27992 - Contemporary Aesthetics

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student has a sufficient critical awareness of some of there main aesthetic traditions of the last century. He/she also acquires the conceptual and methodological tools enabling him/her to analyze the key issues that are central to the contemporary aesthetic debate, according to a mainly theoretical and problematic approach.

Course contents

Title: Adorno: the problematic status of the work of art.

The course will examine the conception of the work of art that can be derived from Adorno's reflection, in particular in some chapters of Aesthetic Theory. During this analysis, the idea of the aesthetic as a field of manifestative forces and the consequent reconfiguration of the subject-object complex will be investigated, even beyond the aesthetic sphere.

Beginning: November, 10th, 2020.

Timetable: second period (first semester) - Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, from 9 to 11.

Classroom: via Zamboni 38 - Room "Tibiletti".

Readings/Bibliography

1) Th. W. Adorno, Senza modello, (1960), text provided by the teacher;

2) Th. W. Adorno, Teoria estetica, a cura di F. Desideri e G. Matteucci, Einaudi, Torino 2009, pp. 218-301 only (= sections “Soggetto-oggetto”, “Sulla teoria dell’opera d’arte”, and “Universale e particolare”);

3) Th. W. Adorno, L’arte e le arti, in Id., Parva Aesthetica. Saggi 1958-1967, Mimesis, Milano-Udine 2011, pp. 195-201.

Non attending students must also study at least 2 of the following essays:

- F. Desideri, La dialettica dell’estetico e il paradosso dell’opera: Adorno e la teoria estetica, in Id., Il fantasma dell’opera. Benjamin, Adorno e le aporie dell’arte contemporanea, Il melangolo, Genova 2002, pp. 155-170;

- G. Matteucci, L’utopia dell’estetico in Adorno, “Rivoluzioni molecolari”, 1 (2017), pp. 1-9 (https://www.rivoluzionimolecolari.it/index.php/rivoluzionimolecolari/article/view/6 );

- E. Tavani, Teoria estetica e sogno fenomenologico, in Ead., L’immagine e la mimesis. Arte, tecnica, estetica in Theodor W. Adorno, ETS, Pisa 2012, pp. 47-77.

N.B.: The bibliography may change until the beginning of the course.

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures and classroom presentations by students.

Assessment methods

For attending students: the final exam will be an oral exam, with questions aimed to verify the student’s knowledge of the themes addressed in the texts listed in the bibliography and discussed during the course. Attending students may, alternatively, present a written work whose topic has been agreed with the teacher.

For non-attending students: the final exam will be an oral one, with questions aimed to verify the student's knowledge of the themes addressed in the texts listed in the bibliography.

The assessment will concentrate particularly on the skill displayed by the student in handling the material in the exam bibliography and his/her ability to find and use information and examples to illustrate and correlate the various themes and problems addressed in the course.

The assessment will thus examine the student's:

- factual knowledge of the subject;
- ability to summarise and analyse themes and concepts;
- familiarity with the terminology associated with the subject and his ability to use it effectively.

Top marks will be awarded to a student displaying an overall understanding of the topics discussed during the lectures, combined with a critical approach to the material and a confident and effective use of the appropriate terminology.

Average marks will be awarded to a student who has memorized the main points of the material and is able to summarise them satisfactorily and provide an effective critical commentary, while failing to display a complete command of the appropriate terminology.

A student will be deemed to have failed the exam if he/she displays significant errors in his/her understanding and failure to grasp the overall outlines of the subject, together with a poor command of the appropriate terminology.

Teaching tools

We will use power point slides concerning course's texts and topics.

Office hours

See the website of Giovanni Matteucci