Discussion on winter s thesis

Aesthetics, Society

In Determining ‘Aesthetics’ for Non-Western Studies: The Case of Mesopotamia, Winter season (2002) states that the American view of “aesthetics” has hindered the way that old works of art are interpreted and understood. More specifically, Winter (2002) argued which the Mesopotamian traditions must be analyzed before understanding what was regarded as being aesthetical during its creation. While the Mesopotamian languages did not include a term for “aesthetics” or “art”, nor do texts be existent that explained any kind of artistic theories, Winter’s thesis stated this did not mean it did not exist in Mesopotamian world, but “aesthetics” were simply viewed differently than how it really is in contemporary Western nationalities.

One major argument for Winter’s thesis is the fact that that the term “aesthetics” has not been constructed till 1735 with a. G. Baumgarten (Winter, 2002). After the creation of the term “aesthetics”, the phrase began to be a little more defined, as time passes, “aesthetics” started to encompass particular aspects of only the fine artistry, such as piece of art, sculpture, architecture, etc . (Winter, 2002). In addition, aesthetics began to be another term for “beauty”, which molded the way fine art way viewed and appreciated (Winter, 2002). This staying said, aesthetics grew to become a definition applied only to describe certain things that were produced in a manner that utilized beauty. Nevertheless , this understanding and meaning of aesthetics was no in the Mesopotamian time frame, how could “aesthetics” and “art” be described in textual content if not any term was assigned pertaining to such a concept? Winter explained that although there was no written word because of it, a sense of aesthetics in Mesopotamian art was expressed in a number of other ways.

One way that Winter (2002) described having the capacity to determine the aesthetics of Mesopotamian fine art is to consider the lifestyle, context, and also other surrounding variables. The traditions of Mesopotamia must be analyzed when considering the “aesthetic” benefit of artwork pieces, which usually entails evaluating art differently than we carry out in contemporary Western traditions. For example , the emotional response that specific artworks trigger can provide perception to their benefit and importance during the Mesopotamian time period. Furthermore, the environment a bit of art was developed for can explain a lot about the significance, artwork used in temples and “divine” places recommend great importance and value. Because the Mesopotamian pre-modern lifestyle was greatly different than present, it is essential to consider all facets of how their culture operated and existed.

All in all, I believe that Winter (2002) was successful with her argument. Cultural norms selection greatly based on where (and when) the culture resides. Winter contended that the Traditional western way of browsing art should be avoiding when examining Mesopotamian art works, since the understanding of “aesthetics” was not similar to it is now. Through a new point of view on pre-modern items, just like artwork, we could begin to appreciate them better and have a much better sense of significance.

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