| The word "aestheticism" is often associated with European aestheticism, i.e., the "art for art's sake" of Oscar Wilde and Walter Pater. This ideology, which worships art and beauty as ends-in-themselves, derives from a tradition of European dualism dating back to Plato. The following study suggests, however, that a uniquely American form of aestheticism has little to do with art for art's sake or dualistic thinking in general.; Through close readings of the works of three exemplary writers--Edgar Allan Poe, William Carlos Williams and Gilbert Sorrentino--American aestheticism is explored. This densely interconnected tradition fundamentally differs from Euro-aestheticism, a difference best exemplified by Williams's ideal of "contact," which opposes the European ideal of aesthetic detachment. This study posits that the aestheticism of Poe, Williams and Sorrentino provides an alternative to an art for art's sake that worships art at the expense of experience, nature, and morality.; This study also identifies a second tradition loosely called "American anaestheticism." Nathanael West, Susan Sontag and Joan Didion are placed in this tradition. These aesthetes turn to European dualism because they fail to recognize the indigenous, non-dualistic aestheticism available to them as their national birthright. Thus these writers become "anaesthetes," split apart from nature or art, morality or aesthetics, due to the either-or choices that art for art's sake foists upon the aesthete-writer.; In addition to chapters devoted to each of the aforementioned Americans, a chapter is devoted to exploring the convergence of Euro-aestheticism and American aestheticism in Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita.; This study relies on a close reading of an array of texts. Conclusions are based not only on the authors' literary works (including poetry), but on their many critical statements as well. In order to contextualize American aestheticism, related traditions in American philosophy (e.g., pragmatism) and history are considered--traditions that are, like American aestheticism, resistant to the absolutism of dualistic thinking. |
