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The Uselessness of Art - Essays in the Philosophy of Art and Literature (Paperback)
Loot Price: R1,091
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The Uselessness of Art - Essays in the Philosophy of Art and Literature (Paperback)
Series: Critical Voices
Expected to ship within 10 - 15 working days
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Oscar Wildes famous quip All art is quite useless might not be as
outrageous or demonstrably false as is often supposed. No-one
denies that much art begins life with practical aims in mind:
religious, moral, political, propagandistic, or the aggrandising of
its subjects. But those works that survive the test of time will
move into contexts where for new audiences any initial instrumental
values recede and the works come to be valued for their own sake.
The book explores this idea and its ramifications. The glorious
Palaeolithic paintings on the walls of the Chauvet Cave present a
stark example. In spite of total ignorance of their original
purposes, we irresistibly describe the paintings as works of art
and value them as such. Here we are at the very limits of what is
meant by art and aesthetic appreciation. Are we misusing these
terms in such an application? The question goes to the heart of the
scope and ambition of aesthetics. Must aesthetics in its pursuit of
art and beauty inevitably be culture-bound? Or can it transcend
cultural differences and speak meaningfully of universal values:
timelessly human not merely historically relative? The case of
literature or film puts further pressure on the idea of art valued
for its own sake. Characters in works of literature and film or
finely-honed emotions in poetry often give pleasure precisely
because they resonate with our own lives and seem (in the great
works) to say something profound about human existence. Is not this
kind of insight why we value such works? Yet the conclusion is not
quite as clear-cut as it might seem and the idea of valuing
something for its own sake never quite goes away.
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