Jean Starobinski's Aesthetics Of Gaze And The Related Critical Practice

Jean Starobinski(1920—),a Swiss critic,who has both medical and literary academic backgrounds,is a representative member of the Geneva School.In the second half of the 20 th century,Starobinski gains fame for his erudition,all-embracing attitude and flexible methodology in the warring field of literary theory and criticism.His criticism features in the stress of consciousness,regarding the literary or artistic work as the expression of the creator's consciousness.Also,Starobinski is especially good at establishing themes as the basis for critical analysis.During long period of practice,he has developed a criticism based on the theme of “gaze”,which in return transcends the theme matter and becomes a general concept with unique aesthetic significance.Based on Starobinski's L'?il vivant and La Relation critique,and keeping in sight of his other critical works such as L'Invention de la liberté,Montaigne en mouvement,and La Mélancolie au miroir: Trois lectures de Baudelaire,etc.,this thesis focuses on studying the aesthetics of gaze of Jean Starobinski's criticism.Firstly,this thesis studies the aesthetics of gaze itself,analyzing its aesthetic characteristics by examining its key thoughts and critical methods,and testing its effectiveness by examining Starobinski's critical practice.The aesthetics of gaze is built on the thematic study of “gaze”,which has two main sub-motifs: “desire” and “mask”.As an intentional behavior,the gaze is capable of establishing contact through visual ability.The action of gaze is urgent,insatiable,and dangerous;it tends to mislead and distress people,and it is endowed with the centrifugal power leading to the acts of self-criticism or revolt.Starobinski proposes that critical methods should be freely chosen,suiting the related text,which forms a “critical trajectory”;meanwhile,with the text being read by means of “hermeneutic circle”,the “complete criticism” would be accomplished by the gaze that can be panoramic or intimate by turns.Secondly,this thesis looks further into the historical background of the aesthetics of gaze,ascertaining its position and significance in the history of French literary criticism.The aesthetics of gaze stands out in the debate of the traditional criticism and the new criticism in French.On the one hand,it inherits properties from Husserl's Phenomenology,and from the hermeneutical tradition by Schleiermacher,Dilthey and Gadamer as well;on the other hand,it absorbs the stylistics of Spitzer,the linguistics of Saussure,and the psychoanalysis of Freud,showing a broad academic mind and free critical thoughts that particularly characterize Starobinski's way.Lastly,this thesis discusses the contemporary significance of the aesthetics of gaze.Either in theory or in practice,it manifests the post-modern tendency.Adopting a “structuralist” approach,Starobinski tries doing an intrinsic criticism,exploring the infinite explanation of the text,reaching the outside world in an allegorical way.He pays special attention to the discontinuities and dialogues in the text,pursuing the intertextuality within the text and communication with readers.He values the multiplicity of meaning in method,and craves for the degeneralized and the deisolated in the critical discourse.Starobinski has both the profound spirit of liberal humanism and truth-seeking trait of scientific rationalism.He makes the choice of method according to text,and is thus regarded in his field as the most methodological critic.By the aesthetics of gaze,he works out a kind of free criticism which is unique in the 20 th century French criticism.