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 moments and aspects in the history of 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 Walter Benjamin, Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Richard Shusterman and Alva Noë.

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 the one hand, on Adorno's critique of popular music in the 1940s/1960s and, on the other hand, on Shusterman's defense of the popular arts from the 1990s until today.

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, exemplifying this discourse through the unique case of the American composer, guitar player and singer Frank Zappa.

Readings/Bibliography

Readings:

 

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

- M. Horkheimer and Th. W. Adorno. Dialettica dell'illuminismo, transl. R. Solmi, Einaudi, Torino 1997, only "Premessa alla prima edizione" and chapter "L'industria culturale".

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

- A. Noë, Strani strumenti. L'arte e la natura umana, transl. V. Santarcangelo, Einaudi, Torino 2023 (only chapter "Stili di air guitar").

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

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

- S. Marino. La filosofia di Frank Zappa. Un'interpretazione adorniana, Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2014.

 

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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.

 

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

 

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

 

- E. Donaggio (a cura di), La scuola di Francoforte. La storia e i testi, Einaudi, Torino 2005.

 

- 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.

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.

In case the teacher thought it was necessary or useful to further examine some students, he will ask those students to also make an oral exam after the correction of their written texts.

 

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Students with SLD or temporary or permanent disabilities.

It is necessary to contact the relevant University office (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en) with ample time in advance: the office will propose some adjustments, which must in any case be submitted 15 days in advance to the professor, who will assess the appropriateness of these in relation to 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