The Study Of Arthur Danto’s Theory Of Artistic Meaning

Arthur Danto is a representative of analytical aesthetics in the second half of the 20th century.He has made achievements in the fields of analytical philosophy,analytical aesthetics and artistic criticism.Compared with Danto’s "art worlds" and "the end of art" and other theories that domestic scholars pay more attention to,the theory of artistic meaning can be said to be a comprehensive theory to a certain extent:on the one hand,from the theoretical level,it is a reflection and summary of the previous theoretical forms such as "art worlds",which is a more mature theoretical form;On the other hand,from a practical point of view,it provides us with a concrete and controllable direction for how to face the pluralistic art worlds.Therefore,based on Danto’s text itself,this paper first points out the background and main content of the emergence of the theory of artistic meaning,and then analyzes the theory of artistic meaning from two aspects:the meaning of the work itself and the meaning generated by the viewer’s participation in interpretation.Then it studies the relationship between Danto’s artistic criticism and the theory of artistic meaning,and finally points out the great meaning and controversy of his theory.The first chapter analyzes the impact of contemporary art on traditional art theories and the impact of anti-essentialists,and points out that the commonality between the two is the dependence on traditional aesthetic perception to distinguish art.In Danto’s view,with the emergence of the Brillo Box,it is feasible to define art only through the means of meaning and other imperceptible ways.Therefore,he put forward his own definition of art,that is,"works of art are the embodied of meaning."The second chapter mainly points out that in Danto’s view,the "aboutness" of the work itself is an important part of artistic meaning.Under the grand narrative,represented by"Vasari narrative" and "Greenberg narrative",the meaning of the work itself is in a state of obscuration,and art must conform to the mainstream aesthetic concepts to gain a place.However,the post-narrative era is the era of the end of grand narrative.Art has its own right of discourse,and the "aboutness" of art works has become the focus of attention.Art does not have to submit to the laws of grand narrative.The third chapter reveals the "aboutness" of art itself,as well as the "aboutness" in the way of rhetoric ellipsis.Both of them show a positive appeal to the audience to participate in the interpretation process.The viewer’s interpretation of the content of the work completes the generation of artistic meaning.It also discusses the standard of art interpretation from the two aspects of intentionality and historicity of interpretation.Gadamer’s "fusion of horizons"may provide us with ideas for further understanding Danto’s artistic interpretation.The fourth chapter discusses Danto’s reflection on Greenberg’s artistic criticism under the guidance of the theory of artistic meaning,and based on this,develops his own artistic criticism.Mainly reflected in the following two aspects:Firstly,the transformation of artistic criticism standards from visible to invisible.Secondly,the atmosphere of artistic criticism has shifted from strict admission to tolerance and openness.Adapted to the tolerant and open artistic atmosphere,Danto’s own criticism also coexists with multiple paradigms of"enlightened criticism" "romantic criticism",and "mediation criticism",as well as vivid practices of using artistic meaning theory to criticize works.The fifth chapter mainly reflects on Danto’s theory of artistic meaning.In Danto’s view,the post-narrative era is pluralistic,and we are no longer bound by the rules of artistic creation.Some scholars have doubts about pluralism,but in any case,it seems to be an irrefutable fact that we have entered the era of pluralism.Other scholars pointed out that the theory of artistic meaning does not seem to completely distinguish between works of art and non-works of art,and whether it can be applied to all works of art is also worth considering.Perhaps this debate itself is also the value of Danto’s theory of artistic meaning.