The Theory of Beauty in the Classical Aesthetics of Japan

The Theory of Beauty in the Classical Aesthetics of Japan
Author :
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages : 174
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9789401734813
ISBN-13 : 940173481X
Rating : 4/5 (81X Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Theory of Beauty in the Classical Aesthetics of Japan by : T. Izutsu

Download or read book The Theory of Beauty in the Classical Aesthetics of Japan written by T. Izutsu and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Japanese sense of beauty as actualized in innumerable works of art, both linguistic and non-linguistic, has often been spoken of as something strange to, and remote from, the Western taste. It is, in fact, so radically different from what in the West is ordinarily associated with aesthetic experience that it even tends to give an impression of being mysterious, enigmatic or esoteric. This state of affairs comes from the fact that there is a peculiar kind of metaphysics, based on a realization of the simultaneous semantic articulation of consciousness and the external reality, dominating the whole functional domain of the Japanese sense of beauty, without an understanding of which the so-called 'mystery' of Japanese aesthetics would remain incomprehensible. The present work primarily purports to clarify the keynotes of the artistic experiences that are typical of Japanese culture, in terms of a special philosophical structure underlying them. It consists of two main parts: (1) Preliminary Essays, in which the major philosophical ideas relating to beauty will be given a theoretical elucidation, and (2) a selection of Classical Texts representative of Japanese aesthetics in widely divergent fields of linguistic and extra-linguistic art such as the theories of waka-poetry, Noh play, the art of tea, and haiku. The second part is related to the first by way of a concrete illustration, providing as it does philological materials on which are based the philosophical considerations of the first part.


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