A Theory of Art

by Karol Berger

Overview

What, if anything, has art to do with the rest of our lives, and in particular with those ethical and political issues that matter to us most? Will art created today be likely to play a role in our lives as profound as that of the best art of the past?

A Theory of Art shifts the focus of aesthetics from the traditional debate of "what is art?" to the engaging question of "what is art for?" Skillfully describing the social and historical situation of art today, author Karol Berger argues that music exemplifies the current condition of art in a radical, acute, and revealing fashion. He also uniquely combines aesthetics with poetics and hermeneutics. Offering a careful synthesis of a wide breadth of scholarship from art history, musicology, literary studies, political philosophy, ethics, and metaphysics, and written in a clear, accessible style, this book will appeal to anyone with a serious interest in the arts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195128604
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/16/1999
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)
Lexile:	1570L (what's this?)

About the Author

Karol Berger Is Osgood Hooker Professor in Fine Arts at Stanford University. He is the author of numerous studies in the history of music aesthetics and theory, vocal pholyphony from 1400 to 1600, and instrumental music from 1780 to 1850. His Musica Ficta (1987) won the Otto Kinkeldey Award of the American Musicological Society.

Table of Contents

Prologue. The Function and value of artPart I.1.. Aesthetics I. The nature of art2.. Aesthetics II. The uses of art3.. Aesthetics III. The genealogy of modern European art musicPart II.4.. Poetics I. Diegesis and mimesis: the poetic modes and the matter of artistic presentation5.. Poetics II. Narrative and lyric: the poetic forms and the object of artistic presentation6.. Hermenetics. Interpretation and its validityEpilogue. The power of tasteNotes

Editorial Reviews

Here, musicologist Berger (fine arts, Stanford Univ.) does nothing less than pull back the reins of postmodernism in favor of what could be called a balanced modernism. Using an approach similar to anthropological functionalism, he probes the purpose of art instead of attempting to describe what art is. To support his arguments, he draws from the major art forms, citing, along the way, Hegel, Schopenhauer, and Kant (to name a few). What will probably strike readers most is his conclusion that for art to have meaning, it needs to be interpreted, which requires comparison and thus discrimination. He argues for a movement away from an anthropological definition of culture toward one provided by Enlightenment philosophers as articulated by Hegel, one that is relatively more universal and rational--as detailed throughout the book. A word of warning, though: Karol presupposes a background in all the arts and a basic understanding of Western philosophy. So while it is valuable for students of aesthetics, this book is fairly difficult reading.--Susan M. Olcott, Columbus Coll. of Art & Design Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

"Berger's goal in this book is to explain how art functions, and what is its purpose. By doing so, he hopes to provide a framework in which political debates (as well as philosophical ones) about the meaning and importance of art can become more fruitful....The book reveals an author of formidable intellectual power and erudition."—he Trenton Times

"Berger provides his 21st-century readers with an articulate and accessible restatement of 19th-century aesthetic propositions....General readers."—Choice

"Here, musicologist Berger does nothing less than pull back the reins of postmodernism in favor of what could be called a balanced modernism."—Library Journal

"This book is an intellectual feast. Berger argues with such clarity that even when one disagrees one learns. He's playing in the same league as the authors he cites: Hegel, Kant, Schopenhauer, and especially Aristotle. He deserves their company."—Richard Taruskin, Class of 1955 Professor of Music, University of California, Berkeley

"Berger's A Theory of Art is a tour de force of breadth, comprehension, and coverage. Its argumentative style is eminently lucid, accessible, and honest."—Lydia Goehr, Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University

From the Publisher