Towards a humanistic narrative about art: reflections on Emmanuel Levinas and Ernst Bloch
This article explores the possibilities of a humanistic narrative about art with special reference to the thought of Emmanuel Levinas and Ernst Bloch. Throughout the articleit is shown how Levinas’s and Bloch’s respective interpretations of art are connected with their theories of ontology. Levinas...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of the Free State
2007-04-01
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| Series: | Acta Academica |
| Online Access: | https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/aa/article/view/1128 |
| _version_ | 1797270957014908928 |
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| author | Salomon Terreblanche |
| author_facet | Salomon Terreblanche |
| author_sort | Salomon Terreblanche |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
This article explores the possibilities of a humanistic narrative about art with special reference to the thought of Emmanuel Levinas and Ernst Bloch. Throughout the articleit is shown how Levinas’s and Bloch’s respective interpretations of art are connected with their theories of ontology. Levinas understands being as a neutral and indifferent manifestation of reality. In his phenomenological analysis of art Levinas appeals to examples from modern art in particular and emphasises that artworks withdraw from the ‘light’ of being, which is to say, artworks refuse intelligible description in language. For Bloch, by contrast, being essentially carries an unrealised promise in the germ. Bloch hermeneutically explores the ‘pre-appearance of utopia’ and human happiness that are portrayed and symbolised by religious, pre-modern and early modern art in particular. Towards the end of the article an interpretation of prophetic hope is put forward with reference to Levinas’s and Bloch’s work, in an attempt to overcome the limitations of both authors with respect to the possibilities of a humanistic narrative about art.
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| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T04:43:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-156109f06153473b96f66ea193fe5130 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0587-2405 2415-0479 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-25T02:12:31Z |
| publishDate | 2007-04-01 |
| publisher | University of the Free State |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Acta Academica |
| spelling | doaj.art-156109f06153473b96f66ea193fe51302024-03-07T11:12:51ZengUniversity of the Free StateActa Academica0587-24052415-04792007-04-01391Towards a humanistic narrative about art: reflections on Emmanuel Levinas and Ernst BlochSalomon Terreblanche0University of Johannesburg This article explores the possibilities of a humanistic narrative about art with special reference to the thought of Emmanuel Levinas and Ernst Bloch. Throughout the articleit is shown how Levinas’s and Bloch’s respective interpretations of art are connected with their theories of ontology. Levinas understands being as a neutral and indifferent manifestation of reality. In his phenomenological analysis of art Levinas appeals to examples from modern art in particular and emphasises that artworks withdraw from the ‘light’ of being, which is to say, artworks refuse intelligible description in language. For Bloch, by contrast, being essentially carries an unrealised promise in the germ. Bloch hermeneutically explores the ‘pre-appearance of utopia’ and human happiness that are portrayed and symbolised by religious, pre-modern and early modern art in particular. Towards the end of the article an interpretation of prophetic hope is put forward with reference to Levinas’s and Bloch’s work, in an attempt to overcome the limitations of both authors with respect to the possibilities of a humanistic narrative about art. https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/aa/article/view/1128 |
| spellingShingle | Salomon Terreblanche Towards a humanistic narrative about art: reflections on Emmanuel Levinas and Ernst Bloch Acta Academica |
| title | Towards a humanistic narrative about art: reflections on Emmanuel Levinas and Ernst Bloch |
| title_full | Towards a humanistic narrative about art: reflections on Emmanuel Levinas and Ernst Bloch |
| title_fullStr | Towards a humanistic narrative about art: reflections on Emmanuel Levinas and Ernst Bloch |
| title_full_unstemmed | Towards a humanistic narrative about art: reflections on Emmanuel Levinas and Ernst Bloch |
| title_short | Towards a humanistic narrative about art: reflections on Emmanuel Levinas and Ernst Bloch |
| title_sort | towards a humanistic narrative about art reflections on emmanuel levinas and ernst bloch |
| url | https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/aa/article/view/1128 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT salomonterreblanche towardsahumanisticnarrativeaboutartreflectionsonemmanuellevinasandernstbloch |