O estetică a urîtului

by Karl Rosenkranz

Aparuta in 1852, sub titlul Aesthetik des Hablichen (Estetica uratului), lucrarea lui Karl Rosenkranz (1805-1878) atragea atentia asupra marii diversitati a fenomenelor estetice, constituind prima abordare sistematica a prezentei uratului in arta, reusind sa-i fundamenteze teoretic legitimitatea si sa-i confere totodata - ca antonim al frumosului - rangul de categorie estetica. Prin aceasta el a deschis una din caile fundamentale innoitoare de intelegere a dialecticii valorilor si a contribuit la cristalizarea idealului estetic modern.

VICTOR ERNEST MASEK

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Art, Essays

382 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1853

About the author

Karl Rosenkranz was a German philosopher. He followed Kant and Herbart as professor of philosophy in Königsberg, Germany. A lifelong defender of the philosophy of Hegel, he participated briefly in the post-1848 reform government in Berlin.

Reviews

[Valeriu Gherghel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Urîtul ţine de negativul lumii şi este, aşadar, inevitabil şi omniprezent. El se defineşte, bineînţeles, prin trăsături opuse frumosului.

Ca lipsă de formă, în primul rînd, el are ca însuşiri: amorfia, asimetria, disarmonia. Urîtul desemnează, în al doilea rînd, incorectitudinea. În al treilea rînd, urîtul se referă la desfigurare [deformare]. De hidos ţin absurdul, scîrbosul şi răul. La rîndul său, răul poate fi: fărădelegea, fantomaticul şi diabolicul. Rosenkranz e un raţionalist [hegelian], iar estetica sa o reacţie la romantism ca program estetic şi curent artistic. Rosenkranz nu bănuia, în 1853, căile pe care se va angaja arta modernă.

Într-un fel, făcînd descripţia şi analiza urîtului, Karl Rosenkranz a produs o descriere a artei moderne şi a trăirilor provocate de o astfel de artă.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Throughout the history of aesthetic thought, there are many examples of treatises on beauty. But, as far as I know, Karl Rosenkranz's nineteenth-century work *Aesthetics of Ugliness* is the first serious study of the non-beautiful. Sublimity had already been a working concept for over a hundred years in Rosenkranz's time, and he was clearly very familiar with the Romantic and Gothic aesthetic movements. But Rosenkranz convincingly argues--with a plethora of examples--that ugliness is more varied than simply being the negation of beauty (though he believes it is that as well).

Though originally meant for a broader audience, the fact that it is a translation from a century and half German, and Rosenkranz was deeply Hegelian, makes this work often overly abstract and difficult to understand. Nevertheless, his many examples help to flesh out his ideas. And though much of what he says is rooted within a Hegelian framework, there are various insights that equally and freely translate over into other perspectives in useful ways.

I found this book a much deeper discussion of ugliness than Umberto Eco's *On Ugliness* (which is where I first found out about Rosenkranz), though not as broad. I would recommend to all non-specialists (like myself) to read that work first. The introduction and various annotations in this critical edition of Rosenkranz, by the translators Andrei Pop and Mechtild Widrich, were incredibly helpful and clarifying in many places.

[Francesco Iorianni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nach langer Zeit hab ich diese kolossale Abhandlung über den Begriff des Hässlichen und dessen ästhetischen Wert auch beendet. Rosenkranz glänzt mit seinem Wissen über die Kunst - und Literaturgeschichte seiner Zeit und bringt gekonnt Beispiele ein, um seine Theorien und Thesen zu untermauern. Er schrieb eine erste vollständig dem Begriff des Hässlichen dedizierte Schrift und unterschied dabei unter vielen Begrifflichkeiten, die der Sphäre des Hässlichen zugeordnet werden können (das Grauenvolle, das Deformierte, das Diabolische usw.). Nichtsdestotrotz muss darauf aufmerksam gemacht werden, dass Rosenkranz mit Diskursen des 19. Jahrhunderts argumentiert. Viele seiner Aussagen sind nicht gut gealtert und ließen mich etwas verstutzt... Themen bezüglich fremder Völker oder androgyner Menschen werden hier diskriminierend behandelt.
Die kritische Lektüre des Buches war dennoch sehr hilfreich, um ständig fokussiert zu bleiben und die höchst Komplexen Gedankengänge nachzuvollziehen.
Das Hässliche wird besonders in den literarischen Strömungen um 1900 ein Massenthema und Rosenkranz hat diesen Trend voreilig erkannt und eine detaillierte Studie dazu verfasst.

[Ed. Tablas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libro ensayo con base filosófica y estética, que nos muestra las diversas acepciones de lo feo y sus diferentes aplicaciones al medio actual.
Hay muchas palabras que cotidianamente se emplea en nuestro círculo y que las asociamos con la idea principal, pero no sabemos las diferencias entre todas.