Three faces of art today
Three faces of art today
This issue is devoted to three studies on trends in concepts of art in the world today. Examined separately are the arts in the Western countries, the arts in the Socialist countries and the arts in the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The articles in this issue are based on a chapter on the study of artistic and literary expression to be published in a forthcoming Unesco book which forms part of a monumental survey on the Main Trends of Research in the Social and Human Sciences undertaken by Unesco.
Initiated in 1963, this long-term inquiry of worldwide scope has been carried out by Unesco in two successive stages. The first part was completed in 1970 with the publication of an 800-page volume entitled Main Trends of Research in the Social and Human Sciences, Part I: Social Sciences (Co-edition Unesco- Mouton, The Hague, 1970).
The volume for Part II, dealing with social anthropology, archaeology, history, artistic and literary expression, the legal sciences, and philosophy, is now in preparation and is scheduled for publication (precise date to be announced) in English and French editions.
Each of the chapters of Part II is the result of a broad collective effort carried out on an international scale under the direction of an editor-author aided by associate editors from different regions of the world.
The eminent specialists thus responsible for the various chapters are : for social and cultural anthropology. Prof. Maurice Freedman, Oxford; for archaeology and prehistory. Prof. Sigfried J. De Laet, Ghent; for history. Prof. Geoffrey Barraclough, Oxford; for aesthetics and the sciences of art. Prof. Mikel Dufrenne, Paris; for legal sciences. Prof. Viktor Knapp, Prague; and for philosophy. Prof. Paul Ricoeur, Paris. To each chapter is appended an extensive international bibliography.
The texts presented in this issue have been abridged and condensed from the study directed by Mikel Dufrenne, professor of philosophy at the University of Paris. They are concerned essentially with the evolution of art in our time, with the meaning that artistic and literary expression has for modern man and the functions assigned to art in present-day societies.
One conclusion that emerges from this brilliant analysis is that the study of art, no matter how rigorously "scientific" its methods, cannot be separated from the art of its time or from contemporary life in the various communities and cultures at a given moment in history.
Artistic creation, general (if not always conscious) attitudes toward art, and the systematic study of art itself (including of course the art of former epochs and former civilizations, etc.) are constantly affecting one another. Perhaps one could say that within each culture at a given stage of its historical evolution, and in the light of every significant philosophy or ideology, the same basic inspiration is at work at all three levels.
It is in this perspective that Professor Dufrenne examines the changes that are taking place in the world of art in "Western countries", as well as their deep sources of inspiration. Bêla Köpeczi, Secretary-General of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, discusses art in the Socialist countries, its foundations, motivations and evolution within the framework of the Socialist concept of a new society. In the third article of this issue, Mikel Dufrenne analyses the avant-garde and traditional concepts of art and literature in Asia, Africa and Latin America, on the basis of first-hand contributions received by Unesco. Professor Dufrenne shows how a highly original approach to art and creativity is developing in these countries, while drawing upon the acquisitions of Western scientific thinking.
Here it is worth noting that the topics presented in this issue should of course be considered in the light of the broader study of research trends to which this picture of artistic evolution is an introduction. Mikel Dufrenne and his team clearly show in their full report that the study of art and literature, while acknowledging that it is deeply rooted in the lives of individuals and communities, is continually striving for more systematic and rigorous objectivity.
Based as it is nowadays on a wealth of data pertaining to all the cultures of the globe, and seeking to understand the artistic creations of all cultures according to their own spirit and to promote their diffusion, the study of art today aims toward a universality that at the same time recognizes and respects the diversities and richness of all human expression.
In this sense, the inquiry into current trends of research on artistic and literary expressions provides a particularly meaningful introduction to the evolution and problems of the human sciences generally which Unesco has sought to present in the Second Part of this vast research project.