Description
Book SynopsisThis book proposes a new approach to the problem of aesthetic experience in Western culture. Noting how art world phenomena evoke conventional psychoanalytic speculations about narcissism, the authors turn the tables and “apply” aesthetic questions and concerns to psychoanalytic theory. Experimenting with Freudian and post-Freudian concepts, they propose a non-normative theory of the psychic drive to address and embrace deep tensions in the post-Renaissance aesthetic project, the rise of modernism, and the contemporary art world. It is argued that these tensions reflect central conflicts in the development of patriarchal civilization, which the emergence of the aesthetic domain, as a specialized range of practice, exposes and subverts. The postmodern era of aesthetic reflection is interpreted as the outcome of a complex narcissistic dialectic of idealization and de-idealization that is significant for the understanding of contemporary culture and its historical prospects.
Table of ContentsPreface List of Illustrations Introduction: Paragone of the Art World Narcissism Without Apology: Art in the Offertorium The Language of Narcissism: Terms and Conditions The Crack in the Golden Bowl Limits of the Diaphane: Reflections on Visuality as a Modality of the Narcissistic Drive Limits of the Diaphane II: More Self-Portraits of the Drive The Dialectic of Narcissism in Art Applied Art: Driving Psychoanalytic Theory to Distraction Psychophantic Relations with Art: Analytic Romanticism and the Problem of Perversion Applied Art World: The Social Struggle with the Ideal Stalking Horse, Gift Horse, Trojan Horse Works Cited Name Index Subject Index
