Homo Aestheticus

Paperback: 320頁

出版社: University of Washington Press; Reprint (1995年10月1日)

語種： English

ISBN-10: 0295974796

ISBN-13: 978-0295974798

產品尺寸及重量: 15.2 x 1.8 x 22.9 cm

書籍簡介

歷史上所有人類社會都給藝術帶來了特殊的地位。即使是幾乎沒有任何物質財產的遊牧民族也會修飾他們所擁有的東西，裝飾他們的身體，並用音樂、歌曲和舞蹈慶祝特殊場合。藝術活動正在表達和滿足人類的根本胃口或需求。正如艾倫·迪薩納亞克（Ellen Dissanayake）在這本激動人心且具有智力的遠程書中所論證的那樣，只有通過發現人類對藝術的需要的自然起源，我們才能真正瞭解藝術是什麼，意味着什麼，以及它的未來可能是什麼。描述視覺展示，詩歌語言，歌曲和舞蹈，音樂和戲劇表演，作為人類普遍，必然和非常地塑造和增強他們關心的事物的方式，Dissanayake表明審美感知不是我們學習或獲得的東西為了它自己的緣故，但是文化和自然的和解中固有的，這標誌着我們作為人類的進化。 “藝術家”所做的是對“普通人”所做的事情的自然和享受的強化和誇張 - 正如在前現代社會中所表現的那樣，藝術創作是普遍實踐的。Dissanayake堅持認為，除了感覺，感覺和認知的心理生物學 - 我們自發地和通常思考和行為的方式之外，不能正確地理解審美經驗。如果説今天的現代社會和後現代社會中的同性美學似乎無法辨認，那就是因為“藝術”被錯誤地與生活區分開來，而貪得無厭和效率導向的文化的還原性命令要求我們忽視或貶低我們審美部分的美學部分。性質。 Dissanayake的原創性和挑釁性的方法將激發當前關於多元文化課程和藝術在教育中的作用的爭議中的新思維。她的思想也與當代藝術和社會理論有關，所有關心藝術及其在人類和人文生活中的地位的人都會感興趣。

"Dissanayake argues that art was central to human evolutionary adaptation and that the aesthetic faculty is a basic psychological component of every human being. In her view, art is intimately linked to the origins of religious practices and to ceremonies of birth, death, transition, and transcendence. Drawing on her years in Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and Papua New Guinea, she gives examples of painting, song, dance, and drama as behaviors that enable participants to grasp and reinforce what is important to their cognitive world."-Publishers Weekly"Homo Aestheticus offers a wealth of original and critical thinking. It will inform and irritate specialist, student, and lay reader alike." - American Anthropologist

"A thoughtful, elegant, and provocative analysis of aesthetic behavior in the development of our species-one that acknowledges its roots in the work of prior thinkers while opening new vistas for those yet to come. If you're reading just one book on art anthropology this year, make it hers." - Anthropology and Humanism

"A wide-ranging essay on the place of art in human evolution and in the future, at once learned and spirited." - Howard Gardner, Harvard University

編輯/媒體推薦

"Dissanayake argues that art was central to human evolutionary adaptation and that the aesthetic faculty is a basic psychological component of every human being. In her view, art is intimately linked to the origins of religious practices and to ceremonies of birth, death, transition, and transcendence. Drawing on her years in Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and Papua New Guinea, she gives examples of painting, song, dance, and drama as behaviors that enable participants to grasp and reinforce what is important to their cognitive world." - Publishers Weekly

"Ellen Dissanayake's book is the most forceful rejoinder I've read so far to the trivializing pessimism of postmodernist art theory." - Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle

"Affirm[s] the idea that art is for life's sake, for the fulfillment of fundamental human needs, and for human survival. . . . She gives us a coherent rationale for funding broadly based arts programs." - Art Therapy

"Homo Aestheticus offers a wealth of original and critical thinking. It will inform and irritate specialist, student, and lay reader alike." - American Anthropologist

"Homo Aestheticus calls for a counterrevolution in our thinking about art. It is timely, provocative, and immensely valuable." - Philosophy and Literature

目錄

Preface to the 1995 Edition

Preface to the Original Edition

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction: Why Species-Centrism?

2. Biology and Art: The Implications of Feeling Good

3. The Core of Art: Making Special

4. Dromena, or "Things Done": Reconciling Culture and Nature

5. The Arts as Means of Enhancement

6. "Empathy Theory" Reconsidered: The Psychobiology of Aesthetic Responses

7. Does Writing Erase Art?

Notes

References

Index of Names

Index of Subjects

Credits

作者簡介

Ellen Dissanayake, an American author and scholar focusing on "the anthropological exploration of art and culture". She lives in Seattle, Washington, and is affiliated with the University of Washington.