87375 - Aeshtecs and Theory of Art Experience (1)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course the student: acquires the basic theoretical tools to understand contemporary aesthetic debates on art experience and so-called widespread forms of aestheticity; is able to critically place aesthetic and artistic phenomena of different kind into the context of contemporary culture; can understand how and to what extent the aesthetic has changed in the transition from the 20th century to the 21st; acquires the essential knowledge and skills to analyze and interpret communications mediated by aesthetic categories; is aware of socio-cultural implications that are present in creative and expressive phenomena; is familiar with the relation between the aesthetic and other dimensions of human experience, such as, for example, knowledge and cognition or ethics and politics.

Course contents

Culture industry, critical theory, pragmatism, contemporary music.

 

The aim of this lecture course is to investigate some fundamental themes and concepts in contemporary aesthetic debates inspired, on the one hand, by the critical theory of society of the so-called Frankfurt School, and, on the other hand, by pragmatism. In particular, we will focus our attention on the importance of certain questions connected to the status of the work of art in the age of the technological reproducibility and mass culture, investigating these questions on the basis of the conceptual tools offered by authors such as Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Richard Shusterman and Mark Fisher.

In this context, we will pay a specific attention to the role played by music in the development of the philosophical conception of a thinker like Adorno (who was also a music critic, a musician and a composer himself). With regard to this, we will especially focus our attention on Adorno's critique of popular music in the mid 20th century and Fisher's critique of it in the early 21st century, on the one hand, and on Shusterman's defense of the popular arts from the 1990s until today, on the other hand.

On this basis, we will also investigate the possibility, that has emerged at least since the 1960s, of the creation of forms of "light music" that are also capable to express a critique of contemporary society. This general discourse will be exemplified, in particular, with a focus on some significant moments of pop-rock music from the 1990s until today, with a specific attention to the English band Radiohead

Readings/Bibliography

Mandatory Readings:

 

- Th. W. Adorno. Sulla popular music, Armando, Roma 2004.

- Th. W. Adorno. "Il carattere di feticcio della musica e la regressione nell’ascolto", in E. Donaggio (ed.), La Scuola di Francoforte. La storia e i testi, Einaudi, Torino 2005, pp. 118-156.

- R. Shusterman. Estetica pragmatista, Aesthetica Edizioni, Palermo 2010 (only chapter "Forma e Funk: la sfida estetica dell'arte popolare").

- R. Shusterman. Esperienza estetica e arti popolari, Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2023 (only chapter "La fine dell'esperienza estetica").

- M. Fisher. Realismo capitalista, Nero, Roma 2018 (only chapter 1).

- S. Marino - E. Guzzi. La filosofia dei Radiohead. Musica, tecnica, anima, Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2021.

- S. Marino, Verità e non-verità del popular. Saggio su Adorno, dimensione estetica e critica della società, Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2021.

 

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Other readings for potential (not obligatory) further studies:

 

- S. Marino e R. Vitali, Theodor W. Adorno, in “Nuova Informazione Bibliografica”, n. 4, 2018, pp. 605-632 (https://www.rivisteweb.it/issn/1824-0771/issue/7581).

- G. Matteucci, L’artificio estetico. Moda e bello naturale in Simmel e Adorno, Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2012.

- S. Marino, Le verità del non-vero. Tre studi su Adorno, teoria critica ed estetica, Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2019.

- W. Benjamin. L’opera d’arte nell’epoca della sua riproducibilità tecnica, ed. F. Valagussa, Einaudi, Torino 2011.

- M. Farina (a cura di), Theodor W. Adorno 1969-2019
Attualità di un pensiero, numero monografico di "Syzetesis. Rivista di filosofia", dicembre 2020 (https://www.syzetesis.it/rivista/2020.html). 

- P. Molinari e M. Settura (a cura di), (In)attualità di Adorno. Estetica e dialettica, Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2022.

- D. Gentili, L’opera d’arte di Walter Benjamin si fa in cinque, in "Syzetesis", VII, 2020, pp. 469-478.

- A. Pinotti, Costellazioni Le parole di Walter Benjamin, Einaudi, Torino 2018.

- F. Desideri e M. Baldi, Benjamin, Carocci, Roma 2008).

- J.J. Abrams (a cura di), Shusterman’s Somaesthetics From Hip Hop Philosophy to Politics and Performance Art, Brill, Leiden-Boston 2023. 

- G. Sibilla, L'industria della canzone, Laterza, Roma-Bari 2024.

The bibliography may be subject to changes until the beginning of the lecture course.

 

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Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities.

It is suggested that they get in touch as soon as possible with the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) and with the professor, in order to seek together the most effective strategies for following the lessons and/or preparing for the examination.

Teaching methods

Lectures, conversations and discussions with the students, audio and video materials shared with the students in the classroom.

Assessment methods

The assessment method is a written test, including questions on the fundamental topics included in the books in the Program. The written test will include 12 multiple-choice questions and 1 open/discoursive question. All questions will be focused on the texts in Program.  

In case the teacher thought that it is necessary or useful to further examine some students, he may ask those students to also make an oral exam on the texts in the Program after the correction of their written tests.

A minimum of 6 Exam Dates ("Appelli") are scheduled during the Academic Year 2025/2026, in the following months: December 2025, January 2026, March 2026, June 2026, July 2026, September 2026.

 

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Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities.

Students with learning disorders and\or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Teaching tools

Power point presentations in classroom and audio/video materials that are coherent with the texts in the program.

Office hours

See the website of Stefano Marino