November 26, 2012 at 10:37 am. Art As Communication Of Emotion By Leo Tolstoy. If it is not moral, it is bad. Art is an expression of emotion, designed by a human as a means of communicating that emotion to other humans. But though it is impossible to undeceive these people, just as it is impossible to convince a man suffering from Daltonism [a type of color blindness] that green is not red, yet, for all that, this indication remains perfectly definite to those whose feeling for art is neither perverted nor atrophied, and it clearly distinguishes the feeling produced by art from all other feelings. developed his own unique conception of art. Art is thus, as tolstoy describes it, infectious.. It is all artistic activity. This rationale leads Tolstoy to a very bizarre idea. The clearness of expression assists infection because the receiver, who mingles in consciousness with the author, is the better satisfied the more clearly the feeling is transmitted, which, as it seems to him, he has long known and felt, and for which he has only now found expression. Art is a means of communication, and is an important means of expression of any experience, or of any aspect of the human condition. Visit us on Facebook Leo Tolstoy identified art as a use of indirect means to communicate from one person to another. The presence in various degrees of these three conditions individuality, clearness, and sincerity decides the merit of a work of art as art, apart from subject matter. He believes that art is a means of communicating emotion, with the aim of promoting mutual understanding. November 26, 2012 at 10:37 am. representation. You can also become a spontaneous supporter with a one-time donation in any amount: Partial to Bitcoin? And therefore the activity of art is a most important one, as important as the activity of speech itself and as generally diffused. Despite the presence of these forms of art and the different cultures, cases of immorality are. He was an artist himself; a great literary mind: Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), the author of such classic and insuperable novels such as, . Tolstoy argues that the third, sincerity, is the most important as it contains the other three. "To elicit in oneself a sensation one has previously experienced, and having elicited that feeling in oneself, to transmit that emotion to others by movements, lines, colors, sounds, or shapes represented in words in order for others to experience the same feeling - this is the activity of art.". That was how man of old Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle looked on art. According to Tolstoy, the creation of a work of art proceeds. ART AS A COMMUNICATION OF EMOTION And however poetical, realistic, effectful, or interesting a work may be, it is not a work of art if it does not evoke that feeling (quite distinct from all other feelings) of joy and of spiritual union with another (the author) and with others (those who are also infected by it). For Tolstoy, the religious perception of his time is found in Christianity. Leo tolstoy answered these questions in what is art? (1897), his most comprehensive essay on the theory of art. Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced. The counterfeit art of the upper classes inhibits this ideal concept. The goal is achieved through different means of expression like words, movements, sounds, colors, forms or lines. Study Emotion-Leo Tolstoy flashcards. Leo Tolstoy describe Art as a "means of intercourse between man and man," (discussion #1) a relationship that both the producer and the receiver are capable of feeling the same emotions towards the same object. If the feeling translates with others that means that it is art. Namely, that it considers almost the totality of human activity as art. Tolstoy argues that, much as in Samuel Delanys distinction between good writing vs. talented writing, the degree of infectiousness is what separates good art from excellent art. It makes feelings accessible regardless if it is from the past or present. Before anything, we need to question if a work of art is moral. And the reason of this is that the conception of art has been based on the conception of beauty.. In 1851 he joined the tsarist army to pay off his accumulated debt but quickly regretted this decision. A man suffers, expressing his sufferings by groans and spasms, and this suffering transmits itself to other people; a man expresses his feeling of admiration, devotion, fear, respect, or love to certain objects, persons, or phenomena, and others are infected by the same feelings of admiration, devotion, fear, respect, or love to the same objects, persons, and phenomena. In this freeing of our personality from its separation and isolation, in this uniting of it with others, lies the chief characteristic and the great attractive force of art. answer choices Leo Tolstoy Aristotle Kant Question 10 30 seconds Q. (Artist working for her/himself, not for others.) And the degree of the infectiousness of art depends on three conditions: On the greater or lesser individuality of the feeling transmitted; on the greater or lesser clearness with which the feeling is transmitted; on the sincerity of the artist, i.e., on the greater or lesser force with which the artist himself feels the emotion he transmits. This core quality of art Tolstoy calls its infectiousness, and upon the artists ability to infect others depends the very recognition of something as art: If only the spectators or auditors are infected by the feelings which the author has felt, it is art. taniamiller.com Follow More from Medium Anangsha. These are important words. His theological explorations led to the formulation of his own version of Christianity, which deeply influenced his social vision. Music can change the world because it can change people. To evoke in oneself a feeling one has once experienced, and having evoked it in oneself, then, by means of movements, lines, colors, sounds, or forms expressed in words, so to transmit that feeling that others may experience the same feeling this is the activity of art. He says that art is like speech, a form of communication that allows one another to understand each other's thought but art is . The absence of any one of these conditions excludes a work form the category of art and relegates it to that of arts counterfeits. Tolstoy defines art as an expression of a feeling or experience in such a way that the audience to whom the art is directed can share that feeling or experience. The expression theory defines art as the communication of the artist's feelings and the prompting of others to experience those same feelings. The loss of such a unique ability would be a catastrophe. (1896) is a treatise concerning the nature and purpose of art, describing how art can express moral values. Leo Tolstoy defines one as romantic art; "The essence of a work of art is the emotion it causes to an audience." It makes everyone feel as one because they are all feeling the same emotion. And just in the same way it is art if a man, having experienced either the fear of suffering or the attraction of enjoyment (whether in reality or in imagination) expresses these feelings on canvas or in marble so that others are infected by them. This understanding is the moral compass of a society and always points towards certain values. At one point in his essay, he states that Shakespeares Romeo and Juliette, Goethes Wilhelm Meister, and his own War and Peace are immoral and therefore bad art. Evidently such people were wrong in repudiating all art, for they denied that which cannot be denied one of the indispensable means of communication, without which mankind could not exist. However, he also wrote multiple philosophical and theological texts as well as theatrical plays and short stories. Aristotle, The Nature of Poetic Imitation: from the Poetics, Sydney University Reader, 2013. It forms a unique relationship between the artwork and the viewer, sometimes very articulated and other times strangely enigmatic. Tolstoy names real art (i.e. And what is the nature of the morality he uses for his artistic judgments? As, thanks to mans capacity to express thoughts by words, every man may know all that has been done for him in the realms of thought by all humanity before his day, and can in the present, thanks to this capacity to understand the thoughts of others, become a sharer in their activity and can himself hand on to his contemporaries and descendants the thoughts he has assimilated from others, as well as those which have arisen within himself; so, thanks to mans capacity to be infected with the feelings of others by means of art, all that is being lived through by his contemporaries is accessible to him, as well as the feelings experienced by men thousands of years ago, and he has also the possibility of transmitting his own feelings to others. Art as communication of emotion by leo tolstoy. At one point in his essay, he states that Shakespeares. About the Author: Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910), although best known for his literary works, also wrote various essays on art, history, and religion. What is authentic art and what is good art? If even the boy had not seen a wolf but had frequently been afraid of one, and if, wishing to evoke in others the fear he had felt, he invented an encounter with a wolf and recounted it so as to make his hearers share the feelings he experienced when he feared the world, that also would be art. Tolstoy wrote What is art? in 1897. Leo Tolstoy (2016). But how are we to define good and bad art with reference to its subject matter. Gonzalez, Jose Juan, Art as the Expression of Emotion in the Language of Imagination . It interferes with a person's main task in life - becoming a better person. 34, No. But how can we judge what feelings are morally good? Charmed by the faith of the common people, he turned to Christianity. This definition of art varies from other philosophies. Malcolm Bradbury defines modern art as a construction of reality, imitation of real world based on the nature of fiction. So that by art, in the limited sense of the word, we do not mean all human activity transmitting feelings, but only that part which we for some reason select from it and to which we attach special importance. Therefore this third condition sincerity is the most important of the three. Subscribe to this free midweek pick-me-up for heart, mind, and spirit below it is separate from the standard Sunday digest of new pieces: By 1897, Leo Tolstoy (September 9, 1828November 20, 1910) was already a literary legend of worldwide acclaim and a man deeply invested in his ultimate quest to unravel the most important wisdom on life. As a result, all good art must carry the foundational message of this religion understood as brotherhood among all people. authentic, true to itself) the one resulting from an honest, internal need for expression. Tolstoy's idea of 'well-known' art affirms that artwork is applicable to all and sundry. So, what is art for Tolstoy? In this process, the receiver of the artistic impression becomes so united with the artists experience, that he/she feels like the artwork is his/her own. Tolstoy defies the academys intellectualizations of art: Art is not, as the metaphysicians say, the manifestation of some mysterious idea of beauty or God; it is not, as the aesthetical physiologists say, a game in which man lets off his excess of stored-up energy; it is not the expression of mans emotions by external signs; it is not the production of pleasing objects; and, above all, it is not pleasure; but it is a means of union among men, joining them together in the same feelings, and indispensable for the life and progress toward well-being of individuals and of humanity. with Tolstoys timeless Calendar of Wisdom and this rare recording of the author reading from the latter in English shortly before his death. in the same that language communicates information to other people, art communicates emotions. And as each man is different from everyone else, his feeling will be individual for everyone else; and the more individual it is the more the artist has drawn it from the depths of his nature the more sympathetic and sincere will it be. A Question for Tolstoy Is all communication of emotion considered art? November 26, 2012 at 10:37 am. Music is moonlight in the gloomy night of life. He believes that art is a means of communicating emotion, with the aim of promoting mutual understanding. Tolstoy points out that without true art, humanity would fall back to its savage roots. The boy and the wolf (510) Tolstoy's positive theory emerges when he tells the tale of a boy who encounters a wolf The boy feels a genuine emotional response: fear If he goes home and tells the tale effectively, he arouses a similar fear in others Leo tolstoys what is art? 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