Friday, July 09, 2010
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Dewey Decimal Classification System
For the pdf versions of the matter below click here
Dewey Decimal Classification System followed at Christ University Library
Hand out for Humanities/Social Sciences Students
By Anil Joseph Pinto, Dept of Media Studies
General
000 Generalities
100 Philosophy & psychology
200 Religion
300 Social sciences
400 Language
500 Natural sciences & mathematics
600 Technology (Applied sciences)
700 The arts
800 Literature & rhetoric
900 Geography & history
070 News media, journalism, publishing
071 News media, journalism, publishing In North America
072 News media, journalism, publishing In British Isles In England
073 News media, journalism, publishing In central Europe In Germany
074 News media, journalism, publishing In France Monaco
075 News media, journalism, publishing In Italy
076 News media, journalism, publishing In Iberian Peninsula & adjacent islands
077 News media, journalism, publishing In eastern Europe In Soviet Union
078 News media, journalism, publishing In Scandinavia
079 News media, journalism, publishing In other languages
300 Social sciences
320 Political science
330 Economics
340 Law
320 Political science
330 Economics
340 Law
400 Language
401 Philosophy & theory
401 Philosophy & theory
410 Linguistics
414 Phonology
415 Structural systems (Grammar)
415 Structural systems (Grammar)
701 Philosophy & theory
707 Education, research, related topics
729 Design & decoration
770 Photography & photographs
778 Fields & kinds of photography
779 Photographs
780 Music
781 General principles & musical forms
782 Vocal music
783 Music for single voices The voice
784 Instruments & Instrumental ensembles
785 Chamber music
786 Keyboard & other instruments
787 Stringed instruments (Chordophones)
788 Wind instruments
789 Not assigned or no longer used
790 Recreational & performing arts
791 Public performances
792 Stage presentations
800 Literature & rhetoric
801 Philosophy & theory
808 Rhetoric & collections of literature
809 Literary history & criticism
810 American literature in English
811 Poetry
812 Drama
813 Fiction
814 Essays
815 Speeches
816 Letters
817 Satire & humour
820 English & Old English literatures
821 English poetry
822 English drama
823 English fiction
824 English essays
825 English speeches
826 English letters
827 English satire & humour
828 English miscellaneous writings
829 Old English (Anglo-Saxon)
801 Philosophy & theory
808 Rhetoric & collections of literature
809 Literary history & criticism
810 American literature in English
811 Poetry
812 Drama
813 Fiction
814 Essays
815 Speeches
816 Letters
817 Satire & humour
820 English & Old English literatures
821 English poetry
822 English drama
823 English fiction
824 English essays
825 English speeches
826 English letters
827 English satire & humour
828 English miscellaneous writings
829 Old English (Anglo-Saxon)
881 Classical Greek poetry
882 Classical Greek drama
883 Classical Greek epic poetry & fiction
884 Classical Greek lyric poetry
887 Classical Greek satire & humour
888 Classical Greek miscellaneous writings
890 Literatures of other languages
882 Classical Greek drama
883 Classical Greek epic poetry & fiction
884 Classical Greek lyric poetry
887 Classical Greek satire & humour
888 Classical Greek miscellaneous writings
890 Literatures of other languages
891 East Indo-European & Celtic
892 Afro-Asiatic literatures Semitic
893 Non-Semitic Afro-Asiatic literatures
894 Ural-Altaic, Paleosiberian, Dravidian
895 Literatures of East & Southeast Asia
896 African literatures
897 North American native literatures
898 South American native literatures
899 Other literatures
892 Afro-Asiatic literatures Semitic
893 Non-Semitic Afro-Asiatic literatures
894 Ural-Altaic, Paleosiberian, Dravidian
895 Literatures of East & Southeast Asia
896 African literatures
897 North American native literatures
898 South American native literatures
899 Other literatures
For further details check:
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
understanding viewpoints/ MA Eng Previous
Class notes by Sneha
Common notions of Art and Literature are derived, as most of us would like to believe dwelling in the utmost theoretical derivations of the canonical texts and in those famous images of a Plato, Aristotle or a Kant. What we forget to do is question these ideas and their ideologies. Common human error is that they they read for reading sake and therefore believe in art being' the mirror of the society', 'art for art sake' and the 'social responsibility' that art/poetry/poets have to take into consideration. This is what primarily what surface reading does to us. We tend as such to miss out on the 'in between' meanings.
People seem to pinpoint Plato for having accused poets and to have them banned from...where? Essentially from the 'Republic' ( the model polis) and not the Greek society which he inhabited. So can we say at this point that this was what he considered ideal. His differentiations between the realms and the forms is well known to all by now and his problems with the natural world could be seen in the light of its inconsistency, the fluid world therefore. What Plato chose to do was to present the ideal. For instance take 'justice' and not just define it but picturize it in a way that multiple interpretations do not probe in. Hence the philosopher king stayed an ideal for the ideal polis he thought of in his 'Republic'. Again, Plato is comfortable with the idea if the natural actually represents the ideal.
Aristotle, disciple of Plato affirmed the constancy of the natural world what the latter rejected on grounds of instability. For the disciple, the idea of the ideal can be achieved only through the acquaintance with the natural. That is to say, only multiple encounters with the 'real' chairs can give me an impression of the ideal. (To talk about an Indian, one basically needs to interact with a few Indians from various places.) And Aristotle believes that the representation is a complement and not a copy.
Renaissance and post, Aristotle was not buried. The Arabs supposedly preserved Aristotle from the 6th to the 9th century and then with the onset of science, empiricism and likewise wherein to be scientific one needed to affirm reality and engage in it, Aristotle's idea was re affirmed.
Drawing back now, as aforementioned, one needs to read between the lines. Its basically to figure what the writer argues about if indeed he does argue and to read it in that light alone. It only then that one gets these arguments right.
Common notions of Art and Literature are derived, as most of us would like to believe dwelling in the utmost theoretical derivations of the canonical texts and in those famous images of a Plato, Aristotle or a Kant. What we forget to do is question these ideas and their ideologies. Common human error is that they they read for reading sake and therefore believe in art being' the mirror of the society', 'art for art sake' and the 'social responsibility' that art/poetry/poets have to take into consideration. This is what primarily what surface reading does to us. We tend as such to miss out on the 'in between' meanings.
People seem to pinpoint Plato for having accused poets and to have them banned from...where? Essentially from the 'Republic' ( the model polis) and not the Greek society which he inhabited. So can we say at this point that this was what he considered ideal. His differentiations between the realms and the forms is well known to all by now and his problems with the natural world could be seen in the light of its inconsistency, the fluid world therefore. What Plato chose to do was to present the ideal. For instance take 'justice' and not just define it but picturize it in a way that multiple interpretations do not probe in. Hence the philosopher king stayed an ideal for the ideal polis he thought of in his 'Republic'. Again, Plato is comfortable with the idea if the natural actually represents the ideal.
Aristotle, disciple of Plato affirmed the constancy of the natural world what the latter rejected on grounds of instability. For the disciple, the idea of the ideal can be achieved only through the acquaintance with the natural. That is to say, only multiple encounters with the 'real' chairs can give me an impression of the ideal. (To talk about an Indian, one basically needs to interact with a few Indians from various places.) And Aristotle believes that the representation is a complement and not a copy.
Renaissance and post, Aristotle was not buried. The Arabs supposedly preserved Aristotle from the 6th to the 9th century and then with the onset of science, empiricism and likewise wherein to be scientific one needed to affirm reality and engage in it, Aristotle's idea was re affirmed.
Drawing back now, as aforementioned, one needs to read between the lines. Its basically to figure what the writer argues about if indeed he does argue and to read it in that light alone. It only then that one gets these arguments right.
Tuesday, July 06, 2010
Certificate course in citizen journalism
- Those interested in practicing citizen journalism in India are invited to
participate in a two-month citizen journalism course in Mumbai. Classes
begin August 1. Deadline: July 15.
The program will be conducted every Saturday morning at the Journalism
Mentor Center at Andheri East. It is being held by the Journalism Mentor
Foundation for Excellence in Journalism. There is a registration fee of Rs.
3000 (US$64).
For more information visit
http://www.journalism.org.in/
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Humanist theory and Platonic legacies in literature
HUMANIST THEORY
Humanism refers to the idea that we can understand or explain our world through rational enquiry. It rejects explanations based on the supernatural or divine forces. This idea became the basis for the development of science on the Western world.
Humanism inaugurates rational enquiry and rejects the supernatural or the realm of emotions. It was a response to the Dark Ages when people believed in religion unquestioningly. The hold of the Church was so strong that even the king had to bow down to its decisions. Gradually, people started questioning the teachings. Martin Luther King insisted on reading the Bible rather than following the interpretations of the priest. He argued that we must follow religion rationally. Many people started questioning the rigid ritualistic aspects of religion too. Even scientists like Galileo argue that one must read the book of nature.
Such ideas promote the growth of science and reinforce the belief in observation and rational analysis. It is in such a context that humanism emerges. With this, we also see a revival in the study of Classical Greek and Roman texts. We see the emergence of faith in human rather than divine.
Plato's ideas too, are rooted in the belief that reason or rational thought must be employed to make sense of the world. This assumption influences how he looks at art or representation (since the terms 'art' or 'literature' did not exist when Plato formulated his theories). Since, art or literature appeals to the audience's emotions rather than their reason, Plato considered it to be inferior method for understanding the 'truth'.
Nature / Physical World (copy)
Representation / Art (copy of the copy, so, twice removed from the original)
Plato further argues that art or the world of representation tries to copy 'nature' and therefore it is twice removed for the Ideal or reality. Art was therefore, a copy of the copy. Plato also argues that no artist has access to the ideal world. He explains this through his famous allegory of the cave.
ARISTOTLE'S RESPONSE
To understand Aristotle's views, we must begin by looking at how he looks at reality. Aristotle believes that reality resides in the changeable world of sense perceptions or, the physical, material world. He argues that the 'form' of Ideal can only exist in tangible examples of that form. So, it is only through individual examples of table, that we can understand the essence of a table, or 'table-ness'.
Thus, while Plato is concerned with content of representation, Aristotle is concerned with the form. Plato's approach lead to the development of moral criticism while Aristotle's approach lead to the birth of genre criticism.
Pinto, Anil. Class Lecture. Introduction to Literary Theory. Christ University. Bangalore, India. 11 June - 21 June 2010.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Those who want to organise lectures/guest talks/interactions...
Attention: I year MA English, II Year JPEng and CEP, and III Year JPEng and PSEng students
In case anyone of you is interested in arranging guest lectures, talks, interactions on topics related to the courses being taught by me I would be happy to give space for it. The resource persons could either come physically, or come online from any part of the globe of any age group or qualification. The only criterion is they should be resourceful in the topic you have chosen.
In case anyone of you is interested in arranging guest lectures, talks, interactions on topics related to the courses being taught by me I would be happy to give space for it. The resource persons could either come physically, or come online from any part of the globe of any age group or qualification. The only criterion is they should be resourceful in the topic you have chosen.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Gazes in Literature
Gazes in Literature / 19 June 2010 / 3rd Sem CEP
The aim of this session was to make aware the students of literature about the existence of 'gazes' within the realm of their studies.
A 'gaze' is different from a 'look', which is different from 'to see'. 'To see' would connote the physical sense or attribute of seeing; a 'look' would be to see with a particular purpose; a 'gaze' is a term with social connotations - it would be determined by prevalent social values. Simply put, it could mean similar to, but not completely the same as, 'in the perspective of'.
An example for a gaze would be the 'male gaze'. The 'male gaze' is when an individual (of any sex and gender) perceives the woman as a consumptive object.
Different academic disciplines have gazes. Mr Pinto argues with the case of the anthropological gaze. This gaze, which came along with its discipline in the colonial era, looks at communities with a coloniser-colonised binary perspective. He further argues that this becomes a common world view, with the coloniser and colonised being replaced by other power poles; for example, the city-village binary.
An understanding of this neccessitates revisiting the history of anthropology. Anthropology came along with colonisation, where the colonisers were curious to study the colonised. Interestingly, argues Mr Pinto, when one studies an other, the one is endowed with a position of higher power/knowledge. So when the colonisers studies the colonised, it was from their position of higher power that they went about it.
Anthropology has four branches:
- Archaeology
- Social anthropology
- Cultural anthropology
- Physical anthropology
The colonisers mainly dealt with physical anthropology where racial bodily differencs were studied, with the aim of perhaps discovering 'a perfect race'.
As mentioned earlier, a group of people studying an other is put in a position of higher power, thereby automatically producing a power structure with two players - the students, i.e. the colonisers, and the studied, the colonised.
The colonisers considered it their responsibility ('White man's burden' as Rudyard Kipling puts it) to impart their knowledge, technology, and thus modernity and development to the colonised lands. They were the bringers of the light. This is a gaze. The 'poor needs help from the rich'. And this binary gaze exists even today, in many different forms.
There are gazes in literature too. When we talk about feminist literature, or post-colonial literature, or Native-American literature, our gazes shift. Certain meanings, values and interpretations are associated with the work by virtue of our gaze.
The point of this argument is not that we do away with gazes. Rather, it is that we have to be aware of the presence of such gazes within the realm of literature, and be cautious of them. Perhaps even revisit these gazes, and question their form.
Coming back to the coloniser-colonised binary, it can be a problematic gaze. If we have an understanding of developed cityfolk trying to help undeveloped village communities, we have a vision which is slightly skewed in some place. But most of us are conditioned into this gaze through our many years in this world. A shifting of the binary does not help. An argument that since women have been exploited for centuries by men, a shifting of positions with women posited above men will solve the problem does not really hold ground. So what can be done? One solution, though not the best one, is to make the categories more inclusive and open. Another is to engage in love. But I lost track at this point, and further discussion is required to clarify certain points!
*
Pinto, Anil. "Gazes in literature". 19 June 2010. American Literature, 3rd semester BA CEP. Bangalore, India. Class Lecture.
(Notes by Mohan K. Pillai - post subject to author's bias and perspective)
The aim of this session was to make aware the students of literature about the existence of 'gazes' within the realm of their studies.
A 'gaze' is different from a 'look', which is different from 'to see'. 'To see' would connote the physical sense or attribute of seeing; a 'look' would be to see with a particular purpose; a 'gaze' is a term with social connotations - it would be determined by prevalent social values. Simply put, it could mean similar to, but not completely the same as, 'in the perspective of'.
An example for a gaze would be the 'male gaze'. The 'male gaze' is when an individual (of any sex and gender) perceives the woman as a consumptive object.
Different academic disciplines have gazes. Mr Pinto argues with the case of the anthropological gaze. This gaze, which came along with its discipline in the colonial era, looks at communities with a coloniser-colonised binary perspective. He further argues that this becomes a common world view, with the coloniser and colonised being replaced by other power poles; for example, the city-village binary.
An understanding of this neccessitates revisiting the history of anthropology. Anthropology came along with colonisation, where the colonisers were curious to study the colonised. Interestingly, argues Mr Pinto, when one studies an other, the one is endowed with a position of higher power/knowledge. So when the colonisers studies the colonised, it was from their position of higher power that they went about it.
Anthropology has four branches:
- Archaeology
- Social anthropology
- Cultural anthropology
- Physical anthropology
The colonisers mainly dealt with physical anthropology where racial bodily differencs were studied, with the aim of perhaps discovering 'a perfect race'.
As mentioned earlier, a group of people studying an other is put in a position of higher power, thereby automatically producing a power structure with two players - the students, i.e. the colonisers, and the studied, the colonised.
The colonisers considered it their responsibility ('White man's burden' as Rudyard Kipling puts it) to impart their knowledge, technology, and thus modernity and development to the colonised lands. They were the bringers of the light. This is a gaze. The 'poor needs help from the rich'. And this binary gaze exists even today, in many different forms.
There are gazes in literature too. When we talk about feminist literature, or post-colonial literature, or Native-American literature, our gazes shift. Certain meanings, values and interpretations are associated with the work by virtue of our gaze.
The point of this argument is not that we do away with gazes. Rather, it is that we have to be aware of the presence of such gazes within the realm of literature, and be cautious of them. Perhaps even revisit these gazes, and question their form.
Coming back to the coloniser-colonised binary, it can be a problematic gaze. If we have an understanding of developed cityfolk trying to help undeveloped village communities, we have a vision which is slightly skewed in some place. But most of us are conditioned into this gaze through our many years in this world. A shifting of the binary does not help. An argument that since women have been exploited for centuries by men, a shifting of positions with women posited above men will solve the problem does not really hold ground. So what can be done? One solution, though not the best one, is to make the categories more inclusive and open. Another is to engage in love. But I lost track at this point, and further discussion is required to clarify certain points!
*
Pinto, Anil. "Gazes in literature". 19 June 2010. American Literature, 3rd semester BA CEP. Bangalore, India. Class Lecture.
(Notes by Mohan K. Pillai - post subject to author's bias and perspective)
Am. Lit- 2CEP- June 5th-7th
June 5, 2010
TRANSLATION
William Jones- translated Kalidasa to English
Lord Cornwallis- translated Manusmriti and Mahabharat to English
Goethe
Chaucer
Beowulf- translated from Italian to English
Novel came to English through Spanish translation
WHY STUDY AMERICAN LITERATURE?
1. Multi-cultural similarities between India and USA
2. History of translation
3. Super power status of USA
4. USA is a large English speaking nation, and as long as we study English Literature, we ought to study it from wherever it originates
5. Since English Literature travelled from UK to USA, studying American Literature provides a comprehensive and coherent study
6. Democratic spirit of USA
7. Post war Literature was predominantly American and very influential
8. Exploration and conquests
9. Globalisation and role of USA in world politics
10. Anything that is dominant must be engaged with
WHY SHOULD WE NOT STUDY AMERICAN LITERATURE?
1. English has been a tool of oppression- Lord Macaulay, Masks of Conquest
2. English Literature as a discipline was taught in India much before England.
Courses in India were started by those on fellowship from US.
Indian Literature as a discipline, taught in 1980’s, much after American Literature was introduced
3. FBI policy to set up scholarships and fellowships. US defence, government and education are closely connected- MIT was control room for WW2 and inventor of major defence ideas. US set up library in Hyderabad.
4. Rule by the oppressor cannot be gun-rule, must be ideological- Musharrif
5. Is the sheer magnitude a good enough reason to study it?
Urdu- highest number of primary schools in Karnataka
Should one not learn one’s own culture first?
6. Tokenism, Co-opting
7. We are influenced more by Japanese(Haiku), Latin America, UK, French and Russian literature, than American
8. American Literature is not as progressive as we think- It mainly studies white male writers.
Therefore, did we get sucked into West Anglo Saxon Protestant Politics of American Literature?- Most American Literature is from North American, not the Catholics from the South.
9. US’s primary export is culture
NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE
· Obama didn’t mention the Red Indians in his first presidential address. But every hill in the US was named by the Indians. Present names of various places in US have aboriginal roots.
· Avatar- movie- talks about colonialistic personality of US
· Columbus- landed in 1492. Funded by Queen Isabella of Spain. (Now its race for moon. Explorer had to take notes and return and would not be credited until another person followed the same route and found the same place)
June 7, 2010
Psychologists-Indians
Freud
Bible
Buildings on graves
EUROPE- 14, 1, 16 Century AND THEIR JOURNEY TO AMERICA
· Eureopeans were looking for Promised Land. They considered travel to America their Exodus.
· All of Shakespeare’s tragedies were about collapse of monarchy, restoration and hope. People were neurotic with the fear of the collapse.
· When society changes, fundamentalism is first result- Northern Ireland, South USA, Pakistan, Afganistan, Gaza
· New money was coming to Europe.
This led to a changing of class and social structres.
These insecurities expressed through religion, that too an idea religion.
Ideal religion emphasizes on past, rejects the present, and is based on texts.
Rejection of past makes them take their arguments elsewhere, hence colonialism.
Thus, Europeans travelled to America.
· New World was made similar to old- New England
· They identified with Adam and Eve-
· Genesis command to ‘go and rule over the world’ was the excuse to colonise. Hebrew word for the same is ‘raada’ meaning, to take care of
· US has breached every treaty with the Red Indians
· 1776- Independent from England
· 1880- Civil war. North and South split
Monday, June 21, 2010
II SEM BA EST Literary Theory Course Plan 2010 Revised
V Sem BA OEN531 Literary Theory Course Plan 2010 Revised
Click Here to Download
JPEng:
Anil: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7,
Padmakumar: 3, 6, 8
PSEng
Renu: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7,
Anil: 3, 6, 8
FEP
Padmakumar: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7,
Renu: 3, 6, 8
JPEng:
Anil: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7,
Padmakumar: 3, 6, 8
PSEng
Renu: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7,
Anil: 3, 6, 8
FEP
Padmakumar: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7,
Renu: 3, 6, 8
National Seminar on The Linguistic and Literary Terrain of Translation
UGC Sponsored National Seminar on The Linguistic and Literary Terrain of Translation
at
Salesian College Sonada & Siliguri, Darjeeling, West Bengal
Sunday, June 20, 2010
V Semester Literary theory class notes 3
12 June 2010
Notes by Anusha
STRUCTURALISM
The word authority comes from the word author. Author is the one who sanctions the meaning of his/her work. The work could be the constitution, Bible, or anything else.
Different approaches to study English were:
1. Historical- Biographical approach
2. Formalism
3. Textual analysis
4. Structuralism
5. Post structuralism
Feminism takes its methods, strategies from post structuralism.
1. Historical- Biographical approach
2. Formalism
3. Textual analysis
4. Structuralism
5. Post structuralism
Feminism takes its methods, strategies from post structuralism.
‘Ism’ is a movement, a whole population looking at a particular way. It is a social movement. Like sciences; larger units broken into smaller units to study them, language also is broken into,
Words
Sentences
Paragraphs
Sounds
Sentences
Paragraphs
Sounds
Literature is a unit and is studied through language.
Usually the structure of a word is looked for word is a sign. Sign is made up of
Signifier
Signified
Signified
E.g.: A ‘Dog’ is a group of letters in a written form, but the word creates an image.
Vladimir Propp a Russian structuralist made a detailed study of folk tales from all over the world and noted that there are only 31 types of folk tales. The structure is only of 31 types and different tale are only reconstruction of it.
Structuralism can not be studied with a single work. Comparison is an important aspect and hence requires two works of the same author. This comparison paves way for universalisation of the findings.
Structuralism does not deal with the content but emphasizes on the structure.
Pinto, Anil. Class Lecture. Introduction to Literary Theory. Christ University. Bangalore, India. 12 June 2010
An Introduction to Western Aesthetics, MA Previous, 19th June, 2020, Saturday.
An introduction to key concepts of Western Aesthetics: 19th June 2010, Saturday for MA Previous.
Notes by: Sneha Sharon Mammen
The conception of the term 'west' in itself would be quite interesting. A class of twenty interpret it variously. 'West' as in the direction, evaluating in comparison to the other three directions (the East, North and South) which in turn could be qualified as the result of so many adventurous expeditions by navigators and explorers or may be Europe-the western front that is the term in the sense of geography. From this realm we could take it entirely to another shift altogether - the cultural, in terms of the western outlook/worldview, their perspective, open mindedness. Not to forget either the analysis in terms of economic, materialist standards which then makes the 'west' necessarily the first world nation keeping in mind their pace of economic growth, resources and urbanization.
However, this sort of an analysis is just a product of various interpretations that man can think of. 'West' to a particular individual would not be 'west' for another. In the definitive mapping of the globe, there is no particular 'west' for say, an Alaska. Therefore, we could gather so much as that, words are not so innocent. They carry within themselves loaded interpretations. Also, once an individual frames a word, the discourse too gets framed much to an extent that we start evaluating concepts keeping in mind the various binaries.
Also, a particular use of concept narrows down our range of evaluation. For example, if one talks of India, his level of analysis can only be grouped in terms of nations on the whole. Similarly, talking of Aryans would mean talking with respect to races. As also, 'Latin-American' further narrows and limits the scope of comparisons.
Precisely one cannot use words like 'globe', a 'planet', the 'earth' if he chooses to believe the world is flat. 'World' becomes the only selective usage in this case. Can we at this level say that to 'understand' something, we do not necessarily have to 'know' the larger picture.
As aforementioned, its quite common to talk in terms of binaries. The East is east just because it is not west or the fact that the term 'teacher' qualifies only because the term 'student' affirms such qualification and justifies it. Similarly, homosexuality is talked of because there exists in the picture heterosexuality. Therefore the simultaneous birth of conceptions. Apart from such framing which will in turn quite obviously facilitate re-framing, cultural imaginations are something which make different discourses possible.
The term 'aesthetics' brings to mind notions of balance, beauty, harmony, appeal, sensitivity, creativity,perceptions, judgement or even understanding. However, debating upon the origins and understanding of the term 'aesthetic' in itself, few would believe that it is a definitely dated concept.
'Aesthetic' comes from the Greek word 'aisthetikos' which means sensitive. This Greek term has been traced to have its origin further back in time, history and language in an imaginary language called the Proto Indo-European language or the PIE where it is understood as 'aisthemisthos' meaning to perceive. ( The commonalities between Greek, Latin and Sanskrit is thought of as coming down to us from a common parent of these languages, which is referred to as PIE.)
Immanuel Kant, a lesser pronounced name but the pioneer of the coined term 'aesthetics'. Aesthetics, as mentioned earlier could have emerged and is characterized as follows. One, it could have been a historical necessity and two, it has a definite philosophic pre-history.
Pinto, Anil. Class Lecture, Introduction to Western Aesthetics, Christ University. Bangalore, India.
Notes by: Sneha Sharon Mammen
The conception of the term 'west' in itself would be quite interesting. A class of twenty interpret it variously. 'West' as in the direction, evaluating in comparison to the other three directions (the East, North and South) which in turn could be qualified as the result of so many adventurous expeditions by navigators and explorers or may be Europe-the western front that is the term in the sense of geography. From this realm we could take it entirely to another shift altogether - the cultural, in terms of the western outlook/worldview, their perspective, open mindedness. Not to forget either the analysis in terms of economic, materialist standards which then makes the 'west' necessarily the first world nation keeping in mind their pace of economic growth, resources and urbanization.
However, this sort of an analysis is just a product of various interpretations that man can think of. 'West' to a particular individual would not be 'west' for another. In the definitive mapping of the globe, there is no particular 'west' for say, an Alaska. Therefore, we could gather so much as that, words are not so innocent. They carry within themselves loaded interpretations. Also, once an individual frames a word, the discourse too gets framed much to an extent that we start evaluating concepts keeping in mind the various binaries.
Also, a particular use of concept narrows down our range of evaluation. For example, if one talks of India, his level of analysis can only be grouped in terms of nations on the whole. Similarly, talking of Aryans would mean talking with respect to races. As also, 'Latin-American' further narrows and limits the scope of comparisons.
Precisely one cannot use words like 'globe', a 'planet', the 'earth' if he chooses to believe the world is flat. 'World' becomes the only selective usage in this case. Can we at this level say that to 'understand' something, we do not necessarily have to 'know' the larger picture.
As aforementioned, its quite common to talk in terms of binaries. The East is east just because it is not west or the fact that the term 'teacher' qualifies only because the term 'student' affirms such qualification and justifies it. Similarly, homosexuality is talked of because there exists in the picture heterosexuality. Therefore the simultaneous birth of conceptions. Apart from such framing which will in turn quite obviously facilitate re-framing, cultural imaginations are something which make different discourses possible.
The term 'aesthetics' brings to mind notions of balance, beauty, harmony, appeal, sensitivity, creativity,perceptions, judgement or even understanding. However, debating upon the origins and understanding of the term 'aesthetic' in itself, few would believe that it is a definitely dated concept.
'Aesthetic' comes from the Greek word 'aisthetikos' which means sensitive. This Greek term has been traced to have its origin further back in time, history and language in an imaginary language called the Proto Indo-European language or the PIE where it is understood as 'aisthemisthos' meaning to perceive. ( The commonalities between Greek, Latin and Sanskrit is thought of as coming down to us from a common parent of these languages, which is referred to as PIE.)
Immanuel Kant, a lesser pronounced name but the pioneer of the coined term 'aesthetics'. Aesthetics, as mentioned earlier could have emerged and is characterized as follows. One, it could have been a historical necessity and two, it has a definite philosophic pre-history.
Pinto, Anil. Class Lecture, Introduction to Western Aesthetics, Christ University. Bangalore, India.
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