succession des pos- sibles et les délimitations de l'espace dans la coexistence des choses. Cepen- dant, ce lieu ne serait encore rien s'il n'y avait cette séparation première qui 1 Comme à l'aube la mer - J . Laude, Revue Le point d'être n° l , printemps 1970. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplément), pp. 317-323 317 Racliida Triki pose Dieu ou le poète dans l 'écart nécessaire de leur autonomie créatrice : écart qui permet l 'expression dans le verbe ou le déchiff rement dans l'écri- ture poétique. Mais jusque là, la séparation n'est pas si radicale. Pour la poète, elle pourrait se comprendre sur le mode de l'accueillir ou du recueillir («le lan- gage commun») délivrés dans une parole ; pour Dieu, sous la fo rme de l 'émanation ou de l ' immanence. Et la scène ne serait pas tout à fait scène, englobant tout à la fois acteurs et spectateurs. Le fond où se délivre la pa- role et ce qui est parlé est le même, fait de sympathies et, de correspondan- ces, ouvrant seulement dans la séparation de l 'avènement du monde à l'in- terprétation des signes comme à une exegèse infinie.2 C'est ainsi que pour le Moyen âge, exister ou pour reprendre un concept Heideggerien, être un étant, signifiait «appartenir à un degré déterminé de l 'ordre du crée et cor- respondre à la cause créatrice (analogie entis) » c-à-d que dans les limites du monde s'offrait par analogies et correspondances des niveaux d 'adéquation du spirituel au matériel , de l ' intel lection à la chose, du n o m m a b l e au nommé ; l 'animation de tous les étants relevant d 'un seul et même éclairage. Quand donc le créateur que j 'évoquai plus haut devient-il réellement met teur en scène ? Où se situe la frontière qui pose dans leur autonomie et le lieu des objets séparés et ce, à partir de quoi les objets sont distingués, nommés, manipulés ? c-à-d ce double partage à partir duquel se fait la mise en scène de la connaissance vraie et des techniques, celui par lequel nous cont inuons naïvement à maîtriser le monde en l ' énumérant et qui fait dire à Ernest Cassirer1 «En apprenant à nommer les choses, l 'enfant n 'a joute pas simplement une liste de signes artificiels à sa connaissance antérieure d 'ob- jets empiriques tout faits. Il apprend plutôt à former les concepts de ces objets, à s 'accommoder du monde objectif (...) Les premiers mots dont l 'en- fant fait un usage conscient peuvent être comparés au bâton à l'aide duquel l 'aveugle se dirige à tâtons.» Nommer, voir et concevoir les objets, c 'est quitter l 'empiricité pour le monde objectif, c'est tracer la ligne de démar- cation qui installera un écart essentiel pour que se donne la représentation dans un rapport frontal entre celui qui conçoit et le conçu. Cet écart, c'est celui que concrétise le bâton de l'aveugle équivalent du rayon visuel tout court, autrefois œil de l 'âme ou encore vue de l'esprit puis pensée claire et distincte. 2 M. Foucault, les mots et les choses Chap I I La prose du mondep 32 «Le monde s'enroulait sur lui-même : la terre répétant le ciel, les visages se mirant dans les étoiles, et l'herbe enveloppant dans ses tiges les secrets qui servaient à l'homm». * Au Essay of Man. Yale University Press 1944 pl32. 318 Esthétique et philosophie des limites. La scène du nommable La scène se découpe alors dans l 'opération d 'une vision objective du monde qui fait passer de la présence à la représentation distribuant les si- tes, pour faire de l 'objet «obstant» un objet frontal, du m o n d e une «image conçue»4 . . Cette séparation fondatr ice marque l ' émancipat ion du sujet connaissant,» ego cogito sum «qui prendra tous les aspects du» video sum «dans sa position panoptique et instituante. Sans doute est-ce là l 'œuvre de la philosophie moderne lorsque le sujet» sub-jectum «devient le fondement dernier qui interprète tout étant sur le mode de l'objectivité mais déjà, à l 'aube de la métaphysique Platon» posait l 'être comme idea et faisait de l 'eidos l 'évidence «c-à-d la chose offerte à la vue en tant qu'el le se tient de- vant nous» (condition lointaine, historiale, pensera Heidegger). Le dispositif donc qui met de part et d 'autre, en vis à vis, le sujet et l'ob- j e t substitue au lien (legein) vertical de l 'appar tenance au m o n d e et du recueillement du sens, le logos sous sa forme moderne de discours énon- ciatif, cet instrument par lequel se concrétise l 'écart entre l ' image mentale et la délimitation de la chose. Ce champ séculaire de l'ob-jectivation a été à travers ses découpes idéa- liste, rationaliste et même empiriste le lieu décisif d ' en fe rmemen t don t le sens relève des niveaux de représentation. Tout le livre III de VEssaiphiloso- phique sur l'entendement humain de], Locke ne traite, en fait, que de cette mise en scène qui permet de placer convenablement les niveaux de représenta- tion dans un rapport défini des sons comme signes intérieurs aux idées, elles mêmes, images mentales mais invisibles des signes extérieurs que sont les choses du monde. Nous voyons que même dans une conception pu remen t sensualiste, entre les idées comme modes de la conscience et ces mêmes idées comme représentations d'objets, ce sont les mots qui dessinent à la fois, la séparation et le lien fondamental , entre l ' identité du m o n d e du de- dans et l'existence d 'un monde du dehors, source première d ' informadons. C'est l 'esprit qui fixe le sens des termes, dans la pleine et évidente per- ception de la chose c-à-d dans la permanence de son identité et sa diffé- rence5, de sorte que n ' importe quel objet, même la chose la plus informe 4 M. Heidegger, Epoque des conceptions du monde p 119 : Re-presentersignifie ici : faire venir devant soi, en tant qu'obstant ce qui est là devant, le rapporter à soi, qui le représente et le réfléchit dans ce rapport à soi en tant que région d'où échoit toute mesure. 5 J. Locke, Essai philosophique concernant l'entendement humain L I I Chap X i p 117 trad. Coste, Locke compare l'esprit à une chambre noire «à mon avis, l'entendement ne ressemble pas mal à un cabinet entièrement obscur, qui n'aurait que quelques petites ouvertures pour laisser entrer par dehors les images extérieures et visibles, ou pour ainsi dire, les idées des choses : de sorte que si ces images venant à se peindre dans ce cabinet obscur pouvaient y rester et y être placées en ordre en sorte qu'on peut les trouver en l'occasion, il y aurait une grande ressemblance entre ce cabinet et l'entendement humain». 319 Racliida Triki et la plus singulière, dès l 'instant où elle est susceptible d 'être distinguée des autres, peut recevoir un nom qui recouvre un iquement son image mentale. Le rappor t frontal de l ' en tendement humain et du monde serait en sorte analogiquement celui «d'un cabinet obscur» (l 'image est-de Locke ) qui recevrait les images extérieures du visible comme des empreintes et ce à partir de petites ouvertures (pour canaliser l 'anarchie du visible), images que, par sa vertu ordonnatrice, il restituera correctement, pareil lement au discours intelligible. Comme on le voit, la représentation du monde s'orga- nise toute entière du côté de la pensée constituante qui travaille sur le mode de la vision, celle qui restituerait une sorte de tableau pleine Renaissance, fenêtre ou miroir correcteur où viendraient s 'o rdonner le chaos apparen t des figures anamorphiques du monde. Mais cette mise en scène qui j o u e la ressemblance de la chose à son image spéculaire ne relève donc que de la dénominat ion extérieure c-à-d celle qui n 'appar t ient qu 'à la pensée. Nous constatons donc que la possibilité du nommable comme pensa- ble, dans l 'exigence de la connaissance vraie, pose comme préalable néces- saire la frontière fondatrice entre voyant et visible qui délimite la scène des représentations et fixe la place du spectateur, metteur en scène. A ce niveau de la réflexion, j e voudrais bien sûr évoquer (brièvement ici) l ' immense travail de M. Merleau Ponty qui n ' a cessé dans toute son œuvre de combattre l'illusion du rapport frontal de l 'homme au monde , à partir d ' u n e longue méditation sur l 'énigme du visible et la transcendance de la parole. Contre l'illusion de la transparence de la pensée qui ne pense quoique ce soit qu ' en l'assimilant, en le constituant, en le t ransformant en pensée, Merleau Ponty convoque le corps. «L'intuitus mentis» ne peut pas s 'opérer sous la forme de la vision optique parce que la vision est essentiel- lement mouvement et qu'elle exige un corps. Elle est dans l 'entrelacs «de nos projets sensorimoteurs». Elle n 'a donc rien avoir avec le bout du bâton de l'aveugle parce qu'elle se précède toujours ailleurs dans la constellation d ' u n monde qui n 'est pas devant elle comme un plan à déchiffrer. Bien au contraire, elle éclôt au milieu des choses comme une déflagration de l 'être effaçant la frontière toute théorique du voyant/visible, du sentant /sent i ; f rontière qui a réduit la complexité du monde à la transparence d ' une pen- sée d 'où s 'énoncerait convenablement l 'ordre des choses. Toute délimita- tion ne peut être que réductrice et le sujet fondateur et opérant qui s'est institué n 'est jamais qu 'un sujet atrophié, fantomatique, alors que «le soi est un soi par confusion, narcissisme, inhérence de celui qui voit à ce qu'il voit, de celui qui touche à ce qu'il touche, du sentant au sentir. Un soi donc qui est pris entre des choses, qui a une face et un dos, un passé et un avenir...» (OE p!9) . Merleau Ponty a été l 'un des premiers à poser le rappor t du su- 320 Esthétique et philosophie des limites. La scène du nommable j e t au monde comme un rapport de «situation de fait au monde vécu» ; un monde qui ne se réduit pas seulement à un vis avis, objet de ' connaissance et d'action mais qui «entoure, comprend, traverse un sujet en situation», sujet-corps dont les pouvoirs ne sont pas épuisables dans un inventaire. L'énigme du visible donc est celle du corps même qui par sa nature de vivant perceptif déborde nécessairement les frontières de la scène projec- tive, celle qui constitue les choses visibles en voyantes et vues alors que le voyant est visible et le visible voyant. Cette réversibilité est jus tement le fait du corps. «Un corps humain, écrit-il (L'œil et l'esprit, p 21) est là quand, entre voyant et visible, entre touchant et touché, entre un œil et l 'autre, entre la main et la main, se fait une sorte de recroisement, quand s 'allume l'étin- celle du sentant-sensible, quand prend ce feu qui ne cessera pas de brûler jusqu 'à ce que tel accident du corps défasse ce que nul accident n 'aurait suffi à faire ...» L'exemplarité de la peinture est là pour en témoigner pareille à une philosophie figurée de la vision qui montre choses et corps faits de la même étoffe. Comme cette Montagne Sainte Victoire, plusieurs fois peintre par Cezanne parce que «la nature est à l ' intérieur du peintre» (non pas comme dans le cabinet obscur de Locke) mais comme la formule charnel le du monde que restitue le tracé de la peinture. La leçon de la peinture et no- tamment depuis Rembrandt, c'est que les choses éclatent hors de l 'adhé- rence de leur enveloppe, débordent leurs formes intelligibles, mont re que leur spatialité n'est pas celle de la res extensa. Dedans du dehors et dehors du dedans, voilà donnée toute la duplicité du sentir «hors frontière». Elle vient de ce qu nous habitons et sommes habités par le sensible et le visible de part en part. Ce qui fait dire à Merleau-Ponty dans Visible et invisible (p 164) que «du percevoir au perçu, il n ' a pas d'antériorité, il y a simultanéité ou même retard». C o m m e n t alors concevoir et dés igner ce qui nous traverse sans l'objectivation essentielle des choses, sans cet écart fondateur de la repré- sentation classique ? Quel sens auront les mots dans une pensée qui ne se possède pas elle même en toute clarté ? Doit-on s 'arrêter à cette phrase (Visible et invisible, p 168) qui semble sortie tout droit de l ' Innommable de Bechett lorsque M. Ponty écrit : «Le philosophe parle mais c'est une faiblesse en lui, et une faiblesse inexplica- ble ; il devrait se taire, coincider en silence et rejoindre dans l 'Être une philosophie qui est déjà faite». Suffirait-il donc d 'habiter la chair du monde pour en recueillir secrè- tement les sens ? En fait, cette sensation du silence, c'est celle qui met le phi losophe en état de surprendre le fait brut de penser. Dans le retrait 321 Racliida Triki qu'el le opère, elle est déjà pensée à l 'œuvre dans une quasi corporei té , pensée où germent non des idées, mais des matrices d'idées. Penser autre- ment et c'est ainsi qu 'on comprend les substitutions aux notions de concept, idée, esprit, représentation, des notions comme articulations niveaux, char- nières, pivots, configurations (Visible et invisible, p 277) qui frayent les pas- sages, conservent la complexité et l 'épaisseur du monde ; la tentation du silence c'est celle qui veut faire taire le discours pour une autre parole, pa- role parlante. C'est paradoxalement là qu'il échoie au philosophe de par- ler, de céder à cette faiblesse qu'il partage avec le poète et l'écrivain. Et c'est pourquoi , il ne faut pas voir dans l'incitation à la parole une contradiction lorsque M. Ponty écrit (dans Signes, p 104) : «Le fond des choses e s t - q u ' e n effet, le sensible n 'of f re rien qu 'on puisse dire si l 'on n'est pas philosophe ou écrivain, mais que cela ne tient pas à ce qu'il serait un en soi ineffable, mais à ce qu 'on ne sait pas dire». Que peuvent donc dire philosophes et écrivains, eux qui seuls savent dire ? La tâche de la philosophie est un travail en profondeur, à l ' intérieur de l 'Etre. Elle devient par la considération de la dimension poïétique et esthétique du langage et des choses, une confrontat ion aux limites. Elle se doit à un moment de son développement abandonner l'exercice frontal qui l 'a constituée dans ses concepts pour semer discrètement, pat iemment une sorte d 'ontologie indirecte qui préserverait la dimension inchoative du lan- gage. Proche du geste mais en même temps capable de s 'affranchir de l'im- médiateté, la parole comme le tracé pictural se tient entre immanence et transcendance. Le philosophe comme le créateur se tient dedans et dehors, dans un rapport «oblique et clandestin». Traversant les frontières et leurs discours, se mettant au secret de leurs fondements, décelant leurs stratégies et leurs illusions. Le philosophe s'illimite en deçà de la scène qui faisait le partage entre pensée et nommable et contre les écrans discursifs, les amas de mots déjà dit, il continue à parler une parole d 'ouverture, d 'écoute qui puisse le r a p p r o c h e r de l 'or iginaire . Ses paroles assument les m ê m e s ambiguités que celles de l'écrivain car ce dernier utilise aussi la langue mais en un tisage singulier, pour lui faire dire ce qu'elle n ' a j ama i s dit, des ex- pressions inédites qui puissent faire passer la déhiscence du sensible (Proust a su décrire la doublure et la profondeur du sensible). Il est vrai que cette traversée en oblique peut être extrême ; une folle entreprise que de parler contre le langagejusqu 'à je ter le paradoxe au cœur de toutes les certitudes hors des formes pronominales, des rôles assignés, des limites du corps et de la pensée comme ce non-personnage de l'Innom- mable de Beckett qui persiste comme un murmure sourd, hors frontières du 322 Esthétique et philosophie des limites. La scène du nommable silence ; mais toutes les traversées n ' on t pas cette forme tragique et épuiser les frontières de la langue et des signesjusqu'aux limites, peut se faire aussi par détour et allégement - comme ces peintures modernes où les tracés semblent surgir du fond de la toile grattée et allégée de toute l 'histoire de la peinture qui les définit comme telles - ou encore comme dit le poète (Jean Laude - Diana Trivia p 36) en rendant la ligne poreuse «non pas la retra- cer d ' un trait plus soutenu, mais la rendre poreuse, peut-être l'éclaircir». Presque invisible, une écriture t remble / Comme, tracé sur une vitre, un signe Suit les contours du vide Et le vide scintille Et le silence est blanc Comme à l 'aube la mer. Jean Laude. 323 Dalibor Davidovič Zum Begriff System in der Musikwissenschaft Beobachtungen einiger pragmatisch ausgerichteten Entwürfe In einem seiner 1982 veröffentlichten Texte beklagte Carl Dahlhaus beim Abhandeln der Begriffe System und Systematik im Kontext der Musik- wissenschaft den Mangel an Reflexion in ihrem gegenseit igen Bezugs- verhältnis. Von der Voraussetzung ausgehend, man sollte dieses Verhältnis als eine eigenartige Abstufung auffassen, versuchte er eine der möglichen Lösungen anzudeuten, fügte aber nebenbei hinzu, auf die seitens der all- gemeinen Systemtheorie begründeten Lösungen werde er nicht eingehen, da die Musikwissenschaftler diese Lösungen als die Ausgangspunkte fü r ihre eigenen Entwürfe bis dahin nicht berücksichtigt hätten (Dahlhaus 1982: 34). Kurz nach der Veröffentlichung des soeben erwähnten Textes von Dahlhaus erschienen - wenngleich nicht unter seinem Einfluß - einige Arbeiten, in denen der Versuch un te rnommen wurde, die vom Begriff System ausgehen- den, unter anderen disziplinbezogenen Umständen entstehenden, sich von der Musikwissenschaft unterscheidenden Theorien auch in ihrem eigenen Rahmen verwendbar zu machen. Und gerade über solche Theor ien wird hier die Rede sein. Dabei sollte man vielleicht gleich hervorheben, daß sich meine Beobachtung dieser Arbeiten hiervon zwei Fragen wird leiten lassen. Die erste wurde vom Soziologen Niklas Luhmann gestellt, als er über das Problem der Anknüpfung an die terminologische Tradition der jeweiligen wissenschaftlichen Disziplin schrieb. Laut Luhmann sind in einem solchen Fall zwei Opt ionen möglich: »Terminologien zu kontinuieren, obwohl ihre Bedeutung sich ändert, oder sie aufzugeben, und damit auf Identifikations- linien zur Tradition hin zu verzichten.« (Luhmann 1981: 173) Falls diese zweite Operat ion jedoch das Greifen nach einer im Rahmen einer anderen Disziplin geschaffenen Terminologie darstellt, entsteht nach Luhmann ei- nerseits auch das Problem der Kontrolle, die eine Disziplin dadurch bezüg- lich einer anderen übernimmt, während andererseits das Problem einer gewissen Inßationierung des theoretischen Jargons der Disziplin erscheint, aus der der Wortschatz entliehen wurde (Luhmann 1981: 175). Die zweite Frage von der weiterhin die Rede sein wird ist die der Problemrelevanz, die mit dem Thema dieser Konferenz einigermaßen zusammenhängt. Bevor ich auf diese Fragen eingehe, möchte ich die Kronologie des Erscheinens von hier berücksichtigten musikwissenschaftlichen Arbeiten Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 325-333 325 Dalibor Davidovič kurz skizzieren, wobei ich auch die ihnen zugrundeliegenden theoretischen Traditionen angebe. Die früheste Arbeit, die hier berücksichtigt wird, ist das Buch des Soziologen Frank Rotter über Musik als Kommunikationsmedium (Rotter 1985). Darin wird die Terminologie zweier soziologischer System- t h e o r i e n g e b r a u c h t : d i e j en igen von Talcott Parsons u n d von Niklas Luhmann . Es wurden 1991 zwei umfangreiche Arbeiten publiziert: eine Dissertation des Musikwissenschaftlers Rolf Großmann über Musik als Kom- munikation, die von der Terminologie der Empirischen Literaturwissenschaft (ELW) Siegfried J. Schmidts ausgeht (Großmann 1991), wie auch die the- matisch verwandte Dissertation Torsten Casimirs (Casimir 1991). Deren Ausgangspunkt stellte j edoch die Luhmannsche Theor ie dar. Auf diese Theor ie beruf t sich auch der im selben J a h r veröffentlichte Bericht des Musikwissenschaftlers Clytus Gottwald, der als öffentlicher Vortrag zustan- de kam (Gottwald 1991). Im Jahr 1993 wurde ein kurzer systemtheoretisch ausger ichte ter Text des Musikwissenschaftlers Ulrich Mosch publizier t (Mosch 1993). Das i m m e r n o c h nicht veröffentlichte Referat des Musikwis- senschaftlers Daniel Müllensiefen aus dem Jah r 1994 spricht über die un- ter dem Sammelbegriff des Radikalen Konstruktivismus zusammengefaßten theoretischen Ausrichtungen in deren Rahmen, unter anderen, auch die Theor ien Luhmanns u n d Schmidts ihren Stellenwert bekommen sollen (Müllensiefen 1994). Ähnlich ist auch ein Referat von Großmann aus dem J a h r 1997 ausgerichtet; darin wird zwar innerhalb des kontruktivistischen Pa- radigmas als Stützpunkt die Theorie Schmidts gewählt (Großmann 1997). Im selben Jahr wurde auch der letzte Text veröffentlicht, von dem hier die Rede sein wird, der Beitrag des Musikwissenschaftlers Ulrich Tadday un te r dem Titel Systemtheorie und Musik (Tadday 1997). Die gegenseitigen Bezugsverhältnisse der hier angegebenen Entwür- fe werde ich hier kurz darstellen, von der Vorgehensweise ausgehend, die vom Soziologen Armin Nassehi vorgeschlagen wurde, als er über den Be- griff der Differenz in drei unterschiedlichen Theorien schrieb. In der Absicht, e iner Deu tung auszuweichen, die behaup ten würde, was die jeweiligen Theor ien sind, inszenierte er deren gegenseitige Beobachtungen (Nassehi 1995: 54), wobei er vom Begriff Beobachtungzusgirig, mit welchem innerhalb der Systemtheorie »jedes Operieren mit einer Unterscheidung« (Luhmann 1984: 110) bezeichnet wird. Beobachtet manjetzt die Art, auf die die erwähn- ten musikwissenschaftlichen Arbeiten einander gegenseitig beobachteten, ist es möglich, die Differenz zwischen den ihnen zugrundeliegenden Theo- rien e inzuführen und sie aufgrund dessen in fünf Gruppen einzuteilen. In der ersten Gruppe würden sich solche Arbeiten befinden, die von der ELW ausgingen und sich mit Arbeiten beschäftigten, die sich auf die Sytemtheorie 326 Zum Begriff System in der Musikwissenschaft. Beobachtungen einiger... berufen (Rot ter /Großmann 1991, Casimir /Großmann 1997); wären in der zweiten j ene Arbeiten zu finden, die von der ELW ausgingen und sich mit gleichartigen Arbeiten befassten (Großmann 1991/Großmann 1997), wäh- rend in der dritten Gruppe die Arbeiten vorkommen, die sich auf die System- theorie stützten und ebenso die Arbeiten beobachteten, deren Ausgangs- punkt gerade diese Theorie war (Rotter/Casimir, Rotter/Tadday, Gottwald/ Mosch). Die vierte u n d fünfte Gruppe wird die Arbeiten umfassen, die ex- plizite vom Radikalen Konstruktivismus ausgingen, obwohl der Stellenwert dieser theoretischen Ausrichtung - wenigstens nach der Beurteilungen in der Diskussion außerhalb der Musikwissenschaft - in Bezug auf die zwei vorhergehenden Ausrichtungen einigermaßen ambivalent ist.1 In der vier- ten Gruppe werden aus der angegebenen Perspektive die Arbeiten beob- achtet, die sich auf die ELW stützen (Großmann 1991/Müllensiefen), wäh- rend in der fünf ten Gruppe die Arbeiten berücksichtigt werden, die vom systemtheoretischen Wortschatz ausgehen (Casimir/Müllensiefen). Wenn jetzt andere Differenzen, wie j ene zwischen den in einzelnen Entwürfen theoretisch zu umfassenden Ebenen außer acht gelassen werden,2 1 Obwohl man mit dem Begriff Radikaler Konstruktivismus (oder nur Konstruktivismus) manchmal die Erkenntnistheorie bezeichnet, auf die sowohl die ELW, als auch die Systemtheorie Luhmanns sich stützen, wird er öfter als eine Etikette für ein besonderes Disziplingefüge gebraucht, das einige kybernetisch oder neurobiologisch ausgerichteten Arbeiten (wie z.B. Roth 1997) umfaßt. Wenn man aber die Arbeiten wie beispielsweise Nassehi 1992 und Schmidt 1995 beobachtet, ist es möglich zu schließen, daß die Differenz, die von ihnen installiert wurde, ausdrücklicher die Systemtheorie von der ELW und dem Radikalen Konstruktivismus abtrennt; es scheint, daß in diesen Arbeiten die Unterschiede zwischen der ELW und dem Radikalen Konstruktivismus fast verschwunden sind. Nassehi fügt allerdings hinzu, daß auch »Luhmann selbst wohl an konstruktivistische Erkenntnistheorien anschließt, er aber zu anderen Ergebnissen kommt als seine Kritiker« (Nassehi 1992: 43). 2 Zieht man in Betracht beispielsweise die Klassifikation in Großmann 1991, wo man die Theorien-von der semiotischen Triade Charles Morris' ausgehend-nachjenen verteilen, die auf der sintaktischen, semantischen oder pragmatischen Ebene operieren, ist es wohl möglich, einige der hier erwähnten musikwissenschaftlichen Entwürfen für unpragmatisch und deswegen im Kontext dieser Beobachtung für unangemessen zu halten. Die erwähnten Arbeiten wurden jedoch in diese Beobachtung eingeordnet, weil jede von ihnen wenigstens die Möglichkeit anführt, daß die Theorie auch auf der pragmatischen Ebene operierbar sei (vgl. Gottwald 1991: 36, Mosch 1993:1). Die anderen Differenzen, die hier nicht berücksichtigt werden, sind unter anderem auch jene, die sich auf die Gattung (z.B. Dissertation, öffentlicher Vortrag usw.) der erwähnten Texte bezieht, und jene zwischen die Fachzugehörigkeiten ihrer Autoren. Aufgrund dieser letzten Differenz wurde die kritische Bestandsaufnahme in Inhetveen 1997 durchgeführt. Da die Autorin schon am Anfang betont, daß sie sich »mit der musiksoziologischen Forschung innerhalb der Disziplin Soziologie« (Inhetveen 1997: 9) beschäftigen möchte, wählt sie von hier erwähnten Arbeiten nur jene aus, deren Autor, Frank Rotter, ein Soziologe ist. 327 Dalibor Davidovič und wenn mittels der Selbstbeobachtung der eigene blinde Fleck bei der Einfüh- rung der Differenz festgestellt wird, die hier besprochenen theoretischen Strömungen scharf voneinander abtrennt, zeigen sich die Beobachtungs- ergebnisse solcher Beobachtungen als einigermaßen unerwartet. Während man nämlich im Hinblick auf die Arbeiten aus der zweiten oder aus der drit- ten Gruppe annehmen könnte, daß darin die Differenz zwischen sich selbst und der von ihnen zu beobachtenden Arbeiten nicht thematisiert wird, wä- ren in übriggebliebenen Fällen drastischere Abgrenzungen zu erwarten, ins- besondere in der ersten Gruppe. Da aber innerhalb der so skizzierten Unter- schiede solche Abgrenzungen nicht festgestellt worden sind, wäre es im wei- teren Verlauf mittels der Einführung der Differenz zwischen diesen Beobach- tungen und den gegenseitigen Beobachtungen von angegebenen theoreti- schen Ströhmungen im Rahmen anderer Disziplinen vielleicht möglich ge- wesen, andere Ergebnisse zu erzielen. Solche Beobachtungen von Beobachtungen außerhalb der musikwissen- schaftlichen Zusammenhänge sind allerdings außergewöhnlich zahlreich, so daß ich hier wegen des beschränkten Textumfangs gezwungen bin, solche Beobachtungen nur kurz und vereinfacht zu umreißen. Die Differenzen wer- den in bisherigen Beobachtungen auf unterschiedliche Asymetrisierungen der Opposi t ionen wie Konsens/Dissens, Humanismus/Antihumanismus, Alltags- erfahrung/Distanz hinsichtlich der alltäglichen Erfahrung, oder konkret/abstrakt zurückgeführt, wobei die Systemtheorie in Bezug auf die ELWund den Kon- struktivismus die Favorisierung ihren ersten Opposidonspole beanstandet, und umgekehrt. Es werden ebenfalls ihre jeweiligen Unterschiede hinsicht- lich der Auffassung des Systembegriffs festgestellt. Während das System für die Systemtheorie immer einen differenziellen Begriff in Bezug auf den Um- weltbegriff darstellt (Luhmann 1984), so daß es wegen einer solchen abstrak- ten Bestimmung auch auf der Ebene des Sozialen, Psychischen und Physio- logischen anwendbar ist, wird seitens der ELW dadurch der konsensuell, inter- subjektiv eingespielte Rahmen des menschl ichen Handelns bezeichnet (Schmidt 1991), was allerdings aus der Perspektive der Systemtheorie als eine gewisse Reduktion ihres eigenen Entwurfs ersichtlich ist. Die externen Beob- achter stellten indessen den Reduktionismus auch im Hinblick auf die Operationalisierung der Systemtheorie im Kontext der Literaturtheorie und Kunstgeschichte fest (Blom/Nijhuis 1995); nicht unbemerkt blieben aber auch die Selbstwidersprüche der ELW und des Konstruktivismus, wie etwa bezüglich ihre Schwierigkeiten mit eigenen antihermeneutischen Proklama- tionen (Ort 1994), oder im Hinblick auf die Unmöglichkeit, sich selbst zu begründen (Pasternack 1994).3 Als eine eigenartige Antwort wurde seitens 3 Schmidt selbst bekennt, daß die konstruktivistisch ausgerichtete Forschung »ihre eigenen Voraussetzung nie analytisch einholen (kann)« (Schmidt 1997: 55). 328 Zum Begriff System in der Musikwissenschaft. Beobachtungen einiger... der ELW und des Konstruktivismus an die Systemtheorie nebst bereits er- wähnten auch noch der Einwand hinsichtlich der Fragwürdigkeit ihres theo- retischen Designs serviert (Schmidt 1995). Die Beobachtung der Differenz zwischen musikwissenschaftlichen und nicht-musikwissenschaftlichen Beobachtungen läßt dadurch erkennen, daß die musikwissenschaftlichen Beobachtungen, da sie voneinender nicht ab- gegrenzt werden, auf nahezu identische Weise die vorhin angegebenen Oppositionen asymetrisierten, und zwar so, daß sie sich stillschweigend den seitens der ELW und des Radikalen Konstruktivismus vertretenen Konzep- tionen zuwandten. In diese Richtung bewegen sich anscheinend auch die Autoren, die die Terminologie der Systemtheorie explizite beibehalten: Casimir modifiziert beispielsweise die systemtheoretische These über die Geschlossenheit u n d die gegenseitige Abgegrenztheit sozialer u n d psychi- scher Systeme mittels seine Konzept ion der teilweise autonomen Systeme (Casimir 1991: 216) , 4 Tadday häl t ebenfal ls die e rwähn te These f ü r unannehmbahr (Tadday 1997: 30), während Gottwald die Systemtheorie mit der f rüheren Kritischen Theorie zu versöhnen versucht. Auch Rotter - ob- gleich von einer f rüheren Phase der Sytemtheorie ausgehend, als sie ihre späteren Thesen über die Selbstreferenz und Autopoiesis der Systeme noch nicht einführte — betrachtet die sozialen Systeme in ihrer notwendigen Ver- b indung mit psychischen Systemen, so daß er sich daher der Psychoanalyse zuwendet. Es scheint, daß in anderen Fällen die Differenz zwischen der ELW und der Systemtheorie durch deren Verschmelzung in die angeblich ge- meinsame konstruktivistische Ausrichtung ausgemerzt worden ist.5 Was hat all das mit dem Thema dieser Konferenz zu tun? Es scheint, daß die Beantwortung dieser Frage in gewisser Hinsicht auch die Antwort auf die erste Frage, hinsichtlich der Plazierung innerhalb/außerhalb der je- weiligen Disziplin oder Wissenschaft sein könnte. In allen hier erwähnten 4 Die Argumentation in Schmidt 1994 scheint wunderlich ähnlich. 5 Es ist allerdings zu betonen, daß diese Verschmelzung in Müllensiefen 1994 differenzierter und vorsichtiger als in Großmann 1997 durchgeführt ist. Müllensiefen beispielsweise bekennt, daß die Systemtheorie Luhmanns und der Konstruktivismus zwei selbständige Entitäten seien, da sie verwandt sind (Müllensiefen 1994: 1). Hinsichtlich der angeblichen Gemeinsamkeit der Systemtheorie und des Konstruktivismus ist doch zu sagen, man könnte dieser Bestimmung eine kritische Note nur im Fall der hier unternommenen Beobachtung zuschreiben. Es sollte aber nicht vergessen werden, daß auch in streng systemtheoretisch argumentierenden Arbeiten (z.B. Nassehi 1992) - in denen man die ELW und den Konstruktivismus für das Andere hält - die These anzutreffen ist, daß diese theoretischen Richtungen in gewisser Hinsicht mit der Systemtheorie verwandt seien (vgl. Anm. 1). Das bedeutet allerdings nicht, daß die feinen Unterschiede, die Nassehi im erwähnten Text zwischen ihnen einführt, zu vergessen sind. 329 Dalibor Davidovič Entwürfen ist, mehr oder weniger explizite, das Bestreben bemerkbar, die Differenz zwischen sich selbst und dem Rest der Musikwissenschaft und nicht zuletzt auch zwischen den unterschiedlichsten, innerhalb der Musikwissen- schaft um die Thematisierung des Bezugsverhältnisses zwischen Musik u n d Sprache bemühten Theorien anzuführen.0 Manche von diesen Musikwis- senschaftlern, wie beispielsweise Großmann, lassen die hermeneut ischen Konzeptionen überhaupt nicht zum Wissenschaftssystem zu, weil sie der Auffassung sind, daß diese Konzeptionen der Kriterien unwürdig sind, die das jeweilige System herstellt. Wenn z.B. Großmann ihnen deshalb einen Stellenwert im Kunstsystem zuteilt, wird er sie als seine eigenen Gegenstän- de , beziehungsweise Konstrukte betrachten, deren Konstruierthei t u n d Kontingenz durch seine Beobachtung entdeckt werden wird. Möglicherwei- se ist eine solche Beobachtung der Musikwissenschaft tatsächlich interessant, so daß manche, wie Hans-Peter Reinecke, die Ansicht vertreten, daß sie letzt- endlich auch notwendig geworden ist (Reinecke 1993: 123). Vielleicht ist es ebenfalls interessant hervorzuheben, daß eine ähnliche Rolle des Beob- achters der Musikwissenschaft in jüngster Zeit auch einige Autoren für sich reservierten, die mit der amerikanischen Musikanthropologie verwandt sind (Moisala 1986, Kingsbury 1991, Edström 1997). Eine solche Ausrichtung der hier erwähnten Anthropologen sollte zwar nicht so verwunderlich sein, wenn man bedenkt, daß bereits im kanonischen Buch der betreffenden Disziplin, The Anthropologe of Mu.sic von Alan Merriam, die These anzutreffen ist, die den Beobachter als j e m a n d e n herausstellt, dessen Beobachtung für den zu beobachtenden Gegenstand konstitutiv ist (Merriam 1964: 271; die Beob- achtung der Architektur). Solche musikwissenschaftlichen Beobachtungen lassen sich auch selbst der Beobachtung unterziehen, gerade von der Leitdifferenz ausgehend, von welcher hier bereits die Rede war, jene Differenz zwischen der Systemtheorie einerseits und der ELW und des Radikalen Konstruktivismus andererseits. Wie allerdings auch zu erwarten ist, sieht eine solche Beobachtung im Fall der bereits erwähnten musikwissenschaftlichen Entwürfe deren b l inden Fleck im Widerspruch zwischen ihrer Auffassung, daß alle anderen Konzep- t ionen der Musikwissenschaft von der Nähe des eigenen Gegenstands ge- blendet u n d deswegen ungenügend selbstkritisch sind, während sie aus ih- rer privilegierten wissenschaftlichen Perspektive heraus beobachten können, wie die Dinge tatsächlich aussehen, ohne j edoch festzustellen, daß sie da- 6 Die Ausnahmen sind Gottwald 1991, wo man explizite die kritischtheoretisch formulierte These über Musik als Sprache behalten wollte, und Mosch 1993, wo der Verfassersich hauptsächlich mit der Syntaktik beschäftigt, vermutlich voraussetzend, daß die Musik mit der Sprache zu vergleichen sei. 330 Zum Begriff System in der Musikwissenschaft. Beobachtungen einiger... durch für sich selbst dasjenige besetzt haben, was sie den anderen bereits verweigert hatten.7 Obwohl die Systemtheorie selbst mit vielen Problemen konfrontiert wird, wenn sie beispielsweise die Position der Ästhetik und der Theorie der Kunst bezüglich des Kunstsystems einerseits und des Wissen- schaftssystems andererseits bestimmen will, hätte sie hier keineswegs versäumt, auch die Frage nach der Stellenwert der hier besprochenen musikwissen- schaftlichen Theor ien zu stellen. Abgesehen davon, ob die Musikwissen- schaft als Selbstbeschreibung des Kunstsystems betrachtet wird, wie es hin- sichtlich der ihr verwandten kunstbezogenen Wissenschaften Luhmann meint (Luhmann 1995), oder des Wissenschaftssystems, was per analogiam hinsichtlich der Thesen des Literaturtheoretikers Niels Werber zu folgern wäre (Werber 1992), könnte man die Abgrenzung der h ier e rwähnten musikwissenschaftlichen Entwürfe von ihren Konkurrenten vorläufig als die Einführung der Differenz in das System der Musikwissenschaft selbst halten, was hingegen seitens der Systemtheorie gleichzeitig als eine selbstreproduktive Operation des jeweiligen Systems betrachtet worden wäre. Luhmann weist indessen daraufhin, solche rekursive Operationen »kann man allerdings nur im Nachhinein beobachten. Die Ordnung verdankt sich ihrer Evolution, sie ist daher nur als geschichtliches System möglich.« (Luhmann 1989: 11) Das bezieht sich dann auch auf die Entscheidungen bezüglich der Wissenschaft- lichkeit, gleichermaßen im Fall der musikwissenschaftlichen Theorien, von denen hier die Rede war, wie auch ihre hermeneutischen Konkurrentinnen. Von der Systemtheorie ausgehend, könnten erst die weiteren kommunika- tiven Anknüpfungen darüber entscheiden, ob es sich in j e d e m einzelnen Fall um die Kriterien einer echten Wissenschaftlichkeit handelt , oder darum, was Pierre Bourdieu den »Schein der Wissenschaft« bezeichnete, der »mit- tels des Methoden- und Operationentransfers einer entwickelteren, oder - sagen wir - angeseheneren Wissenschaft erreicht wird« (Bourdieu 1992: 207). Bibliographie Barsch, Achim/Rusch, Gebhard/Viehoff , Reinhold (Hg.). 1994. Empirische Literaturwissenschaft in der Diskussion. Frankfurt a /M. Berg, Henk de/Prangel , Matthias (Hg.). 1995. Differenzen: Systemtheorie zwi- schen Dekonstruktion und Konstruktivismus. Tübingen. 7 Zur systemtheoretischen Position in diesem Fall siehe Nassehi 1992. 331 Dalibor Davidovič Blom, Tannelie/Nijhuis, Ton. 1995. »Sinn und Kunst: Die Umarmung Niklas Luhmanns durch die Literaturtheorie und Kunstgeschichte«, in: Berg/ Prangel 1995: 247-274. Bourdieu, Pierre. 1992. [to znači govoriti: Ekonomija jezičnih razmjena (Orig. Ce que parler veut dire: L'Economie des échanges linguistiques, 1982). Zagreb Casimir, Torsten. 1991. Musikkommunikation und ihre Wirkungen: Eine system- theoretische Kritik. Wiesbaden. Dahlhaus, Carl. 1982. »Musikwissenschaft und Systematische Musikwissen- schaft«. in: ders./Motte-Haber, H. de la (Hg.). Systematische Musikwis- senschaft (= Neues Handbuch der Musikiuissenschaft, Bd. 10), Wiesbaden/ Laaber. 25-48. Edström, Olle. 1997. »Fr-a-g-me-n-ts: A discussion on the position of critical e thnomusicology in contemporary musicology«. Svensk tidskrift för musikforskning. 79 (1): 9-68. Gottwald, Clytus. 1991. »Erkenntnisgenuß: Entwurf einer musikalischen Systemtheorie«. MusikTexte. (38): 33-39. Großmann, Rolf. 1991. Musik als »Kommunikation«: Zur Theorie musikalischer Kommunikationshandlun-gen. Braunschweig. G r o ß m a n n , Rolf. 1997. »Konstruktiv(istisch)e Gedanken zur 'Medien- musik'« in: Hemker/Müllensiefen 1997: 61-77. Hemker , Thomas /Mül l ens i e fen , Daniel (Hg.) . 1997. Medien - Musik - Mensch: Neue Medien und Musikiuissenschaft. Hamburg. Inhetveen, Katharina. 1997. Musiksoziologie in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme. Opladen. Kingsbury, Henry. 1991. »Sociological Factors in Musicological Poetics«. Ethnomusicology. 35 (2): 195-219. Luhmann , Niklas. 1981. »Unverständliche Wissenschaft: Probleme einer theorieeigenen Sprache«, in: ders. Soziologische Aufklärung 3: Soziales System, Gesellschaft, Organisation. Opladen. 170-177. Luhmann , Niklas. 1984. Soziale Systeme: Grundriß einer allgemeinen Theorie. Frankfurt a /M. Luhmann , Niklas. 1989. »Reden und Schweigen«, in: ders. /Fuchs, P. Reden und Schweigen. Frankfurt a /M. 7-20. Luhmann , Niklas. 1995. Die Kunst der Gesellschaft. Frankfurt a /M. Merriam, Alan P. 1964. The Anthropology ofMusic. Evanston. Moisala, Pirkko. 1986. (»Response to Blum«), PacificRevieiuofEthnomusicology. (3): 34-36. Mosch, Ulrich. 1993. »Systemtheorie und Komponieren. Anmerkungen zum Karlheinz Essl's kompos i to r i schem Ansatz«, h t t p : / /www.es s l . a t / bibliogr/mosch.html. 332 Zum Begriff System in der Musikwissenschaft. Beobachtungen einiger... Müllensiefen, Daniel. 1994. »Der Radikale Konstruktivismus als forschungs- modulierendes Paradigma in der Musikwissenschaft«. Manuskript. Nassehi, Armin. 1992. »Wie wirklich sind die Systeme?: Zum ontologischen und epistemologischen Status von Luhmanns Theorie sozialer Syste- me«. in: Krawiez, W./Welker, M. (Hg.). Kritik der Theorie sozialer Syste- me: Auseinandersetzung mit Luhmanns Hauptwerk. Frankfurt a / M . 43-70. Nassehi, Armin. 1995. »Différend, Différance und Distinction: Zur Differenz der Differenzen bei Lyotard, Derrida und in der Formenlogik«, in: Berg/Prangel 1995: 37-60. Ort, Claus-Michael. 1994. »Texttheorie - Textempirie - Textanalyse: Zum Verhältnis von Hermeneutik, Empirischer Literaturwissenschaft und Literaturgeschichte«, in: Barsch/Rusch/Viehoff 1994: 104-122. Pasternack, Gerhard. 1994. »Empirische Literaturwissenschaft u n d ihre wissenschaftsphilosophischen Voraussetzungen«, in: Barsch /Rusch / Viehoff 1994: 55-85. Reinecke, Hans-Peter. 1993. »Musikwissenschaft, Systematische Musikwissen- schaft, Musikgeschichte - Versuch einer Bilanz«. Systematische Musikwis- senschaft. 1 (2): 115-127. Roth, Gerhard. 1997. Das Gehirn und seine Wirklichkeit. Kognitive Neurobiologie und ihre philosophischen Konsequenzen. Frankfurt a /M. Rotter, Frank. 1985. Musik als Kommunikationsmedium: Soziologische Medien- theorien und Musiksoziologie. Berlin. Schmidt, Siegfried J. 1991. Grundriß der empirischen Literaturwissenschaft (1980). Frankfurt a /M. Schmidt, Siegfried J. 1994. Kognitive Autonomie und soziale Orientierung: Kon- struktivistische Bemerkungen zum Zusammenhang von Kognition, Kommuni- kation, Medien und Kultur. Frankfurt a /M. Schmidt, Siegfried J. 1995. »Konstruktivismus, Systemtheorie und Empiri- sche Literaturwissenschaft: Anmerkungen zu einer laufenden Debat- te«. in: Berg/Prangel 1995: 213-246. Schmidt , Siegfried J . 1997. »Konstruktivismus als Medientheor ie« , in: Hemker/Müllensiefen 1997: 39-59. Tadday, Ulrich. 1997. »Systemtheorie und Musik: Luhmanns Variante der Autonomieästhetik«. Musik und Ästhetik. 1 (1 /2) : 13-34. Werber, Niels. 1992. Literatur als System: Zur Ausdifferenzierung literarischer Kommunikation. Opladen. 333 Krzysztof Guczalski Musik ist keine Sprache - Argumente Susanne Langers revidiert (und mit Hilfe der Ideen Nelson Goodmans untermauert). 1. Einleitung Im achten Kapitel des Buches Philosophy in a New Key1, mit dem Titel »On Signiflcance in Music«, argumentiert Susanne Langer gegen die Auf- fassung, daß Musik als Sprache in irgendeinem nahezu wörtlichen Sinne zu verstehen ist. Diese Haltung folgt nicht aus einer formalistischen Einstellung, die es im allgemeinen bestreitet, daß der Musik irgendwelche außermusi- kalische Bedeutungen zustehen. Auch vertritt Langer nicht die Position, daß Musik zwar bedeutsam sein und expressive Qualitäten besitzen kann, aber keine Bedeutungen beinhaltet. Ganz im Gegenteil: sie sieht Musik als ein eindeutig semantisches Phänomen, das Träger emotionaler Bedutungen ist. Diese Feststellung bedeutet bei ihr, daß Musik nicht als unmittelbares Sym- ptom der Emotionen des Musikers und avich nicht lediglich als ein bei den Zuhörern gewisse Emotionen erregender Anreiz zu interpretieren ist, son- dern daß gewisse Bedeutungen an der Musik selbst haften. In Langers Be- griffen wird das durch die Feststellung ausgedrückt, daß Musik kein Signal sondern ein Symbol ist. In dieser Hinsicht ist Musik der Sprache ähnlich. Mit der Anerkennung dieser Änlichkeit und mit der Uberzeugung über die im Prinzip semantische Natur der Musik geht aber bei Langer eine fe- ste Meinung zusammen, daß die Bedeutungen, welche in der Musik vorkom- men, einer ganz anderen Beschaffenheit sind als in der Sprache. Anders gesagt, Musik symbolisiert die Gefühle auf eine ganz andere Art und Weise als die Sprache ihre Bedeutungen. 2. Prolegomena zu einer jeden künftigen Diskussion über den Sprachcharakter von Musik Die Argumentation, daß Musik keine Sprache ist, hat in der Diskussi- on über die Bedeutung der Musik eine relativ wichtige Rolle zu spielen. Zum 1 Susanne K. Langer, Philosophy in a New Key, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1942, deutsche Ausgabe unter dem Titel: Philosophie auf neuem Wege, Frankfur t / Main: Fischer Verlag, 1965. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 335-200 191 Krzysztof Guczalsk i einen ist die Haltung, daß Musik in Anlehnung an das Paradigma der Spra- che zu interpretieren ist und daß eine solche Interpretation aufschlußreich sein kann, keineswegs selten. Zu den Vertretern dieser Position zählen z.B. Deryck Cooke mit seinem Buch The Language of Musir und Wilson Coker mit dem Buch Music and Meaning\ Auch solche französiche Autoren wie Jean-Jacques Nattiez und Nicolas Ruwet haben in einigen Artikeln, wie auch der polnische Musikwissenschaftler Michal Bristiger in seinem Buch Zwiazki muzyki ze slowem (Die Beziehungen der Musik zu den Wörtern f diese Auffassung vertreten. Nennen wir diese Position kurz für spätere Verweise: sprachliches Paradigma. Andererseits stößt manchmal auch eine gemäßigtere Position - wie die von Langer - daß Musik gewisse Bedeutungen auf eine nichtsprachliche Weise ausdrückt und einen semantischen Inhalt hat, auf eine vehemente Ablehnung. Man kann vermuten, daß der Grund dafür vielleicht unter an- derem darin liegt, daß häuf ig jede Art der Bedeutung in Anlehnung an das Paradigma der Sprache verstanden wird. Dadurch werden die Verfechter der lediglich semantischen (und nicht unbedingt sprachlichen) Position sofort so verstanden, als würden sie behaupten, daß wir in der Musik genau mit solchen Bedeutungen wie in einer Sprache zu tun haben. Und da sol- che Vermutung sehr vielen absolut unakzeptabel erscheint, sehen sie sich gezwungen, die Idee, daß Musik überhaupt etwas bedeutet, zu bekämpfen. Um also die Überzeugung, daß Musik ein bedeutendes Phänomen und nicht bloße Dekoration ist, vor solchen Angriffen zu verteidigen, sollte man zu begründen versuchen, daß ihre Bedeutungen eben einer ganz anderen Art als in der Sprache sind. Man kann im allgemeinen sagen, daß die Argumentation, Musik sei Sprache der Gefühle, im Namen der Bedeutsamkeit der Musik geführt wird (so z.B. Deryck Cooker '), die entgegengesetzte Argumentation, daß sie kei- ne Sprache ist, in Namen ihrer Autonomie (und der Autonomie der Kunst im al lgemeinen). Wenn sie nämlich eine Sprache wie j ede andere wäre, könnte sie vielleicht durch eine Wortsprache ersetzt werden, was ihre Ein- zigartigkeit untergraben würde. Die Haltung, daß Musik zwar ein semanti- sches, Bedeutungen beinhal tendes Phänomen ist, das sich aber von der Sprache wesentlich unterscheidet, stellt also einen Mittelweg zwischen den beiden extremen Positionen dar, die beide unakzeptabel erscheinen. 2 Deryck Cooke, The Language of Music, London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1959. 3 Wilson Coker, Music and Meaning, New York-London: The Free Press-Collier- Macmillan Limited, 1972. 4 Michal Bristiger, Zwiazki muzyki ze slowem, Krakow: PWM, 1986. !!! 5 Deryck Cooke, op. cit. 336 Musik ist keine Sprache - Argumente. Susanne Langers revidiert... Die Argumentation, Musik sei keine Sprache, hat eine ähnlich lange Tradition wie das sprachliche Paradigma selbst. Man muß aber sagen, daß die Argumente sehr häufig nicht das bekämpfen, was die Verfechter des sprachlichen Paradigmas bereit zu behaupten wären, und gegen die Hal- tung der letzteren nicht wirksam sind. Wenn z.B. Werner Jauk unlängst in seinem Artikel »Sprache und Musik: der angebliche Sprachcharakter von Musik«13 sagt, Musik sei keine Sprache, da sie nicht Mittel einer intendier- ten Übermitt lung der Komunikate von einem Sender zu e inem Empfänger ist, oder daß sie nicht im Sinne einer Wortsprache, die konkrete Inhalte übermittelt, zu verstehen ist und daß in der Musik keine eindeutige Zuord- nungen von Zeichen und Bezeichneten durch wiederholte Koppelungen erlernt werden, wäre es natürlich schwierig, nicht zuzustimmen. Man sollte aber fragen, wer irgendwann diese von Jauk angefochtene Auffassungen vertreten hat. Daß es Unterschiede zwischen Musik und Sprache gibt, ist offensicht- lich. Selbst die Verfechter des sprachlichen Paradigmas würden viele die- ser Unterschiede kaum bestreiten. Ihre Haltung könnte man eher wie folgt ausdrücken: auch wenn Musik äußerlich nicht unbedingt sofort wie eine Sprache aussieht, wenn man ihre innere Struktur und ihre Bedeutungen tiefer analysiert, kann man erkennen, daß sie auf eine ähnliche Weise struk- turiert sind, wie die Bedeutungen einer Sprache. Diese tieferen Analogien zwischen der semantischen Struktur der Musik und der Sprache sind - ih- re r M e i n u n g nach - so we i tgehend , daß sie e ine Analyse de r Musik- bedeutungen mit Hilfe des Paradigmas der Sprache rechtfertigen u n d es erlauben, sich fruchtbare Ergebnisse einer solchen Analyse zu erhoffen. Um diese Analogie zu begründen werden verschiedene Argumente gebracht. Aus dem Wesen der These von einer Analogie zwischen Musik und Spra- che folgt, daß Musik eben nicht in wörtlichem Sinne eine Sprache ist, so wie Deutsch oder Englisch, sondern nur, daß sie der Sprache in wichtigen Punk- ten ähnelt. Das bedeutet aber gleichzeitig, daß auch gewisse Unterschiede existieren. Wenn es keine Unterschiede gäbe, wäre Musik im wörtlichen Sinne eine Sprache, was selbstverständlich von keinem behaupte t wird. Die Anhänger u n d Gegner des sprachlichen Paradigmas k ö n n e n also lange genug die Ähnlichkeiten und die Unterschiede auflisten, beide Gruppen werden auch recht haben, wir werden uns aber durch eine solche Diskussi- on kaum der Entscheidung nähern. Ein bloßer Verweis auf die Tatsache, daß es gewisse Unterschiede zwischen Sprache und Musik gibt, was selbstver- ständlich ist, kann als Argument gegen das sprachliche Paradigma auf kei- 6 Werner Jauk, »Sprache und Musik: der angebliche Sprachcharakter von Musik«, in: International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology ofMusic 26 (1995) 1, SS. 97 — 106. 337 Krzysztof Guczalsk i nen Fall wirksam sein. Es muß gezeigt werden, daß die Analogien, die von den Anhängern dieses Paradigmas vorgeführt werden, nur scheinbar oder oberflächlich sind und in Wirklichkeit, bei einem genaueren Einblick in wichtigen Punkten brechen. Anders gesagt: ihre Argumente beweisen nicht, was sie zu beweisen meinen und was sie manchmal zu beweisen scheinen. 3. Argumente Susanne Langers untersucht und revidiert In diesem Aufsatz möchte ich zuerst zeigen, daß die scheinbar über- zeugenden Argumente Langers gegen das sprachliche Paradigma sich lei- der als inkonsistent erweisen. Zum zweiten aber möchte ich versuchen, standfestere und entscheidendere Argumente im Sinne von Langers Posi- tion vorzustellen. Ihre Argumentierung, daß Musik keine Sprache ist, fängt sie mit folgender Feststellung an: Und doch ist sie [die Musik], logisch betrachtet, keine Sprache, denn sie besitzt kein Vokabular. Die Töne einer Tonleiter als »Wörter«, die Har- monie als »Grammatik« und die thematische Entwicklung als »Syntax« zu bezeichnen, ist eine überflüssige Allegorie, denn den Tönen fehlt gerade das, was das Wort von der bloßen Vokabel unterscheidet: die fixierte Kon- notation oder »lexikalische Bedeutung«7. Daß Musik kein Vokabular und keine feste Bedeutungen hat ist eine Offensichtlichkeit, die kaum erwähnt werden braucht. Die Anhänger des sprachlichen Paradigmas behaupten nicht, daß sie ein Vokabular hat, son- dern eher, daß sie so semantisch funktioniert, als ob sie eins hätte, auch wenn wir uns nicht dessen bewußt sind. Und daß eine aufmerksame u n d sorgfäl- tige Analyse dieses implizite Vokabular aufdecken könnte. Anders gesagt: auch wenn Musik keine Sprache in wörtlichem Sinne ist und keine explizi- ten, festen Bedeutungen hat, funktioniert sie de facto als ob sie eine wäre und als ob sie gewisse feste, durch die Analyse bloßzulegende Bedeutungen hätte. Langers vermutliche Erwiderung zu solcher Vermutung kann man aus anderen Thesen ihrer Theorie folgern. Sie unterscheidet nämlich zwischen sogenannten diskursiven (sprachlichen) und präsentativen Symbolen. In dem ersten Fall entstehen die Bedeutungen eines zusammengesetzten Sym- bols aus den Einzelbedeutungen seiner einfachen Elemente nach gewissen Regeln der Syntax. In dem zweiten - und das paradigmatische Beispiel hier- zu ist für Langer eine visuelle Darstellung - haben die einzelnen Elemente eines Symbols keine eigenständige Bedeutung: sie erlangen ihre Bedeutun- 7 Susanne K. Langer, op. cit. S. 225 (Alle Zitate nach der deutschen Ausgabe: Philosophie auf neuem Wege, Frakfurt /Main: Fischer Verlag, 1965) 338 Musik ist keine Sprache - Argumente. Susanne Langers revidiert... gen erst im Kontext der gesamten Struktur des Bildes: separat betrachtet sind sie nur Farbflecken, die in verschiedenen Zusammenhängen ganz unter- schiedliche Sachen darstellen, d.h. ganz verschiedene Bedeutungen haben könnten. In Langers Worten: ... die Bedeutungen aller anderen [nicht-linguistischen] symbolischen Elemente, die zusammen ein größeres, artikuliertes Symbol bilden, werden nur durch die Bedeutung des Ganzen verstanden, durch ihre Beziehungen innerhalb der ganzheitlichen Struktur.8 Auch Musik ist nach Langers Auffassung ein präsentatives Symbol. Sie präsentiert in ihrer Struktur die zeitlich-dynamische Formen des Ablaufs unseres Gefühlslebens. Durch diese Analogie der logischen Form wird sie als symbolisch für unsere Gefühle wahrgenommen u n d empfangen , wo- d u r c h sie ih re emot iona l e B e d e u t u n g er langt . Daraus folgt , daß die Bedeutungen in der Musik nur gewissen strukturierten Ganzheiten u n d nicht ihren Einzelementen zustehen. Die letzteren sind - aus dem Zusam- menhang herausgenommen - bedeutungslos. Deshalb - so würde Langer wohl argumentieren - sind alle Versuche, ein Vokabular - also einzelne, feste Grundbausteine der Bedeutung - durch Analyse aufzudecken, ein aussicht- loses und fehlgerichtetes Unterfangen, das auf völlig falschen Prämissen beruht . Darauf könnte man erwidern, daß aus der These, daß erst gewisse Struk- turen Träger der Bedeutungen sind, nicht folgt, daß man über eine Bedeu- tung erst im Bezug auf ein gesamtes Musikstück bzw. mindestens auf ein geschlossener Teil davon sprechen kann. Aus dieser These folgt lediglich, daß nur an solchen Gebilden Bedeutung haften kann, die eine Struktur aufweisen. Dies muß nicht notwendigerweise das ganze Musikwerk sein. In der Tat haben schon zwei aufeinander folgende Töne oder ein einfaches rhythmisches Motiv eine gewisse - wenn auch simple - Struktur. Ja, sogar ein Klang mit einer wechselnden Dynamik - wenn er z.B. leise anfängt, dann an der Lautstärke zunimmt und schließlich abrupt abbricht; oder aber wie- der leiser wird und allmählich ausklingt - kann als strukturiert angesehen werden. Wenn die sprachlich eingestellten Denker ein emotionales Voka- bular der Musik aufzudecken und zu formulieren trachten, suchen sie nach den Elementarbedeutungen keineswegs in isolierten Tönen, sondern eben in einfachen Strukturen dieser Art. Der prominenteste und umfangreich- ste Versuch, dieses implizite Vokabular bloßzulegen, ist wahrscheinlich der von Deryck Cooke, der in seinem Buch The Language of Music musikalische Figuren identifizierte, die mit ähnlicher Ausdrucksqualität in verschiedenen 8 Susanne K. Langer, op. cit. S. 103 339 Krzysztof Guczalsk i Musikwerken vorkommen. Langer selbst erwähnt ähnliche, auf die Musik von Bach begrenzte Versuche von Albert Schweitzer und André Pirro. Zur Zurückweisung dieses Ansatzes bezieht sich Langer auf die Feststel- lungen Kurt Hubers, die in seiner Studie zur Psychologie der Musik un te r dem Titel Ausdruck musikalischer Elementarmotive enthalten sind. Im Gegen- satz zu dem, was der Titel vermuten lassen würde, scheint aus seinen Fest- s te l lungen zu folgen, daß die Un te r sche idung von e in fachen Grund- elementen des musikalischen Ausdrucks, aus welchen sich die Expression grösserer Gebilde zusammensetzen würde, nicht möglich ist. Langer sagt: Solche genauen Ausdeutungen einzelner Figuren sind deshalb nicht überzeugend, weil es - wie Huber in seiner psychologischen Studie bemerkt - unmöglich ist, den absoluten Ausdrucksgehalt der einzelnen Intervalle (Terzen, Quarten und Quinten usw.) zu bestimmen; da die absolute Ton- höhe die Klanghelligkeit ihrer Bestandteile beeinflußt und somit auch die Qualitäten des Kontrastes, der Faßlichkeit usw.!l Anders gesagt, man kann die Ausdrucksqualität eines Intervalls, z.B. einer Terz, im allgemeinen nicht bestimmen, da diese Qualität von der ab- soluten Höhe, auf welcher dieses Intervall erklingt, von der Farbe des jewei- ligen Klangmaterials usw. abhängig ist. Diese These könnte man noch durch eine Bemerkung verstärken, daß die Ausdrucksqualität eines Intervalls wei- terhin noch von seiner Funktion in der Entwicklung einer melodischen Linie - oder allgemein gesagt, vom Kontext in welchem es auftritt - abhängig ist. In Langers Worten: von seinen Beziehungen innerhalb der ganzheitlichen Struktur. Eine musikalische Figur hat also in verschiedenen Kontexten u n d Ausführungen keine feste Ausdrucksqualität. Für Langer scheint daraus eindeutig zu folgen, daß alle Versuche, ein emotionales Vokabular der Musik zu entdecken, also Elemente mit festen Ausdrucksqualitäten, mit festen Bedeutungen, aus welchen sich die Bedeutung ihrer Zusammensetzungen ergibt, von vornherein zum scheitern verurteilt sind. Wenn man aber diese Argumente genauer betrachtet, scheint es, daß sie auch auf die Sprache zutreffen könnten, selbstverständlich ohne den Schluß zu implizieren, daß ihr ein festgelegtes Vokabular fehlt. Das erste Argument von Huber besagt, daß die Ausdrucksqualität einer Terz auf ver- schiedenen Tonhöhen - im allgemeinen: in ihren verschiedenen Ausführun- gen - nicht identisch ist. Dasselbe könnte man auch über die Bedeutung eines Wortes sagen, das mit verschiedener Intonation ausgesprochen wur- de. Daraus folgt aber nicht, daß es keine feste Bedeutung hat. Ein Wort hat eben eine feste Bedeutung, die in allen Akten seines Aussprechens präsent und eindeutig mit dem geschriebenen Wort verbunden ist. 9 Susanne K. Langer, op. cit. S. 228 340 Musik ist keine Sprache - Argumente. Susanne Langers revidiert... Zurück zu Musik: es wäre schwierig zu widersprechen, daß ein auf ver- schiedenen Höhen oder Instrumenten gespieltes Intervall oder eine Melo- die - auch wenn sie nicht in allen diesen Ausführungen eine genau gleiche Expression besitzen - dann doch eine gewisse, eindeutig erkennbare und immer ähnliche Ausdrucksqualität bewahren. Wenn es wiederum um den Kontexteinfluß auf die Bedeutung geht, haben wir auch in der Sprache mit einem solchen Phänomen zu tun. Langer selbst macht sogar eine Bemer- kung, die man so verstehen könnte, als ob dieser Einfluß genauso wie in der Musik wäre: ... h inzukommt noch ein beachtliches Moment: daß sie [musikalische Motive] in der Kombination eines des anderen Charakter wechselseitig modifizieren, ganz wie die Wörter auch, indem alle für jedes einzelne ei- nen Kontext bilden.10 Es scheint eher klar zu sein, daß der Einfluß des Kontextes auf die Wortbedeutungen und auf den Ausdruck musikalischer Phrasen weder in seiner Art noch in seinem Umfang gleich ist. Wenn wir aber zugeben, daß der Kontexteinfluß auf die Wortbedeutungen existiert, woraus nicht folgt, daß die Worte keine feste Bedeutungen haben, dann beweist dieses Argu- ment in Bezug auf den musikalischen Ausdruck auch nicht, daß man sein Vokabular nicht identifizieren und formulieren kann. Man könnte sogar überspitzt sagen, daß die Leistung Deryck Cookes genau das Gegenteil kon- klusiv beweist. Um also überzeugende Argumente dafür zu finden, daß das von Cooke vorgestellte Vokabular des musikalischen Ausdrucks kein Beweis liefert, daß Musik in ihrer tieferen Struktur wie eine Sprache funktioniert , muß man genauer die Rolle eines Vokabulars in einem semantischen System, im besonderen in der Sprache und in der Musik, analysieren. 4. Auf der Suche nach neuen Argumenten - dichte und diskrete Symbolsysteme Bevor ich dazu übergehe, möchte ich noch folgende Bemerkung ma- chen: ich werde die Bestimmungen Cookes, die die Ausdrucksqualität ver- schiedener musikalischen Motive betreffen, nicht in Frage stellen. Eine sol- che Kritik, die zwar möglich ist (sie wurde z.B. von Donald Ferguson in dem Appendix zu seinem Buch Music asMetaphorJ1 geübt), würde uns wahrschein- lich kaum der Lösung unseres Problems näherbringen. Auch wenn wir die- sen oder j e n e n konkreten Bestimmungen Cookes nicht zustimmen, kann 10 Susanne K. Langer, op. cit. S. 225 11 Donald N. Ferguson, Music As Metaphor: The Elements of Expression, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1960, SS. 191 -195. 341 Krzysztof Guczalsk i man doch mit ziemlicher Konfidenz annehmen, daß in der Musik wohl Fi- guren oder Elemente auftreten, die einen gewissen Grundausdruck in ver- schiedenen Ausführungen u n d Zusammenhängen bewahren (angeführ t wird beispielweise die selbstverständliche Unterscheidung zwischen Dur und Moll). Die Frage lautet also: warum kann ein Inventar solcher Figuren - in der von Deryck Cooke vorgeschlagenen oder einer anderen Form - nicht als Vokabular des musikalischen Ausdrucks angesehen werden? Um diese Frage zu beantworten, kann man gewisse Ideen und Unter- scheidungen benutzen, die mit denen aus Nelson Goodmans Buch Languages ofArtn verwandt sind. In dem vierten Kapitel dieses Buches unter dem Titel »The Theory of Notation« unterscheidet Goodman zwischen sogenannten dichten und endlich differenzierten Symbolsystemen, die man anders diskret nennen kann, auch wenn Goodman selbst diese Bezeichnung nicht benutzt. Die Notationen der natürlichen Sprachen - z.B. das lateinische oder kyrilli- sche Alphabet - sind nach Goodman endlich differenziert oder diskret. Ein dichtes Symbolsystem dagegen bilden beispielweise die Anzeigen eines Ther- mometers, wo jeder noch so kleine Unterschied in der Höhe der Quecksil- bersäule einen Unterschied der Temperatur bedeutet. Allgemein gesagt sind prinzipiell alle sogenannten Analoganzeiger, als Symbolsysteme betrachtet, dicht. Im Bezug auf die Kunst hält Goodman Malerei für ein dichtes Symbol- system, wo auch, ähnlich wie im Falle des Thermometers, jeder kleinste Un- terschied, j ede kleinste Veränderung der visuellen, sinnlich wahrnehmbaren Gestalt für die Bedeutung des Bildes wichtig sein kann. Diese intuitiv, anhand der Beispiele, dargestellte Idee der Unterschei- dung zwischen dichten und diskreten Symbolsystemen ist aber alles, was uns Goodman zu bieten hat: er vermag sie nicht richtig zu formulieren und in konsistente formale Begriffe umzusetzen. Die von ihm vorgeschlagene for- male Definitionen der endlich differenzierten und dichten Symbolsysteme sind logisch fehlerhaft und unbrauchbar. Deshalb werde ich diese Defini- t ionen hier nicht zitieren, da sie uns nicht von Nutzen wären. Darüber hin- aus ist Goodmans Betrachtung der Musik auf ihre Notation begrenzt, was in diesem Fall zur Analyse ihrer Bedeutung nichts beiträgt. Eine völlige Neuformulierung der Idee Goodmans würde den Rahmen dieses Aufsatzes sprengen. Versuchen wir aber, diese Idee ein bißchen näher zu betrachten u n d sie so weit (anders als Goodman) zu explizieren, wie es zur Lösung unseres Problems nötig ist. Wenn man irgendwelche Symbolsysteme ganz allgemein betrachtet , s ind sie zuerst Mengen von physikalischen Ob jek t en (man k a n n sie, 12 Nelson Goodman, Languages of Art, Indianapolis-New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1968. 342 Musik ist keine Sprache - Argumente. Susanne Langers revidiert... Goodman folgend, Marken nennen) , denen gewisse Bedeutungen - dar- über, was sie selbst bloß sind - zustehen. Jede solche Marke zusammen mit ihrer Bedeutung kann als Symbol angesehen werden. In manchen Systemen werden aber gewisse Marken gleichgesetzt und als äquivalent betrachtet. So z.B. in einem Alphabet werden verschiedene Aufschriften eines Buchstabens (d.h. verschiedene materielle Objekte, die fast identisch, oder aber ziem- lich unterschiedlich aussehen können) als äquivalent und gleichbedeutend betrachtet. Auf diese Weise werden Äquivalenzklassen von gewissen Marken gebildet. In einem solchen Fall könnte man vielleicht, wie Goodman es tut, solche Äquivalenzklasen als eigentliche Symbole eines Systems betrachten. Die Bedeutung eines Symbols wird dann mit einer solchen Klasse verbun- den, in dem Sinne, daß jeder Marke dieser Klasse diese, also fü r alle Mar- ken dieselbe, Bedeutung zusteht. Man könnte auch sagen, daß die Gleich- heit der Bedeutungen der Hauptgrund für die Gleichsetzung gewisser Mar- ken ist: es hat j a keinen Sinn zwischen verschiedenen, auch anders ausse- henden Aufschriften eines Buchstabens oder eines Wortes zu unterscheiden u n d sie als verschiedene Symbole zu betrachten, wenn ihre semantische Funktion genau die gleiche ist. Die Gleichsetzung der Marken kann nach verschiedenen Prinzipien erfolgen, die nicht unbedingt ein diskretes System ergeben müssen. Wenn z.B. genau die gleiche Höhe der Quecksilbersäule auf verschiedenen Ther- mometern natürlicherweise als ein und dasselbe Symbol verstanden wird, wird dadurch dieses Symbolsystem immer noch nicht diskret. Andererseits ist unseres Alphabet mit einer begrenzten Anzahl der Symbole diskret. Wenn in einem Symbolsystem keine Gleichsetzungskonventionen im Spiel sind, funktioniert j ede einzelne Marke - als materielles Objekt betrachtet - als ein getrenntes Symbol. In einem solchen Fall können alle wahrnehmbaren Merkmale dieser Marke auf ihre Bedeutung Einfluß haben. Die Marke be- deutet dann durch alles, was und wie sie ist. In den Systemen dagegen, wo gewisse Marken gleichgesetzt werden, spielen ihre sinnlich wahrnehmbare Merkmale nur insoweit eine Rolle, insofern sie fü r die Zuordnung zu einer gewissen Äquivalenzklasse nötig sind, d.h. die Marke als dieses oder jenes Symbol zu identifizieren erlauben. Alles weitere ist für die Bedeutung irre- levant. So ist z.B. im Falle der Temperaturanzeige die Breite oder die Farbe der Quecksilbersäule unerheblich. Und für die Identifizierung einer Mar- ke als ein gewisser Buchstabe sind viele weitere Qualitäten, wie z.B. ihre absolute Größe, irrelevant. Die Systeme, in welchen keine Gleichsetzungskonventionen funktionie- ren, könnte man als dicht in strengem Sinne bezeichnen - was bedeuten würde, daß nach einer noch anzugebenden allgemeinen Definit ion der 343 Krzysztof Guczalsk i Dichte auch manche Systeme mit Gleichsetzungskonventionen, wie z.B. die Temperaturanzeigen, als dicht gelten könnten. 5. Warum kann man in der Musik kein Vokabular der emotionalen Bedeutungen entdecken ? Wenn wir jetzt zu unserem Problem zurückkehren, können wir auf folgende Weise Langers Betrachtungen fortsetzen. Sie sagt uns, daß es nicht möglich sei, ein Vokabular der expressiven Bedeutungen der Musik zu for- mulieren, da die Ausdrucksqualitätjeder einzelnen Figur von ihrer jeweili- gen Ausführung (von der Höhe, Klangfarbe, vermutlich auch von der Dy- namik und mehreren weiteren Faktoren) und von ihrer Funktion in einem strukturierten Ganzem, oder einfacher gesagt vom Kontext, abhängig ist. Wie aber schon ausgeführt bewahren auch in diesem Fall viele musikalische Figuren in verschiedenen Realisierungen eine gewisse konstante, grundle- gende Ausdrucksqualität, ähnlich wie auch Worte in verschiedenen Aussa- gen oder Aufschriften immer eine gewisse, feste Bedeutungen haben. Die- se Grundausdrucksqualität war die Basis des von Deryck Cooke formulier- ten Vokabulars. Mit Hilfe der oben vorgestellten Unterscheidung zwischen dich ten und diskreten Symbolsystemen können wir uns jetzt klarmachen, warum eine musikalische Figur trotzdem nicht als Wort angesehen werden kann u n d nicht wie ein Wort funktioniert. Ein Wort ist eine Klasse aller seiner Aufschrif- ten und Akten des Aussprechens, die alle als »gleiches Wort«, als ein und dasselbe Symbol betrachtet werden. Dadurch haben alle diese Aufschriften eine Bedeutung - die, welche dem Wort als Klasse verstanden, zusteht. In der Musik aber, werden - anders als in der Sprache - verschiedene Ausfüh- rungen einer Figur nicht miteinander gleichgesetzt. Um uns dessen bewußt zu werden, kann man sich fragen, was es heißen würde, wenn wir verschie- d e n e Aus führungen e iner musikalischen Figur tatsächlich gleichsetzen würden. In einem solchen Fall würden zwei so gleichgesetzte Marken ein Symbol vertreten und folglich beide nur eine, gemeinsame Bedeutung ha- ben, die dem Symbol als Klasse zusteht. Wenn aber die Bedeutung einer musikalischen Figur seine Ausdrucksqualität ist, dann ist sie eben in verschie- denen Ausführungen nicht genau gleich, auch wenn sie ähnlich ist. Neh- men wir als Beispiel Goldberg Variationen gespielt von Wanda Landowska, von Glenn Gould u n d dann noch von einem Musikschüler - man kann selbstverständlich nicht sagen, daß sie alle gleiche Bedeutung vermitteln, da der Ausdruck dieser drei Aufführungen klarerweise unterschiedlich ist. 344 Musik ist keine Sprache - Argumente. Susanne Langers revidiert... Anders betrachtet könnte man auch sagen, daß verschiedene Marken dann gleichgesetzt werden können, wenn sie für gleichbedeutend gehalten werden. In der Musik haben wir aber keine funkt ionierenden Regeln zur Identifizierung der Bedeutung, wie in der Sprache, wo wir z.B. sagen kön- nen, daß die Wörter »Hund« und »dog« die gleiche Bedeutung haben, da sie den gleichen Begriff herbeirufen. Die expressive Bedeutung einer mu- sikalischen Phrase ist ihre Ausdrucksqualität. Diese ist mit der Phrase in ihrer konkreten Gestalt und Ausführung, mit allen konkreten Klangqualitäten, un t rennbar verbunden. In diesem Sinne haben zwei musikalische Phrasen nur dann gleiche Bedeutung, wenn sie genau gleich klingen, d.h. wenn sie für die Wahrnehmung praktisch identisch sind. Anders gesagt, man kann die Identität der Bedeutung in der Musik nicht mit dem Verweis auf etwas Außerklangliches begründen - man kann es also nur mit dem Verweis auf die Identität der Marken selbst, also der konkreten Klangereignissen, tun. Das heißt wiederum, daß eine musikalische Figur in verschiedenen Ausfüh- rungen verschiedene, auch wenn manchmal ähnliche, Bedeutungen hat. Sie kann also nicht als ein und dasselbe Symbol - das durch verschiedene Mar- ken vertreten wird - verstanden werden. Um Mißverständnisse vorzubeugen sollte man vielleicht sagen, daß in der Musik selbstverständlich gewisse Identifizierungsregeln von verschiede- nem Klangmaterial funktionieren. O h n e dies könnte man die Musik gar nicht notieren. Man sagt z.B., daß die gleiche Melodie in verschiedenen Ton- arten oder mit verschiedenen Instrumenten gespielt werden kann. Und si- cherlich werden alle richtigen Aufführungen eines Musikwerkes miteinan- der identifiziert in dem Sinne, daß sie alle das gleiche Musikwerk vertreten. Aber selbstverständlich können verschiedene Aufführungen eines Musikwer- kes unterschiedliche Ausdrucksqualitäten, also unterschiedliche Bedeutun- gen, haben. Wir können sie also nicht als ein Symbol, als verschiedene »Aufschriften«oder Marken eines Symbols betrachten. Das bedeute t weiter- hin, das ein Symbol in der Musik nicht mit einem Musikwerk gleichzuset- zen ist. Musik, wie sie tatsächlich funktioniert und verstanden wird, bildet ein dichtes Symbolsystem, wo auch die kleinsten Unterschiede der Klang- qualitäten für die Bedeutung wesentlich sind, wo also j ede klangliche Mar- ke, somit auch j ede Aufführung eines Musikwerkes, als ein getrenntes Sym- bol betrachtet wird. Verschiedene Musikereignisse werden nicht wegen der Gleichheit der Bedeutungen, sondern wegen der Erfordernisse der Notati- on gleichgesetzt. Und die Notation, die ihrerseits diskret ist, hat letzendlich den funktionierenden Begriff des Musikwerkes am wesentlichsten mitgestal- tet. 345 Krzysztof Guczalsk i Wenn wir jetzt nach diesen Bestimmungen noch einmal zu der Idee eines Vokabulars des musikalischen Ausdrucks zurückkehren, können wir folgendes beobachten: mit dem Begriff des Vokabulars eines semantischen Systems ist die Vorstellung verbunden - wie Langer bemerkte — daß die »Wörter«, d.h. Elemente dieses Vokabulars, Grundbausteine der Bedeutung sind, aus welcher sich die Bedeutungen größerer Symbole zusamensetzen. Um die Bedeutungen der zusammengesetzten Symbole aus der Bedeutun- gen der Grundelemente zu konstruieren, muß es möglich sein, diese Ele- mente in der Struktur größerer Symbole zu identifizieren. Wir müssen sa- gen können: hier haben wir ein »Wort« (eine musikalische Figur) u n d da tritt dieses »Wort« in einem Musikwerk auf. Das aber bedeutet genau, daß man gewisse Teile größerer Symbole mit anderen Fällen des Auftretens die- ser »Wörter« gleichsetzen muß. Anders gesagt, es müssen eben gewisse Konventionen der Gleichsetzung zwischen verschiedenen Marken (d.h. materiellen Objekten) vorhanden sein, die besagen, daß zwei an verschie- denen Stellen auf t re tende Marken ein Symbol und somit eine Bedeutung vertreten. Solche Konventionen funktionieren aber in der Musik eben nicht. Aus dieser Überlegung folgt, daß man in einem System, das dicht in stren- gem Sinne ist, d.h. wo keine Gleichsetzungskonventionen funktionieren, aus prinzipiellen Gründen kein Vokabular entdecken kann. Zu dieser Argumentation würden die Anhänger des sprachlichen Pa- radigmas vielleicht sagen, daß sie sehr wohl gleiche Figuren oder Elemente in verschiedenen Musikwerken identifizieren können. Wenn wir es momen- tan um des Argumentes willen akzeptieren und solche Figuren als Elemen- te eines Musikvokabulars betrachten würden, sollte es möglich sein, die Bedeutung eines Musikwerkes aus solchen Grundbedeutungen zu konstru- ieren. Wir sollten also versuchen, uns den Ausdruck des Werkes aufgrund der Ausdruckqualitäten seiner getrennt betrachteten Bausteine vorzustel- len. Da sie - wie schon f rüher beobachtet - im Kontext des Werkes einen etwas anderen Ausdruck haben können, kann man vermuten, daß das Er- gebnis solcher Kombination der Grundausdrücke nur annäherungsweise den Ausdruck des Werkes widerspiegeln würde. Vielleicht wäre aber der Unterschied so klein, daß man es trozdem berechtigterweise als die Bedeu- tung des Musikwerkes anerkennen könnte? Um diese Frage entscheiden zu können, müssten wir wissen, was es heißt, daß zwei Bedeutungen gleich sind, d.h. würden wir ein Kriterium für die Gleichheit der Bedeutungen brau- chen. Ein solches Kriterium funktioniert in Musik aber nicht, wie wir gese- hen haben (außer der Feststellung, daß zwei genau gleich klingende Auf- füh rungen gleiche Bedeutung haben). 346 Musik ist keine Sprache - Argumente. Susanne Langers revidiert... Wir sehen also, daß uns alle Überlegungen bezüglich eines Vokabulars des musikalischen Ausdrucks zum Schluß bringen, daß ein solches in der Musik aus prinzipiellen Gründen - wegen der Dichte des Symbolsystems - nicht funkt ionieren kann. Das heißt aber nicht, daß es keine allgemeine Prinzipien des musikalischen Ausdrucks, wie sie von Deryck Cooke dar- gestellt wurden, gibt. Sie funktionieren aber nicht wie ein Vokabular in ei- ner Sprache, wegen des grundlegend anderen Aufbaus des dichten Symbol- systems der Musik und des diskreten Symbolsystems der Sprache. Die in der Musik fehlenden Konventionen der Gleichsetzung zwischen den Marken könnte man natürl ich e inführen , z.B. durch die Festlegung für gewisse musikalische Figuren, daß j ede in allen ihren konkreten Ausführungen und Kontexten als ein und dasselbe, gleichbedeutende Symbol betrachtet wird (man könnte z.B. festlegen, daß die Bedeutung einer Figur in allen Kontex- ten mit ihrem Ausdruck in Tonart C-Dur, auf einem Klavier ausgeführt , gleich ist). Es wäre sozusagen eine Einfrierung eines natürlichen Grundaus- drucks dieser Figur. Mit Hilfe eines derart igen Vokabulars könn ten wir musikalische Darstellungen der Gefühle konstruieren. Ein solches System könnte man vielleicht damit vergleichen, was tatsächlich bei dem Kompo- nieren banaler Filmmusik gemacht wird: gewisse feste, immer gleiche Ele- mente eines begrenzten Standardrepertoires der expressiven Formeln wer- den da kombiniert, um diese oder j e n e Filmstimmung zu illustrieren. Durch die Einführung der Gleichsetzungskonventionen würden wir also ein Symbolsystem bekommen, wo die expressiven Bedeutungen min- destens teilweise fixiert und festgelegt sind. Eine beliebig nuancierte, belie- big genaue u n d spezifische Expression wäre dort nicht mehr möglich. Es wäre ein teilweise konventionalisiertes, denotatives, undichtes u n d minde- stens in seiner Grundform künstlerisch uninteressantes System, das sich in seinem Funktionieren grundlegend von der Musik, wie wir sie verstehen und betrachten, unterscheiden würde. Um ganz allgemein unsere Ergebnisse bezüglich des Funktionierens eines Vokabulars in einem Symbolsystem zusammenzufassen, kann man folgendes sagen: ein solches Vokabular kann nur in solchen Systemen vor- handen sein, wo gewisse Konventionen der Gleichsetzung zwischen Marken, und damit Symbole als Iilassen der äquivalenten Marken, funkt ionieren. Man kann also zugespitzt sagen: ein Vokabular in einem Symbolsystem kann man nicht entdecken, wenn es dort nicht explizit funktioniert . Man kann es höchstens festlegen. Das führ t aber zu einem ganz anderen Symbolsystem, das sich g rund legend von dem ursprüngl ichen System o h n e Vokabular unterscheidet. 347 Krzysztof Guczalsk i Zum Schluß sollte man vielleicht noch bemerken, daß das oben bespro- chene Phänomen selbstverständlich das Thema der Unterschiede zwischen Sprache u n d Musik bei weitem nicht ausschöpft. Diese Unterschiede sind, wie am Anfang des Aufsatzes gesagt wurde, ganz offensichtlich vielfältig. Meine Frage lautete eher: warum zeigen die scheinbaren Ähnlichkeiten, die von den Anhängern des sprachlichen Paradigmas vorgeführt werden, im wesentlichen nicht, daß Musik wie eine Sprache funktioniert; und wie man t i e f e r g e h e n d e U n t e r s c h i e d e u n t e r de r O b e r f l ä c h e d iese r a ü ß e r e n Änhlichkeiten aufspüren kann. Diese Frage verfolgend habe ich mich auf einem Aspekt des Problems, das aus der Argumentation Langers folgt, näm- lich auf der Rolle und dem Funktionieren eines Vokabulars in einem Symbol- system, konzentriert. Man kann j a nur eine Sache auf einmal behandeln . 348 Werner Jauk Musikalisches Sprechen Interaktion - Strukturierung durch kommunizierendes Verhalten Einleitung »Musik als Sprache« impliziert meist die Betrachtung von Musik als Wortsprache, die ein eindeutiges Codesystem zur Vermittlung von Gedan- ken darstellt und letztlich Denken repräsentieren dürfte. Die schriftlich fi- xierte Sprache als der am meisten kontrollierte Code, legt formalisiertes Denken frei u n d ermöglicht exakten forschenden Zugang. Das Werk ver- leitet zur Analogiebildung und damit zur Untersuchung des mit der schrift- lichen Fixierung von Musik en t s tandenen vollkommensten Code e iner musikalischen Idee, oftmals willkürlich algorithmisch geregelt. Unabhängig voneinander ge fundene Parallelen in zutiefst l iegenden Strukturen der Sprache u n d Musik verstärken die experimentel l or ient ier te Forschung darin, j ene im Umfeld von absolutem Verständnis der Musik postulierten Gemeinsamkeiten prüfend zu erforschen. N. CHOMSKY'S (1957,1965, 1968) generative Grammatik basiert dar- auf, daß »at a deep level, all natural languages have the same structure, and this structure tells us something universal about the human intellect« (J. SLOBODA 1985 S. 12), H. SCHENKER's (1935) wertende analytische Be- trachtung von Musik führ t zu dem Schluß, daß »at a deep level, all good musical compositions have the same type of structure, and that this struc- ture reveals to us something about the nature of musical intuition« (J. SLO- BODA 1985 S. 12). Die Tiefe und Allgemeingültigkeit j ene r Gemeinsamkeit in Sprache und Musik läßt vermuten, daß es sich um allgemeine menschliche Äußerun- gen handelt , denen Denken zugrundeliegt. Die Analyse beider, auch der Musik, legt Denken frei. »The same relationship to a musical sequence as a thought bears to a linguistic sequence« (J. SLOBODA 1985 S. 20) ist in der t reibenden Kraft von Spannung — Lösung zu vermuten, wie sie narrativen Strukturen zugrun- deliegt. Im SCHENKER'schen (1935) Ursatz sei dieses Verhältnis (für die abendländische Musik) optimal verwirklicht. Vom Dreiklang der Grundstu- fe, dem »ultimate resting place in music« (J. SLOBODA 1985 S.21) ausge- hend drängt es nach motivierter Irritation wieder zu diesem zurück. Diese Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 349-200 191 Werner Jauk »creation and resolution of motivated tension« (ebd. S. 22) sei die zutiefst- l iegende musikalische Universalität, vergleichbar dem Gedanken in der Sprache. Vor allem die Suche nach parallelen Strukturen impliziert oftmals die Suche im Werk, da »the grammatical structure is actually made more expli- cit in the notated form than in the spoken form (J. SLOBODA 1985 S. 19). Satzzeichen übe rnehmen diese Strukturierung, andere Ordnungsgrößen sind dem Text explizit vorangestellt, die aus dem Sprechen erst zu extrahie- ren sind. Dieser lesende Zugang zur musikalischen Sprache unterschätzt den Informationswert interpretatorischer Größen. Die psychologische Bedeutsamkeit ist Kriterium für den Erklärungswert de r Anwendung des Modells der Wortsprache auf Musik, theoret ischer Annahmen wie experimenteller Befunde über die emotionale Expression im Musikalischen (vgl. W. JAUK 1995) wie schließlich der Über t ragung nonverbaler Kommunikat ion auf das Musizieren. Die Beobachtung des Werdens von Struktur und ihrer Regelhaftigkeit ist der methodische Nut- zen der Analyse freier kollektiver Musizierformen. Auf die Computersimu- lation nonverbaler Kommunikation als Gestaltungsmittel und die Genese künstlerischer Ereignisse durch Interaktion in den technoiden elektroni- schen Künsten soll hingewiesen werden. Musik als Wortsprache f In Anlehnung an J. SLOBODA (1985) wird die psychologische Rele- vanz des hierarchischen Modells von Phonetik, Syntax und Semantik an Parallelen in der Wahrnehmung von Wortsprache und Musik geprüft. Phoneme gelten als kleinste Klangteile der Sprache; sie werden kate- gorial wahrgenommen. Als die Wahrnehmung von Zei tphänomenen ist die W a h r n e h m u n g eine beziehende. Einschwingvorgänge werden erst nach dem Hören des folgenden stationären Anteils »bedeutsam« für die katego- riale Erkennung von Phonemen (I. E. MATTINGLEY, A. M. LIBERMAN, A. K. SYRDAL und T. HAWLES 1971) wie musikalischen Klängen (J. E. CUT- TING, B. S. ROSNER u n d C. F. FOARD 1976). Grundklassifikationskonzepte von musikalischen Klängen sind Tonhö- he und Tondauer. Auch diese werden kategorial wahrgenommen; sprachli- che und musikalische Grundkategorien unterliegen Lernprozessen, abso- lutes Tonhöhen-Hören ist die gelernte Assoziation von Kategorien mit pro- totypischen Frequenzbändern. 350 Musikalisches Sprechen. Interaktion - Strukturierung durch ... Zusätzlich zu diesen Parallelen erhält bereits die Wahrnehmung von kleinsten Einheiten in der Musik eine spezifische Bedeutung. In ihrer Funktion liegt der Unterschied zwischen den kleinsten Teilen der Sprache u n d der Musik. Für Sprache ist das Phonem Mittel zum Zweck, zum Transport von Information, für Musik ist diese kleinste Einheit Mittel zum Selbstzweck. Bei kontextueller Mitbestimmung beider entstehen Bedeu- tungen sprachlicher Einheiten durch das Zusammenfügen der Bedeutun- gen der Elemente, mögliche Bedeutungen musikalischer Einheiten sind nur durch die Stellung der Elemente zueinander, durch Beziehungen gegeben. Die Reihung von Phonemen wie Klängen unterliegt einer sinngeben- den syntaktischen Ordnung. Experimente sowohl mit Sprache (J. A. FO- DOR, T. G. BEVER 1965 und P. LADEFOGED, D. E. BROADBENT 1960) als auch mit Musik (A. H. GREGORY 1978 und J. SLOBODA, A. H. GRE- GORY 1980) belegen die prinzipiell gliedernde Wahrnehmung von Reihen in der Zeit. In der Musik kann die Akzeptanz willkürlich bestimmter musik- theoretischer Ordnungsgrößen durch Lernen nicht ausgeschlossen werden. Wahrnehmung ist prinzipiell relational (G. Th. FECHNER 1859). Die beziehende Wahrnehmung von Tondauerunterschieden sequentieller Töne (H. WOODROW 1951) ist die Wahrnehmung von Rhythmus. Musik ist in ihrer Zeitstruktur durch Beziehungen bestimmt, aber auch in den anderen Dimensionen ihres Gefüges. »Its the relationship of elements to one another within...structures, rather than their temporal or spatial proximity that determines whether or not they are psychologically close« (J. SLOBODA 1985 S 66) Diese Conclu- sión untermauer t j e n e Postúlate wahrnehmungsmäßig, die spätestens seit H. RIEMANN (1914/15) (absolute) Musik als »beziehendes Denken« sehen. Freiheitsgrade in der Sprache bedeuten die Gefahr des Mißverständ- nisses; im Musikalischen können diese Freiheitsgrade das spannungsreiche Spiel mit Erwartungen sein. Für Sprache »is Syntax a vehicle for communi- cat ing knowledge. Art music, in contrast , has no such clearly de f ined function. Syntax becomes, in itself, an object of aestehetic awareness« (J. SLOBODA, 1985 S 38). BERLYNEs experimentelle Ästhetik (1971, 1974) führ t »beziehendes Denken« und die lustvolle Besetztheit von Spannungs-Lösungs-Prozessen zusammen. Im ästhetischen Wohlgefallen ist die subjektive Empfindung von Struktur dem Spannungs-Lösungsprinzip unterworfen. Syntax hat also direkt Bedeutung: Musik kommuniziert Emotion durch kompositorische Strukturarbeit. Zunehmende Komplexität - indiziert als Neuheitswert, als Grad der Abweichung von der Erwartung - der Struktur bewirkt steigende Erregung, 351 Werner Jauk die von Langeweile bis zur Überforderung führt . Ästhetisches Wohlgefallen steht über diese Erregung und entsprechende Hemmprozesse in umgekehrt u-förmiger Beziehung zur Komplexität. Das Erwartete ist das internalisiert Regelhafte. Gerade die Abweichung vom Regelhaften ist es, die nicht nur psychologische Bedeutsamkeit hat, sondern auch allgemein den ästhetischen Wert einer künstlerischen Arbeit bestimmt. Es ist das unterschiedliche Ziel von Sprache und Musik als Informati- onsmedium bzw. Ausdrucksmittel, das bei vagen Parallelen auch auf der Ebene der Syntax wesentliche Unterschiede markiert. Dieses unterschied- liche Ziel wird auf der Ebene der Semantik letztlich deutlich. In Anlehnung an semiotische (Sprach) Theor ien unterscheidet L.B. MEYER (1956) in der Musik »designative meanings« und »embodied me- anings«. Thematische Figuration ist willkürliche Zuweisung von Bedeutung zu einem Symbol; diese »designative meaning« kann ikonisch gestützt sein. Programmatische Musik baut auf ikonische Codes, die im Klanglichen das ausdrücken was sie bedeuten; Ikone markieren den Ubergang von »designa- tive meanings« zu »embodied meanings«. Mit der Untersuchung von Konnotationen der Musik, ihren »embodied meanings«, verläßt man den Wirkungsbereich des Modells der Wortsprache. Konnotat ionen übertragen nicht Informationen, sie drücken unmittelbar aus. Musik als Sprache der Emotion Zusätzlich zu wortsprachlichen Ausdrucksmöglichkeiten von Gefühlen und der erregenden kompositorischen Strukturarbeit ist ein unmittelbarer Ausdruck von Emotion durch Klang, Rhythmus u n d Melodie als de ren Konnotation zu beachten. In G. KNEPLERs (1977) Vorstellung von der Genese der Musik aus einem ursprünglichen, vorsprachlichen Kommunikationssystem ist Musik die kulturelle Übe r fo rmung j ene r klanglichen Laute, die eine Emotion begleiten. Sprache hat fü r den Ausdruck dieser Zustände Zeichen gewählt, sie kommuniziert sie mittelbar. Musik kann j ene Bedeutungen als Mitbedeu- tungen unmittelbar ausdrücken und ist deswegen nicht nur im metaphori- schen Sinn Sprache der Gefühle. Emotionen sind der experimentellen empririschen Forschung prinzi- piell nicht direkt zugängig. Zwei methodische Zugänge erlauben sie indi- rekt zu beobachten. 352 Musikalisches Sprechen. Interaktion - Strukturierung durch ... Physiologische Erregung als Korrelat von Gefühlszuständen ist ein In- dikator, der mit hoher Reliabilität die Intenstität von Gefühlen anzeigt und leicht zugängig ist. Als zirkuläre Phänomene dürf ten diese Maße körperli- che Aktivierung durch zeitliche Gl iederung gut abbi lden. Methodisch schwierig hingegen ist die Isolation der Bestimmungsgrößen auf der Seite der Musik. Die beobachtete Steigerung der Respirationsfrequenz (D. ELLIS & G. BRIGHOUSE 1954) bzw. der Puls-und zugleich Atemfrequenz (G. HARRER 1975) geht beim Hören komponier ter Musik mit Temposteigerung u n d damit stets mit der allgemeinen Zunahme dynamisch-klanglicher Elemen- te einher. Dieses Konglomerat wird bei der Verwendung von an- u n d ab- schwellenden Trommelwirbeln als Stimuli reduziert, bei schneller werden- den Klicks völlig eliminiert, ihr möglicherweise erregender außermusikali- scher Bezug ausgeschaltet. In Analogie zur synchronen Aktivitätssteigerung durch Lichtblitze nenn t man die Wirkung von Tempo bzw. seiner Verände- rung auf die physiologische Erregung »acoustic driving«. Funktionale wie techno-music ist Komposition von driving effects und kommuniziert durch Ausdruck Erregung, was zur Mitbewegung, zum Mitbewegtsein führt . Die inhaltliche Komponente von Gefühlen wird mit dem semantischen Differential gemessen. L. E. OSGOOD et. al. (1957) entwickelten diese Methode aus der freien Assoziation und leisteten damit die Objektivierung und Standardisierung subjektiver, nicht bewußter Konnotationen. Adaptio- nen dieses Meßinstruments zur Bestimmung von Gefühlen kommuniziert durch Musik wurden im Umfeld der experimentel len Ästhetik von J . B. CROZIER (1974) vorgenommen. Faktorenanalytische Studien erbringen, daß Gefühle unabhängig auf den Dimensionen evolution und activity laden. Diese Angenehmheitsemp- findungen und Erregungen stehen in der Musik allgemein Strukturempfin- dungen bei. (vgl. W. JAUK 1982) Sowohl die Indizierung über physiologische Erscheinungen als auch die verbale Bekundung von Gefühlen bringen eindeutige Ergebnisse. Vor- rangig rhythmisch dynamische Parameter der Musik sind mit activity asso- ziert. Abseits der zeichenhaften Darstellung von Gefühlen, ihrer ikonischen Abbildung und der unmittelbar von der Strukturempfindung hervorgeru- fenen emotionalen Empfindungen sind gefühlsmäßige Assoziationen beob- achtbar, die möglicherweise Reste j ene r lautlichen Äußerungen sind, die einen gefühlsmäßigen Zustand begleiten und ein vorsprachliches Kommu- nikationssystem repräsentieren, von dem heraus sich Musik entwickelt ha- ben könnte. 353 Werner Jauk Nur vom Blickpunkt der Wortsprache und dem absoluten Denken des finished work aus betrachtet ist die Bemerkung Musik als Sprache der Ge- fühle sei metaphorisch und Sache der Dichtkunst und nicht der Wissenschaft (J. SLOBODA 1985) verständlich. Die Vorstellung absoluter Musik hat die Idee des Werks geprägt; seine Einmaligkeit und schriftliche Fixierung haben zur Anwendung des Modells der Wortsprache zur Erklärung des kommunikativen Charakters von Musik verführt . Für die Übermitt lung von Konnota t ion/Gefühlen erweist sich die Wortsprache als unzureichend; nonverbale Kommunikationsformen stellen dafür direktere Bedeutungsvermittler dar. Musik ist allgemein ein parawort- sprachliches Ausdrucksmedium, das unmittelbar kommuniziert . Musikali- sches Sprechen ist eine Vorstellung, die diesem Charakter entgegen kommt, die nonverbale Kommunikation dürf te als basale und ursprüngliche Kom- munikationsform diese Art des unmittelbaren Sprechens modellhaft abbil- den . Die Anwendung des Modells der nonverbalen Kommunikat ion auf Musik mag dem parawortsprachlichen Ausdruckscharakter von Musik ad- äquat sein. Mit der Verschiebung des Fokus von der Sprache des Werkes zum Spre- chen des Musizierens wird die Diskussion des kommunikativen Charakters der Musik aus der ideologisierenden Dichotomie von absolutem Verständ- nis von Musik und der Anwendung des Modells der Wortsprache auf sie u n d ihrem funktionalen Verständnis in der Nähe der Sprache der Gefühle her- ausgeführt. Musizieren als nonverbale Kommunikation Interaktion als gestaltendes Verhalten nonverbaler Kommunikation Das Verständnis von informellem Musizieren als nonverbale Kommu- nikation und die Gestaltung aus ihr heraus durch Interaktionen eröffnet den alternativen Blick auf Musik als ein in sich kommunikatives System und damit auf ihr Werden wie ihre Einbindung in die Neuen Künste. Die Beobachtung informeller Kommunikation legt nicht nur Regeln der Kommunikation dar, sondern auch ihr Werden und j ene damit einher- gehenden Gestaltungsprozesse. Die Gruppenpsychologie wertet Kommunikationsvorgänge als Interak- tionen u n d erachtet sie als Gestaltungsmechanismen einer Gruppe (R. F. BALES 1950). Interaktionen sind dabei Handlungen, die nicht bloß Infor- mationen von einem Sender zu einem Empfänger verständlich übermitteln, sondern die bei den kommunizierenden Agenten etwas verändern. 354 Musikalisches Sprechen. Interaktion - Strukturierung durch ... Dieser Interaktionsbegriff geht einher mi t j enem der interaktiven Kün- ste, wenn man diesen von seiner kinetischen Vergangenheit (F. POPPER 1991) und somit mechanistischen Bestimmung sowie von seiner technolo- gischen als man-machine-in ter face (R. ROWE 1993) löst u n d seine politisch- ideologische Motivation zusätzlich sieht. Interaktion ist von Reaktion als die Auslösung determinierten Verhaltens wie von Partizipation zu unterschei- den, die die Teilhabe am »künstlerischen« Ereignis als soziales Ereignis meint und sich pointiert im Happening-Konzert von einer im Verein mit dem Werk entstandenen passiven bürgerlichen Kunstrezeptionsform abhebt (vgl. W. JAUK 1995). Interaktion ist Gestaltungsgröße in einem Kommunikations- system. Die freie kollektive Musizierform des Free-Jazz, die Avantgarde der wir- bestimmten 60er Jahre , nutzt diese informelle Kommunikationsform zur musikalischen Gestaltung; sie ist >Komponieren< aus der »musikalischen Interaktion« (W. KNAUER 1996 Sp. 1410). Abseits zuvor festgelegter Regeln führ t die Beobachtung des klangli- chen und verhaltensmäßigen Status Quo in einer frei musizierenden Gruppe und die stete Interpretation dieses Geschehens am Hintergrund persönli- cher Erfahrung das musikalische Gesamtgeschehen weiter. Die subjektive Interpretation des Beobachteten dient dabei als Basis neuerlicher Eingaben in das musizierende Kommunikations-System, zugleich modifiziert die Be- obachtung das Reservoir an Erfahrungen. Das kognitionstheoretische Drei- speichermodell der Informationsverarbeitung (U. NEISSER 1967) liegt die- ser Kommunikation zugrunde. Kommunikationsinhalt u n d Kommunikati- onsstruktur stehen über Interaktion in einem reflexiven Bezug. Das kommunizierende Musizieren der Spieler führ t zur informellen Herausbildung einer musikalischen Gruppenstruktur, wobei j ede r Spieler ein Kommunikations-Node, entpersonifiziert ein als »Stimme« in e inem kompositorischen Prozess bezeichenbarer Repräsentant wird. Die Interaktionsanalyse legt diese informell entstandene Kommunika- tionsstruktur frei, wo hingegen die Werkanalyse die zuvor angewandten Regeln bzw. spannungsreichen Abweichungen davon freilegt. Eine Formalis ierung des Gestaltungsprozesses durch musikalische Kommunikation geschieht in der »Gruppe 01« (http://gewi.kfunigraz.ac.at/ grel le .musik/gruppeOl/gruppe01.html) . Die kollektive freie Improvisation der Free Jazz Gruppe ist dabei Modell der informellen Gestaltung wie Aus- gangspunkt der Simulation. Ein Computersystem beobachte t u n d über- n immt allmählich die Kommunikationsstrukturen frei improvisierender Akteure und formalisiert somit den von ihnen vollzogenen Gestaltungspro- zess. 355 Werner Jauk Einheiten der Beobachtung sind entsprechend dem verhaltensbasier- ten Modell von Musizieren nicht nur die hervorgebrachten musikalischen Strukturen, sondern die Art des Spielens als ein Maß des musikalischen Ausdrucks; der mit dem Spannungs-Lösungs-Prinzip e inhergehende Indi- kator dafür ist die körperliche Bewegung. Score-Follower beobachten die musikalische Hervorbringung, Bewe- gungsdetektoren die musikantische Aktion. Die Informationen über Struk- tur und Aktion werden gewichtet zueinandergestellt. Häufig Beobachtetes wird als bedeutsam erachtet und in einen Speicher geschrieben, neu ein- langende Information wird im Arbeitsspeicher stets mit abgelagerten Infor- mat ionen verglichen u n d interpret iert . Erkennens-/Vergleichsprozesse basieren auf hierarchischen Mustererkennungsprozessen. Die aktuellen Informat ionen verändern permanent auch die Basis ihrer Interpretation: die in einer Art Langzeitspeicher abgelagerten Informationen, die als stän- dig sich änderndes Regelsystem zur Genese von Neuem verwendet werden. Neuere Generat ionen von Systemen lösen ältere in einem Evolutions- prozess des Erfahrungswissens ab und generieren Musik als Prozeß. Schluß Die Anwendung des Modells der Wortsprache auf Musik mag aus der Orient ierung am schriftlich fixierten Werk geleitet gewesen sein, Musik als die Sprache der Gefühle begriffen, führ t bereits zu j enen originären para- oder vorsprachlichen Ausdrucksformen, die Musik als Kommunikationssy- stem erachten, das allumfassend in einem Modell der nonverbalen Kommu- nikation beschreibbar ist. Dieser Zugang hat Erklärungswert abseits j enes schmalen Ausschnittes der europäischen Kunstmusik und bietet zugleich auch Grundlage für eine die technologiegeprägten Kunstformen unserer Zeit integrierende Sicht. Es sind dies Kunstformen die wesentlich von einem Verständnis von Musik aus betrieben in der Musik aber nur unzureichend rezipiert und der Domäne der bildenden Kunst überlassen wurden, die mit e iner an das Verhalten von Gegenständen gebundenen mechanistischen Sicht operiert und deswegen zu deren Bestimmung eines Paradigmenwech- sels bedarf. Sprache als Kommunikationsmittel ermöglicht eindeutige Informati- onsübertragung, Musik kommuniziert direkt Konnotationen ihres Mediums Struktur. Das Paradigma von Spannung - Lösung ist ihre Triebfeder, Zeit- gestalt, kompositorische Verarbeitung sind erregendes Spiel mit strukturel- len Erwartungen u n d dem Neuheitswert von Informat ion. Ästhetisches 356 Musikalisches Sprechen. Interaktion - Strukturierung durch ... Wohlgefallen ist dann j ene angenehm erlebte Spannungserhöhung, die durch eine leichte Irriation des Gewohnten, durch die mäßige Störung der subjektiven Vorhersagbarkeit des strukturellen Ablaufs syntaktischer Elemen- te, eintritt. Der SCHENKERsche Ursatz wie die experimentel le Ästhetik BERLYNEs basieren auf der Aktivierungstheorie W. WUNDTs; Musikstruk- tur wie ihre unmittelbare Kommunikation von Emotion werden dadurch erklärt. Interaktion ist Verhalten, das durch wechselseitigen Informationsaus- tausch zur laufenden Modifikation von Information und deren Träger führt. Damit wirkt Interaktion gestaltend im reflexiven Gefüge von Inhal t u n d Struktur der Kommunikation. Interaktion als Akt der nonverbalen Kommu- nikation ist somit ein grundlegendes Kommunikations- und zugleich Gestal- tungsmittel, das selbstorganisierend gestaltet ohne das willkürliche Setzen von Regeln der Gestaltung. Regeln sind letztendlich Ausdruck von Wertig- keit; Wertigkeiten von innen entstanden, s indjenen von außen vorzuziehen. Als Teil einer gesellschaftlichen Entwicklung hat der Free Jazz diese Strukturierung erprobt, haben die interaktiven Künste sie formalisiert und in technoiden Formen verfügbar gemacht, bringt Net-Art dieses Paradigma wie Abbild informeller sozialer Strukturbildung adäquaterweise mit dem unstrukturierten Netz des World-Wide-Web zusammen u n d schafft breites Bewußtsein fü r informelle Demokratisierung. Den kommunikativen Charakter von Musik nicht von der Vorstellung der Musik als Sprache aber des Musizierens als nonverbales Sprechen prü- fend zu bet rachten kann neue Akzente selbst in der Diskussion um die Genese von Mehrstimmigkeit auch im außereuropäischen Sinn setzen, Gestaltung f indet in der musikalischen Gestalt seine Manifestation. Dies führ t zurück - nach einem Verständnis von Kunst als Gesetztes u n d Vollen- detes im Werk - zu Kunst als Prozeß, sie bringt Musik als die Kommunikati- onskunst ins Zentrum der Erklärungsansätze Neuer Künste. Literatur R. F. BALES, Interaction process analysis (Cambridge 1950). D. E. BERLYNE, Aesthetics and psychobiology (New York 1971). D. E. BERLYNE, The new experimental aesthetics. In: (D. E. BERLYNE ed.) Studies in the new experimental aesthetics (Washington 1974 S. 1 - 26. N. CHOMSKY, Syntactic structures (The Hague 1957). N. CHOMSKY, Aspects of the theorie of syntax (Cambridge MA 1965). N. CHOMSKY, Language and mind (New York 1968). 557 Werner Jauk J. B. CROZIER, Verbal and exploratory responses to sound sequences varying in uncertainty level. In: (D.E. BERLYNE ed.) Studies in the new expe- rimental aesthetics. (Washington 1974) S. 2 7 - 9 0 . J. E. CUTTING, B. S. ROSNER, C. F. FOARD, Perceptual Categories for musiclike sounds: implications for theories of speech perception. In: Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology 28 (1976) S. 361 - 378. D. ELLIS und G. BRIGHOUSE Effects of Music on Respiration and Hear t Rate. In: (E. POPOLSKYEd.) Musictherapy (NewYork 1954). G. Th. FECHNER, Elemente der Psychophysik (Leipzig 1859). J. A. FODOR, T. G. BEVER, The psychological reality of linguistic segments. In: Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior 4 (1965) S. 414 - 421. A. H. GREGORY, Perception of clicks in music. In: Perception and Psycho- physics 24 (1978) S. 171 - 174. G. HARRER, Grundlagen der Musiktherapie und Musikpsychologie (Stutt- gart 1975). W. JAUK, Komplexität und hedonische Empfindung von Liedern verschie- dener musikalischer Epochen, masch. phil. Diss. Graz 1980 (= /gedr . / Dissertationen der Universität Graz 1982; überarbeitete Fassung: Kom- plexität u n d hedon i sche E m p f i n d u n g von Liedern verschiedener musikalischer Epochen) . W. JAUK, Veränderung des emotionalen Empfindens von Musik durch au- diovisuelle Präsentation. In: Musikpsychologie. Empirische Forschun- gen-Äs the t i sche Experimente. Jahrbuch der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Musikpsychologie 11 (1994) S. 2 9 - 5 1 . W. JAUK, Interactivity instead of reactivity. In: Prix Ars Electrónica 95 (Linz 1995) S. 2 3 - 2 7 . W.JAUK, Sprache und Musik: Der angebliche Sprachcharakter von Musik. In: International review of the aesthetics and socioloy of music 26, 1 (1995) S. 9 7 - 1 0 6 . W. KNAUER, Art. Free Jazz. In: Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart hrsg. v. Ludwig FINSCHER, Sachteil Bd. 4 (2. neubearb.Auflage, lías- sel etc. 1996) Sp. 1384-1421. G. KNEPLER, Geschichte als Weg zum Musikverständnis. Zur Theor ie , Methode und Geschichte der Musikgeschichtsschreibung (Leipzig 1977). P. LADEFOGED, D. E. BROADBENT, Perception of sequence in auditory events. In: Quarterly Journa l of Experimental Psychology 12 (1960) S. 1 6 2 - 170. 358 Musikalisches Sprechen. Interaktion - Strukturierung durch ... I. E. MATTINGLEY, A. M. LIBERMAN, A. K. SYRDAL u n d T. HAWLES, Discrimination in speech and non speech modes. In: Cognitive Psycho- logy 2 (1971) S. 131 - 157. L. B. MEYER, Emotion and meaning in music (Chicago-oress 1956). U. NEISSER, Cognitive Psychology (New York 1967). L. E. OEGOOD, G. J. SUCI & M. TANNENBAUM, The Measurement of Meaning (Urbana 1957). F. POPPER, High Technology Art. In: (F. RÖTZERHrsg.) Digitaler Schein. Ästhetik der elektronischen Medien. (Frankfurt 1991) S. 249-266. H. RIEMANN (1914/15) Ideen zu einer »Lehre von den Tonvorstellungen«. In Jahrbuch der Musikbibliothek Peters 21/22, S. 1 - 26. Reprint in: Musikhören, Hrsg. v. B. DOPHEIDE, (Darmstadt, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft) 1975 S. 1 6 - 4 7 . R. ROWE, Interactive Music Systems. Machine Listening and Composing (Cambridge MA 1993). H. SCHENKER, Der freie Satz (Wien 1935). J. A. SLOBODA, The Musical Mind. The Cognitive Psychology of Music (Oxford 1985). J. A. SLOBODA, A. H. GREGORY, The psychological reality of musical seg- ments. In: Canadian Journal of Psychology 34 (1980) S. 274 - 280. H. WOODROW, The perception of time. In: Handbook of experimental psychology (ed. S.S. Stevens) (New York 1951). W. M. WUNDT, Grundzüge der physiologischen Psychologie (Leipzig 1874). 359 Borut Loparnik Die Kommunikation im Schatten der Unersichtlichkeit Eine Frage des Expressionismus Eines der künstlerischen Kriterien für das Verstehen der Musik als Sprache ist die semantische Ebene der klanglichen Vorrstellung. Da ihre metaphorische Textur nur in den psychologisch sensitiven Dimensionen des menschlichen Fassungsvermögens ablesbar ist, stellt der Bereich der inten- dierten als auch der unvorhersehbaren Bedeutungen des symbolischen musikalischen Inhalts den einzigen maßgebenden Raum der kommunika- tiven Präsenz und Reichweite dar. Exempla docent, daß un te r der Oberflä- che der Geschichtsschreibung zahlreiche palimpsestartige Spuren vorliegen, die auf diesen Einfluß hinweisen. Mehr noch, sie weisen auf die Prädomi- nanz der semantischen Ersichtlichkeit bezüglich der Genese der schöpferi- schen Intent ionen hin, obwohl diese in der esoterischen Geborgenhei t der musicae reservatae ruhen. Diese Erscheinung ist nicht digressiv u n d bekun- det die Art der Autor-Zuhörer-Relation. Sie umreißt insbesondere den Rah- men ihrer möglichen Identifikation mit dem Werk, oder, um es zu verein- fachen, die Grenze des ästhetisch Annehmbaren . Jede Abweichung über diesen Rahmen hinaus ist ein Risiko für die optimale Kommunikation. Es ist also kein Zufall, daß der Gegenstand der Geschichte auch die Rolle betrifft, - obwohl diese bislang soziologisch und ästhetisch keinen wesentlichen Teil spielte - die die Reaktion auf die Semantik im Laufe der sog. Musikentwicklung spielt.1 Dem Anschein nach paradox ist dabei nur der Umstand, daß die musikalische Bedeutung bzw. das hermeneutisch tie- fere Verhältnis zum Inhalt für die Rezeption der klanglichen Ausdrucksweise in concreto evident als ein sekundäres und unklares Kriterium anzusehen ist. Das künstlerische Fazit, an dem die zeitliche Distanz u n d aposteriorische Erklärungen noch keinen Anteil haben, zeigt sich als eine unklare, unbe- wußte Form der psychischen Genugtuung oder Störung, die j edoch in die Domäne des Geschmacks gehören. Die Reaktion auf die Intent ionen des Komponisten ist daher nicht das analytische Urteil, sondern die Feststellung des Erfolgs bzw. des Mißerfolgs, des »Guten« bzw. des »Schlechten«. Diese beiden Kategorien sind weder ästhetisch noch hermeneut isch, u n d sind Über das jetzige Verständnis des Begriffs Entwicklung siehe: Was heißt Fortschritt?, Musik- Konzepte Nr. 100, München 1998. Filozofski vestnik, XX (2/1999 - XIVICA Supplement), pp. 361-200 191 Borut Loparnik auch nicht poetologisch gemeint. Sie bestimmen lediglich den Charakter u n d die Ebene der Interaktion, die das Kunstwerk erreicht hat. Das durchschnittliche Rezeptionsinstrumentarium (und darum geht es in concreto, bevor das Geschehen in die historische Observation und der Inhalt in axiologische Parameter übersetzt werden), bleibt immer nu r die Funktion der semantisch unklaren Wahrnehmung. Was es schafft, ist nur eine Annäherung - zum einen an den Kern des parabelförmig ausgedrück- ten Eindrucks, zum anderen an die metaphorische Textur der Musik, oder zumindest der Sprache, in der diese zugänglich ist. Die Indirektheit dieses Verhältnisses wird sehr treffend durch das gängige, in der Umgangssprache gebräuchliche Syntagma »die Musik verstehen« definiert. Demnach wird die Musik als ein Kommunikationsmittel aufgefaßt, also als Klangsprache, wo- bei ihre Beherrschung, alias die Ersichtlichkeit des erfassten Inhalts, die Bedingung für die kommunikative Präsenz des Werkes darstellt. Mit anderen Worten - die Rezeption in concreto ist die instinktive Suche nach dem Verstehen und den Möglichkeiten für eine assoziative Iden- tifikation mit dem Kunstwerk mittels Sprache. Das bedeutet, daß sie von der musikalischen Poetik geleitet wird, ihrer Lexik und Struktur, und noch mehr von ihrer Syntax und Morphologie: von der individuellen Poetik als Totali- tät der kompositorischen Mutationen des Allgemeinen. Da sie am eviden- testen durch Sprache oder Aussprache kategorisiert wird, entscheidet in erster Linie die »Orthophonie«, wie und wie viel der sensus communis wahr- n e h m e n wird, daß die Sprache die semantische Substanz des Werkes wider- spiegelt. Ob er sie (approximativ) auch begreifen wird, ist zwar eine aposterio- rische, j e d o c h zugleich eine neue Frage, die in die an thropologischen Schichten des Phänomens Sprache hineinreicht. Sein Ausgangspunkt sind die grundlegenden Züge des Musikdenkens, mit denen die Ästhetik den Stil definiert und die Musikgeschichte die Perioden zwischen einzelnen tekto- nischen Verschiebungen der poetologischen Konstanten klassifiziert. In diesen verhältnismäßig langen zeitlichen Segmenten paßt sich nämlich das Rezept ionsinstrumentar ium allmählich die zentralen Eigenschaften des Denkens bis zu Stereotypen an, die das triviale Kodesystem der Bedeutungs- werte aufrechterhalten. Dieser Prozeß ist zweifelsohne eine instinktive Kor- rektur hoher ästhetischer Maßstäbe, doch hat das Resultat eine tiefere Kon- notation. Das jeweilige Abweichung von artistischen Ansprüchen stellt die im Grunde unberühr te , ahistorische, gegen die inhaltlichen Metamorpho- sen resistente Verflechtung eindimensionaler psychologisch-phänomenolo- gischen Konvergenzen wieder her, die die Natur des »herkömmlichen Ge- schmacks« sind u n d außerhalb des Geschehens gelten, auf das sich die 362 Die Kommunikation im Schatten der Unersichtlichkeit. Eine Frage . Geschichte stützt. Daß es sich um ein geistig rudimentäres System handelt , läßt sich am besten an den Modalitäten der U-Musik ablesen, in der perma- nente Innovationen im Bereich des Scheins nie den Inhalt erreichen. Das, was die Ablehnung des Kunstwerkes auslöst, ist demnach nicht eine unge- wöhnliche Lexik oder eine schlechtere Ersichtlichkeit der Bedeutungen in einer individuell profilierten Sprache. Der ausschlaggebende Impuls ist die instinktive Wahrnehmung dessen, daß die Musik anerkannte Werte reinter- pretiert, sie möglicherweise zerstört oder sogar ihren Sinn negiert. Anders ausgedrückt, das Kodesystem, das sich auf das Unbewußte stützt, ist das Maß für die assoziative semantische Identifikation, und damit das Maß für das ästhetisch Akzeptable, das den Wechsel und die Exzesse in der »Orthopho- nie« erklärt. Die Musikwissenschaft, vornehmlich die Musikgeschichte, stößt ange- sichts des Unbewußten, insbesondere wenn dieses latent existiert, also ohne den artikulierten Hintergrund, auf bestimmte Schwierigkeiten. Da es einer methodologischen Analyse nicht zugänglich ist, dienen seine Rolle und seine Reichweite lediglich der Illustration des sprachlichen, höchstens stilisüschen Unverständnisses, also der Gegensätze oder Unterschiede zwischen dem Autor und dem Publikum. Die Logik des Andersartigen wird in Anbetracht des real Beweisbaren in den Bereich der selbstverständlichen Regressionen verdrängt, die zumeist durch die Auffassung der sog. Entwicklung bzw. des Fortschrittes evoziert werden. Daß sie trotzdem aus dem Hintergrund des Geschehens reflektiert, ist also nicht das Verdienst der heutigen Theorie, sondern der Praxis, die der enigmatischen Idiomatik des Unbewußten vol- le Geltung verschafft. In der Rezeption, obwohl sie res secreta zu sein scheint, in der Interpretation, für die sie das existenzielle Medium darstellt, und im Schaffensprozeß, dem sie punktum saliens ist. Die Musikgeschichte bringt diese indikatorischen Erscheinungen also selten und nur durch Hypothesen zur Sprache - hört aber auch schnell auf, sich damit zu befassen, wenn das Unbewußte zum entscheidenden Agens auf beiden Seiten des Kommunikationsverhältnisses wird, d.h. beim Kom- ponisten u n d bei den Zuhörern. In einer solchen Dichotomie werden Ur- sachen und Wirkungen nicht nur durch verschiedene Ebenen der Wahrneh- mung und Reaktionen verwickelt, sondern auch durch die Kontrastmodi, in denen sich Ursachen und Wirkungen beider Entitäten manifestieren bzw. aufeinanderprallen. Dieser Antagonismus ist nicht aufzulösen, da er von der Unvereinbarkeit der psychologischen Prädestination beherrscht wird, gül- tig in concreto als auch danach. Das belegt im 20. J ah rhunde r t das Schick- sal des Expressionismus vielleicht noch mehr als f rühere Abschnitte der Musikgeschichte. 363 Borut Loparnik Aus der Distanz des kompositorischen Repertoriums der Nachfolger ist seine stilistische Gestalt selbstverständlich der natürliche Gipfel des ro- mantischen Modernismus. Die Ansätze avantgardistischer Elemente, die später von Revolutionären und Revisionisten entwickelt werden, sind somit nach historischen Maßstäben die Fortsetzung und nicht der Bruch, d.h., sie sind die extreme morphologisch-syntaktische Mutation des Erbes u n d nicht - um es abstrakter auszudrücken - die Aufhebung des Essentiellen. Solche Momente bezeichnet die Geschichte als Ubergänge, die Musikwissenschaft hat sie auch kritische Jah re genannt.2 Beide sehen das zentrale Problem dieses chaotischen Geschehens einstimmig in der plötzlichen und radika- len Destruktion der Sprache bzw. der Grundsätze, die sie konstituieren. Die Folgen dessen nimmt die Öffentlichkeit vornehmlich als irritierendes Ent- stellen des Materials auf, eventuell als ästhetisch subversive Axiologie und gewiß als die terminologische Verwirrung, die zwischen den Autoren u n d Referenten herrscht.3 Von der Ebene ihrer Betrachtung her müssen wir ihr zustimmen, daß die Ubergänge immer das Sterben des Existierenden dar- stellen. Doch ist der Blick auf der Ebene, die abgelehnt wird, d.h. in den Augen des Komponisten, umgekehrt . Da geht es nämlich um die Fortset- zung und Verteidigung, genauer gesagt, um die Wiederaufnahme u n d Er- neue rung der banalisierten und deformierten Postulate der ausgehenden Epoche. Die Expressionisten negieren keineswegs die innere Freiheit, im Ge- genteil, sie potenzieren die Realität des geistig Autonomen, Unbewußten u n d Arationalen, was dem einsamen romatischen Subjekt die Distanz zur Welt gewährt. Mit dem Neuen in der Sprache versuchen sie den Inhalt und die semantische Substanz seiner Herkunf t zu retten, was besagt, daß die Veränderungen die Reinterpretation und nicht die Elimination des Vererb- ten betreffen. Wie immer sie schon entstehen mögen und wieweit sie auch von den Determinanten des 19. Jahrhunderts entfernt zu sein scheinen, ihre Anlehnung an die Tradition ist der einzige, obwohl häufig schwer nachzu- weisende Zug, der den Expressionismus von der sog. historischen Avantgar- de unterscheidet - und selbstverständlich von der Romantik.4 2 Vgl. Report of the Tenth Congress [of] International Musicological Society Ljubljana 1967 (ed. byD. Cvetko), Kassel [etc.], Ljubljana 1970, besonders S. 216-247 (Critical Years in European Musical History 1915-1925). 3 Für den Gebrauch des Begriffs Expressionismus siehe: Troschke, M. v., Expressionismus, in: Handwörterbuch der musikalischen Terminologie (1988). 4 Vgl. Stephan, R., Expressionismus, in: MGG (2., neubearb. Ausg.), Sachteil 3, Kassel [etc.] 1995, Sp. 244-253; Mauser, S., Das expressionistische Musiktheater der Wiener Schule, Schriften der Hochschule für Musik München, Bd. 3, München 1982, S. 1-9. 364 Die Kommunikation im Schatten der Unersichtlichkeit. Eine Frage . Leider scheint das Letztere ein mehr oder minder marginales Phäno- men zu sein, das auch von der Musikgeschichte als unbrauchbares Kriteri- um angesehen wird. Der Blick auf das Geschehen, der im ästhetischen Sin- ne die fragliche Progression klassifiziert u n d relativiert, vernachlässigt nämlich die Tatsache, daß die Expressionisten vor allem durch ihr kritisches und nicht durch ein sinkretisches Verhältnis zur ästhetischen Lage, in der ihre Intent ionen exkommuniziert werden, mit der Tradition verbunden sind. Das, wonach sie streben, läßt sich nicht im Bereich der abstrakten sti- listischen Metaphysik verwirklichen, sondern auf dem realen Boden des Milieus, das sie gezeichnet hat und dem sie angehören. Allen gemeinsam ist die Negation der regionalen künstlerischen Situation, ihrer Mentalität und eine radikale Ablehnung adaptierter Werte, einer verknöcherten Spra- che u n d semantischer Stereotypen, mit denen ihr geografischer Raum lebt. Sie berufen sich nicht auf gemeinsame slilistische Tendenzen, suchen kei- ne Korrelate bei verwandten Rebellen anderwärts und verkünden nicht ihre Grundsätze in Manifesten, die zu ihrer Zeit und auch später Europa über- fluteten. Ihr Ausgangspunkt und Arbeitsraum ist die domus sua propria. Eine solche Haltung hebt mindestens dreierlei hervor. Zweifellos na- tionale, des öf teren nationalistische Vorurteile und Gegensätze, die den Expressionismus begleiteten und einschränkten.5 Nicht minder die psycho- logische Nähe und das ästhetische Bewußtsein, infolgedessen sich die expres- sionistischen Einzelgänger als geistige Nachfolger »ihrer« spätromantischen Modernisten fühlten; so war der Kreis um Schönberg z.B. an Mahler gebun- den, die russischen Symbolisten an Skrjabin.6 Am stärksten aber betonen die angeführ ten Züge eine Eigenschaft, die für das Verständnis dieses Ge- schehens als wesentlich und für die historische Interpretat ion als entschei- dend zu betrachten ist: trotz der einheitlichen Idee war der Expressionis- 5 Schönberg im Brief an Alma Mahler, 28. 8. 1914: »... ich konnte «¿«etwas anfangen mit aller ausländischen Musik. Mir kam sie immer schal, leer, widerlich, süsslich, verlogen und ungekonnt vor.« - Zit. nach: Nono-Schönberg, N. (Hrsg.), Arnold Schönberg 1874-1951. Lebengeschichte in Begegnungen, Klagenfurt und Wien 1998, S. 133. 6 Vgl. z.B. Nono-Schönberg, N. (Hrsg.), o.e., S. 50-53, 80-81, 101; Reich, W„ Arnold Schönberg oder Der konservative Revolutionär, Wien [etc.] 1974, S. 52-56; Lea, H. A., Gustav Mahler und der Expressionismus, in: Aspekte des Expressionismus. Periodisierung, Stil, Gedanke, Heidelberg 1968, S. 85-102; Sabanejev, L., Prometheus von Skrjabin, in: Der Blaue Reiter (dokumentarische Neuausg. von K Lankheit), München 1990, S. 107-124; Goldstein, M., Skrjabin und die Skrjabinisten, in: Aleksandr Skrjabin und die Skrjabinisten (1), Musik-Konzepte Nr. 32-33. München 1983, S. 178-190; J l e B a a , T., Pucckaa m y 3 M K a Hatana XX BeKa B xy ,a0>KecTBeHH0M KOHTeKCTe 3noxn / Russische Musik am Anfang des XX. Jahrhundert im künstlerischen Kontext der Epoche, MocKBa 1991. 365 Borut Loparnik mus - insbesondere in bezug auf die Sprache - eine extrem variable Ant- wort auf unterschiedliche oder sogar ganz unvergleichbare Umstände. Mit ihm kam zum ersten Mal eine der zentralsten Modalitäten der zer- splitterten künstlerischen Welt des 20. Jahrhunder t s zum Vorschein: die Dispersität. Unbeständig, wie jeder historische oder persönliche Ubergang, entfaltete sich der Expressionismus nicht zu einem definierbaren Stil, er blieb eine Bewegung - j e d o c h auch als solcher ein Wegweiser zur Unruhe de r neuen Epoche. Unter dem Aspekt aller seiner Erscheinungsformen betrachtet, läßt sich behaupten, daß es sich um Expressionismen handelte, u n d nicht um den Expressionismus. Das bedeutet folglich, daß das Charak- teristikum Schönbergs, bzw. sein Einfluß auf den deutschsprachigen Raum, nicht der einzige Agens oder sogar das Muster der meisten Handlungen war, obwohl die heutige Musikwissenschaft dazu neigt, beides als Maßstab der Metamorphosen, zumindest im geistigen Kontext eines imaginären Mittel- europas, zu betrachten. Das bedeutet weiterhin auch, daß das Nationale - einschließlich folkloristischer Idiome - der grundlegende Impuls der expres- sionistischen Erneuerung überall dort war, wo der kulturimperialistische Druck besonders stark verspürt wurde. Und nichtzuletzt läßt sich behaup- ten, daß laut der Adornschen politisch-ideologischen Terminologie sich die »agraren«, alias nicht-historischen Länder, gerade durch dem Expressionis- mus einen Teil ihrer eigenen künstlerischen Identität erkämpfen konnten. Die Perspektive der historischen Verdienste t rugjedoch kaum zu einem besseren Verhältnis zwischen dem Publikum und den Schaffenden bei. Es war die Originalität dieser Bewegung, die dieses Verhältnis verwickelte u n d vereitelte, denn man wollte laut Hans Heinrich Eggebrecht »eine neue Wahrheit und Freiheit gewinnen aus den Kräften des Unbewußten, schöp- ferisch Triebhaften, Intuitiven.«7 Mit einem potenzierten Ego im Mittel- punkt und der Betonung des Unbewußten in seiner Erlebniswelt rief man eine kommunikative Blockade hervor. Nicht nur, daß die Lexik »abstoßend« wirkte, auch die Syntax und die Morphologie waren nicht klar artikuliert, n icht »orthophonisch« und daher unersichtlich.8 Daß sie Möglichkeiten einer semantischen Perzeption in sich bergen, zeigte sich, wie immer, erst später, j edoch mit überdurchschnittlich starker Distinktion des noch Akzep- tablen, was bis heute so geblieben ist. 7 Das grundsätzlich Neue der Neuen Musik, in: Eggebrecht, H. H., Musik in Abendland. Prozesse und Stationen von Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, München, Zürich 1991, S. 759. 8 Schul tz , W.-A., Die f r e i e F o r m e n in de r Musik des Express ion i smus u n d Impressionismus, Hamburger Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft, Bd. 14, Hamburg 1974, S. 93-140. 366 Die Kommunikation im Schatten der Unersichtlichkeit. Eine Frage . Mit anderen Worten, das System der vereinfachten Werte fand keine gemeinsamen Anhaltspunkte, an denen sich die expressionistische Poetik und ihr Inhalt adaptieren ließen. Es half nicht, daß beide eigentlich nur auf zwei verschiede Arten die geistige und seelische Substanz des späten 19. Jahrhunderts beleuchteten. Auch die folkloristische Idiomatik brachte in der Regel kaum etwas. Beides weist d a r a u f h i n , daß die Wurzeln dieses Gegen- satzes vermutlich ins rein Triebhafte hineinreichten. Dorthin, wo sich die Funktionen des Individuellen und des Massenhaften auf den ursprünglichen Widerspruch zwischen dem Subjekt und der Umgebung reduzieren lassen, was im Hinblick auf unsere Fragestellung den Status des Unbewußten defi- niert. Das Unbewußte sublimiert sich beim Schaffenden instinktiv im intelek- tuell kontroll ierten Ausdruck inhaltlich neuer Symbole, beim Publikum hingegen ist es auf die instinktive Suche nach der sensitiven Identifikation mit dem inhaltlich Bekannten ausgerichtet. Diese beiden Prozesse können nur dann mehr oder weniger übereinst immen, wenn die Kodes der meta- phorischen Textur und des rezeptiven Instrumentariums gegenseitig über- setzbar sind. Zumindest auf der ersten der drei Stufen der ästhetischen Kommunikation, bei ersichtlicher Sprache, wenn schon nicht in der Zugäng- lichkeit der semantischen Wahrnehmung und des inhaltlich Annehmbaren. Doch hier rückten die Expressionisten zu sehr in die Unendlichkeit der visionären Intime des Unbewußten, als daß ihnen die Umgebung hätte fol- gen können. Und zu weit in die Freiheit des sprachlichen Prunks, als daß sie ihn hätten beherrschen können. Es wurde zu einer verhexten Falle, aus der nur der Meister der Einschränkung - das System - herauszuhelfen ver- mochte. Fast alle suchten nach ihm, intuitiv oder intelektuell, systematisch oder unsicher, nach metaphysischen Mustern oder nach der musikalischen Transmutation, doch nur wenige erreichten das Ziel. Schönberg, an den wir uns beziehen, da er es schaffte, sein System durchzusetzten, ist demnach historischer pars pro toto für den Strom, von dem er weder die Quelle noch die Mündung war. In diesem Strom fanden sich (und er tranken größten- teils) viele, von Hauer, Eiurlionis oder Obuhov bis zu Kogoj und Slavenski.9 9 Vgl. z.B. Kalisch, V., Der unbekannte Bekannte. Der Komponist Josef Mathias Hauer, NZfM 149/1988, 3, S. 10-16; Crepaz, G.,Josef Mathias Hauers op. 1: Nomos, Melos 1988, 4, S. 20-44; Wehmeyer, G., Thema und sechs Variationen oder Variationen über das Thema »Sefaa Esec« für Klavier, op. 15 (1904) von Mikolajus Konstantinas Ciurlionis, Melos 1985, 1, S. 2-17; Lesle, L., Meeressonate und Tannenbaumfuge. Der litauische Maler-Musiker Mikolajus Konstantinas Eiurlionis, NZfM 154/1993, 6, S. 24-29; Eberle, G„ Klangkomplex, Trope, Reihe, Musica 34/1980, 2, S. 139-144; Schloezer, B. de, Nikolaj Obuchov, in: Aleksandr Skrjabin und die Skrjabinisten 2, Musik-Konzepte Nr. 37-38, München 1984, S. 107-121; Pericic, V., Josip Slavenski und seine Astroakustik, Musiktheorie 3/1988, 1, S. 55-69. 367 Borut Loparnik Sie zeugen noch für eine der expressionistischen Voraussagen des 20. Jahrhunder ts , nämlich für seinen Überfluss an Systemen und die Tyrannei des Systemhaften. Und sie waren Akteure in der letzten Szene der expres- sionistischen Parabel historischer Ubergänge, als das Denken aus dem Un- bewußten heraus nicht mehr in der Lage war, die regelgeleitete Destinati- on oder zumindest einen eingeschränkten sprachlichen Raum einzuhalten. Als Erneuerung des Gegebenen durch Verfall unterlag es der Konsolidati- on des Neuen durch Bauen oder mußte sich zurückziehen. Das Fazit war dasselbe: die triebhafte Spannung verlor an Intensität und die semantische Metaphorik verlor ihre Richtung. Was ents tanden war, hatte eine andere Substanz und andere kommunikative Absichten, es sprach eine neue Spra- che. Das bedeutet nicht, daß damit auch das historische Paradigma, besser gesagt, das Paradigma des intuitiv geformten Klanges, erloschen ist. Sollte es sich um Gesualdo oder Wolfgang Rihm handeln, es existiert immer im letzten Schritt zu dem äußersten Rand oder jenseits des Systems, wo sich das Weite der freien Auswahl öffnet. Und dort entscheidet das Unbewußte.10 (Ubersetzung Vanda Richter) 10 Danuser, H., Inspiration, Rationalität, Zufall. Über musikalische Poetik im 20. Jahrhunder t , AfMw 47/1990, 2, S. 95. 368 ISSN 0353-4510 770353 451019