Poetic Truth

            When I arrived early for Aesthetics class on Wednesday, November 9^th, Tim was already in the room. He asked what I’d thought of the election. I said, “What do you expect from a country that fought a revolution just to eliminate the middle man in the slave trade. I suggested that Drumpf won because the United States actually died in 1861 when the Civil War broke out. What they should have done is split into two countries then and it would have kept something like this from ever happening.

            When Professor Russell arrived he was wearing dark glasses. He set up all the digital stuff he needed for his lecture, but what was conspicuously absent were the tunes he likes to play before we start. I asked, “Where’s the music?” He sighed and shook his head, explaining, “I’m not in a very festive mood.” “Because of the election?” I inquired. He nodded, sadly.

            Tim commented, “I changed my mind! Some jokes are morally wrong!”

            Devlin responded, “This is a different kind of joke.”

            When class began he told us that he’d posted the instructions for our applied essay. The purpose of our papers will be to explain, or defend some theory we’ve considered in this class, and argue that it helps deepen our understanding of a particular artwork or piece of art criticism as to what it is and how it works. In other words, we will present, explain and defend some theory from any of the readings and use that theory to explain some aspect of a particular artwork of our choice. This should not be presented as art criticism. The thesis and main argument should not be directed toward advancing an interpretation or claiming that the work is good or bad. Rather apply the theory to an artwork in a way that helps us more deeply understand what it is and how it works. Find something that speaks to you and that you think counts as art. Write an essay where you argue that a certain theory explains a relevant aspect of the work. Have a clearly stated thesis, a brief description of the artwork, an explanation of the theory and why it is true, a detailed application of the theory to the artwork, object to the theory and then respond to the objection.  Most of the essay should consist of our explanation of the theory and its application. We can’t write about the same theory we covered in our first essay. We can’t use a theory of art from outside the course but of course we can use art from outside the course. No quotations are allowed unless we are quoting literature. Try to understand the difference between interpretation and understanding.

            We started with a review question: Can high art be used for entertainment? 68% of us said yes and we were right. High art can contain some ingredients for entertainment.

            A second question was: Can low art be deeply and authentically emotional? 82% of us said yes and we were right again. Low art can have an ingredient associated with high art and still be low art.

            Our lecture was on the topic of Literature.

            It has to do with writing. We know our categories now. Ruling out things like tech manuals and science writing, we say that literature is fine writing with imagination. But this leaves in pulp novels and pop fiction, so we add a new criteria that literature must be significant and serious. That leaves us with novels like Ulysses, The Great Gatsby, Crime and Punishment as well as poetry and plays.

            Fine writing has high aesthetic value.

            Fiction and literature prescribes imaginings.

            Since literature is serious it is contemplative and so it is high art.

            I said that creativity should be the key for determining whether writing can be seen as literature. I offered that the Philosophical essay that we read by Arthur C. Danto was very creative and so it should fit. The professor seemed skeptical.

            How we use literature is the institutional aspect. We can know the rules. We can read a sentence and not take it literally. Imagine it is raining, but don’t think it is raining. That is the institution.

            Poetic Truth is true in what sense? Literature and art gets at something true in a distinctive way. There are two ways that it might be distinct:

            Content – There is a difference between poetic and scientific truth. For Aristotle, poetic truth is about character. Its cognitive value is to enrich our knowledge of human character.

            Kind of truth – Getting things right. If we believe it is raining, our belief is true, if it is raining. For Shelly, literature is distinctively about prescribing imaginings. Literature gets us to enlarge our imagination and its possibilities. For Shelly, this is truth because cognitive value doesn’t quite get at getting things right.

            Novis says that poetic truth is knowing what it is like. You know what it is like to be you. Imagination involves you knowing what it’s like to be me. If you get it you get a truth.

            At the end of class I approached Professor Russell and told him to cheer up, because Trump will be on trial for fraud on November 28^th because of useless courses that students paid for at Trump University. As we left the lecture theater Devlin told me that cheered him up a bit, but he said that he wasn’t so much depressed because of the election but because his faith in humanity had been shattered because he’d never believed that the people of the United States could have been so stupid as to elect Donald Trump. I told him what I’d said to Tim. That it’s all the fault of the civil war. The United States died in the 19^th Century. The nation should have had a referendum and then the south and the north should have split into separate countries. None of this would have happened, because the north would have become a progressive and liberal country and the south would have become something like South Africa until the slaves finally revolted and took over.

            After class I went to OCADU early because there was no time to go home other than to get there and pretty much turn around and leave again. So I went to the studio where I was scheduled to work that afternoon and luckily found it empty. I ate an egg and cheese sandwich that I’d brought with me and then I laid down for a while. I think I did manage to nod off for a bit so I got some rest before the students started arriving.

When the instructor, Nick Aoki, got there and started to set things up, I asked him if he’d mind skipping the mid-class coffee break and just finishing early this time. He seemed all for it, so that was what we did.

            I did one minute poses, then twos, then fives, then tens and finished with two fifteens before I was done. I tend to work pretty hard as a model, but I seemed to be putting in more effort than usual, perhaps as a way to thank Nick for letting me alter the regular format so I could leave early.