English Literature Essays Beauty Truth Art

English Literature Essays Beauty Truth Art Beauty Truth Art In his famous apostrophe to the â€Å"Grecian Urn†, the immortal poet, John Keats, wrote: â€Å"Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st, â€Å"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,†Ã¢â‚¬â€that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.† This very famous statement on Beauty and Truth and their interchangeability poses a very important question in the postmodern era. Art and its convention of the ‘Beauty’/‘Beautiful’ has imperceptibly changed over the decades, from something that should reflect the Ideal (and in reality, twice removed from it, as per Plato), or in essence complete and offering pleasure to the senses to something, that expresses the unique consciousness/angst of the creator. Art has thus rediscovered its definition for beauty. If beauty is truth, then it may dare to be grotesque too, for truth may be harsh or horrific. Beauty does not suggest something beautiful in the actual sense of the term, but that, which comes closer to the true expressions of the self and the vision of a generation’s psyche, that is fragmented, kitsch-like, complex and beyond the metanarratives of a suffocating conformity. Beauty has evolved into a freedom for expression. Contemporary art, especially questions the paradigms of aesthetic values, with artists like Chapman Brothers or Justin Novak producing artwork that are clearly meant to provoke reactions and challenge notions of beauty, that had it’s roots in Kant’s â€Å"Critique of Judgment† (1790). It contemplated on the â€Å"pure† aesthetic experience of art consisting of a â€Å"disinterested† observer, pleasing for its own sake and beyond any utility or morality. Now, the very word ‘pleasing’ may have different boundaries and contemporary art is trying to escalate their claims. If Marcel Duchamp made a fountain out of a urinal in 1917, that hurtled the Dadaist movement and that later amplified into a surrealist tendency looking into primitive art for their subconscious inspiration, to reveal the mental process, then the essential motivation behind the whole thing was subversion. If primitivism was motivating a new dimension by which beauty of the mind was revealed, then Picasso completely subjectified art and personal experience into a fourth dimension and created a cubist movement to claim a break down of a canon that no longer held on to techniques, symbols and least of all universal criteria for judging anything. There are many socio-ideological forces behind the same and the destructive World Wars had many reasons to question the notions behind the traditional idea of Beauty, and it addressed the subjective, transcendental and alienated psyche of modern man. Metaphysical hopelessness gave way from absurdity to beauty, while the meaninglessness of this ‘Being’, made beauty seem more akin to grotesque, either by derision or by the light of their tragic truth. What makes the question more intriguing is that, whether contemporary art has found a better form of beauty (constructed to please and create a certain discursive paradigm) in the grotesque, since it frees us from any moral and political/ideological constraints? Can it be linked to greater dimensions of teleological magnitude, or should it be treated as an alternative method of understanding true aesthetic, if not the complete aspect of aesthetic itself? Is grotesque possible without the knowledge of Beauty itself? I shall attempt to answer the following questions that I raised, with a few examples. One must first understand the idea behind perception and the dialogical force that surrounds it. If the world is raised as an illusion in one’s mind then the mind has been symbolically trained to read it as a language. This matrix of complex spontaneity is ‘paradigmatically’ and ‘syntagmatically’ (Roman Jakobson, 1987) being challenged, when Grotesque plays the part of Beauty. The Dystopia arises out of a shattered archetype that must restructure itself to include elements of the grotesque within the beauty, and reach towards the same aesthetic experience: the sublime. But interestingly what produces sublime is shock. But one must not confuse this with the cathartic experience of the ‘Tragic’ pity and terror, but something quite opposite to an ideal communicative situation that all such art produces. Thus this element of mimesis and/or representation of the ideal have given way to an â€Å"infinite subjectivity† (Hegel, Lectures on Fine Art, given in the 1820s), or the abyss of the human mind and condition. But the self is â€Å"interpellated† as per Lacan and later Althusser too estimated the impossibility of a single position from where one can judge, since the self was preconditioned with a lot of â€Å"logocentricism† (Derrida), which are again socio-culturally specific as per Barthes. Thus there is a complete inquiry into art through the artists’ personality or self (or selves). Justin Novak’s â€Å"disfigurine† often conforming to the bourgeoisie values, distort them to such an ironic extent that one cannot miss the counter realism that it offers. Often it serves to offer no alternative reality, but just launches one amidst a grotesque re-examination of old values and with its attendant disillusionment. Once the silent barrier between class and gender is dismantled, the escape is into nothingness – the sublime height of vast unending problems, and this underscores the definite presence and the horrors of undying conformism. If truth is beauty, then Novak’s artworks reveal the finer sides of it by shattering the comfortable and compartmentalized thought processes with which one can objectify art from a safe distance. The grotesque closeness of these truths, give beauty to the mind by releasing it from the shackles of confinement and overpowering illusions. Truth is not universal, but a power to accept the inextricable complexity of human behaviour, mind and his/her interrelationship with their social, cultural and historical environment. With Novak’s work one is left to ponder these very questions. Is Grotesque a rebellion? Or is it an inextricable element of beauty? Grayson Perry’s ceramic works portray this polemic, further, by making them superficially beautiful (as beauty has been notoriously claimed to have been) and underneath it remains the darker motives of an artist who tries to wrest with disturbing truths (or shall one call them home truths, with a larger social back drop to them) that question issues of public/private dialectic. His works that deserve mention here are, â€Å"Coming Out Dress 2000†, â€Å"We’ve Found the Body of your Child 2000†or the â€Å"Boring Cool People 1999† (reminds one of Eliot’s famous lines from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock â€Å"In the room the women come and go, Talking of Michaelangelo†). Not only does he deal with issues like cross-dressing, child abuse and social sterility (about spiritually hollow â€Å"cool† fashionistas or the demanding violence of the utilitarian age), but also, he plays with this abnormal interrelation between beauty and grotesque. He raises questions about taste and the sublime. In short he subverts the notion of beauty with beauty that is skin deep! Grotesque thus becomes Beauty that is kin deep in this works! Reality is a diabolical faà §ade and Perry questions whether hegemony denotes or connotes the medium of taste in art. Thus equating expression with grotesque beauty beyond the limited categories of high or low taste, his avant-garde expressionism becomes a solitary modicum of aesthetic experience, which is new and which is whole (if whole comprises of an aesthetic stance that offers no definite and certain understanding of art’s end but generates a range of teasing/shocking possibilities of that, which is an illusion in itself: Bourgeois ideology). Figure 1: Coming Out Dress, 2000. He poses as Claire, his feminine alter ego. All his works deal with these two sides to his sexuality quite deeply, especially in ‘Transvestite Brides of Christ 2000’ and ‘Contained Anger1999’, respectively, that questions the significance of male-role models. But what is interesting is that Perry is experimenting with representation, rather then pottery, and that is why his artwork combines issues of an innocent observer or rather tries to destroy the comfortable distance with which an observer may guard their subjective spaces. Transvestite to transgression, the Chapman Brothers question the inevitability or orthodox value of canonical (classical) artworks. This travesty or mockery of canonical lofty seriousness is reflected in their works, through devises of defaced and tortured figures, which for them amount to the complete picture of Beauty (of an era that is grotesque, in it’s realization of a past, present and future that cannot bear to sift through the beastly side of socio-cultural conditions, anymore or unlike the others). This becomes a subject behind their sculptures that bursts with mockery, tragedy exploding with grotesque farce. They usher in a new experiment with taste, bad taste and the notions of good taste. Art moves into the realms of public or mass ‘low’ category, which becomes an essential democratic medium for evoking or carrying forward a provocation to rouse the sense of that horrifying answerless void. With the Chapman brothers there is a sadist tone attached to their insult or reiteration of Goya’s influence especially in their recreation of his â€Å"Disasters of War†, which inflict bold horror. But the grandeur of that horror is reduced to a trivial and yet a sardonic sensation taste comes off them. They twist the sensation of violence into an aesthetic ground and arouse a variety of physical and mental demands for perceiving Beauty amidst such a squandering grotesqueness. Beauty here lies in the release from holding back appreciation, awe and complete shock. Violence does not stand-alone and nor does any other human emotion. â€Å"Sex, 2003† is thus desire, decay, diabolical, deliberate, freedom or defeat. Purity is not that far from its pornographic mockery of it and they are interrelated in their apparent verisimilitude. A true representation of kitsch art, their works like Fuckface and Zygotic Acceleration, roused shock as they attempted to portray the sexualisation of children due to the media and increased gender awareness. These treatments nevertheless push questions about morality that grotesque beauty actually challenges. Thus morality and beauty in its aesthetic straight forwardedness seem to flatten out newer boundaries of experiences, which the Chapman brothers challenge through their craftsmanship. Traditional Sculpture, especially in the hands of the Chapman Brothers and Justin Novak or Grayson Perry are objects of anti-canonical parody, grotesque imitations or thought-provoking reverse-discourses. All these postmodern artists are challenging aesthetic experience. All these artworks succumb to one the power of the grotesque that sublimates beauty with its truth, and they make us realize that truth is not about a fixed standard, but accepting the actual absence of it. What makes contemporary art more beastly in its beauty is the power to derive happiness (or sado-masochist satisfaction) out of this grotesqueness. The grotesque shocks but this is a pleasure in itself, because it is the very representation of the consciousness. Theatre and artwork met with experimentalism in the stage by Artaud, who made audience a spectator to cruelty that is harsh, exceptionally brutal and yet beautiful. By shattering estrangement and by creating something that allows no ‘objectivity’ (in the likes of Kant or Brecht) Artaud demands a complete involvement of the senses. Moreover, this is where art threatens to change the soul of the perceiver by its dominating beauty, which horrifies the perceiver with its verity and unique angst. Wittgenstein’s concept of seeing-as, allows contemporary art to shun master narratives completely and standout on their own purely as visual sensations. From British Avant-Garde art that confuses common and the uncommon (like use of mannequin by Chapman Brothers or genitals replaced by the faces in their remake of Goya’s Disasters of Wars series). Grotesquerie is about questioning the status quo, about unflinching self-criticism and about embracing outsiders. From Simon Carroll deconstructing the chronology of ceramic vases with his pastiches like â€Å"Thrown Square Pot2005†, engages the observers mind with complex questions that he poses through the irregular construction of his surfaces. The artists seem to dwell on the apparent hyperreality of contemporary situation, where art has become a vastly reproduced object – fractured beyond identity. Formlessness becomes the beauty without symmetry and deliberate cruelty an aesthetic grotesqueness. Thus the gap between what is apparent and what may actually exists gives the artists ample space to bridge this defined categories with crushing forces of expressions that though grotesque to the shocked senses is ultimately beautiful by virtue of its truth. Works Cited Eliot, T. S â€Å"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock†. Eliot, Thomas Stearns. Prufrock and Other Observations. London: The Egoist, Ltd, 1917; Bartleby.com, 1996. www.bartleby.com/198/. [30.01.2007]. ON-LINE ED.: Published May 1996 by Bartleby.com; Copyright Bartleby.com, Inc. (Terms of Use). Hegel, Lectures on Fine Art, (edited by Hotho) â€Å"Aesthetics: Lectures on Fine Art,† Vol. 1.translated by T. M. Knox, 1973. < http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hegel/works/ae/contents.htm > 30.01.2007. Jakobson, Roman. â€Å"Language in Literature†. Ed. Krystyna Pomorska and Stephen Rudy. Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 1987 Kant, Immanuel: The Critique of Judgement (1790), translated by Meredith, J. Adelaide: ebooks, 2004 Keats, John. Poetical Works. London: Macmillan, 1884; Bartleby.com, 1999http://www.bartleby.com/126/41.html. [29.01.2007]; Online-Ed: First published February 1993; published July 1999 by Bartleby.com; Copyright Bartleby.com, Inc.

Power of Women in the Epic of Gilgamesh

Anthony Sales Ierfino The Power of Women Imagine a woman so beautiful she had the power to tame wild beasts with one look at her voluptuous body. In â€Å"The Epic of Gilgamesh†, Gilgamesh’s temple priestess has the power to do just that, she tames Enkidu. Ishtar, when denied by Gilgamesh, threatens to â€Å"let the dead go up and eat the living† (10). In this epic, women represent great power, wisdom and finally temptation and evil. In the epic, the woman symbolizes different things.One of these is how woman use the power of love (sex) and temptation to attain a certain goal or task. When the trapper’s son tells his father of Enkidu, his first and immediate instinct is to send for Gilgamesh’s temple priestess, Shamhat, so she can seduce him and â€Å"have her take off her robe and expose her sex† (3). Upon seeing Shamhat’s voluptuous body, Enkidu loses all his wild and animalistic instincts. He then makes love to her for six days and seven nights, as â€Å"she was not restrained, but took his energy† (4).Having had sex with the harlot, Enkidu is humanized and in turn is rejected by the animals he grew up with. Shamhat not only proves that sex and temptation are powerful tools (or weapons), but that the woman is even more powerful because she holds such â€Å"powers† (sex and temptation). Not only Are women powerful, but in the Epic, they are portrayed as evil. Ishtar, goddess of love and war, is portrayed as a selfish and uses her power of seduction for evil.Princess Ishtar asks Gilgamesh to marry her, telling Gilgamesh â€Å"Be you my husband, and I will be your wife†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (8). Gilgamesh replies by not only insulting the princess but by recounting her past lovers and how she has loved them only to turn on them, â€Å" You loved the colorful ‘little Sheperd’ [Tammuz] bird and then hit him, breaking his wing, so now he stands in the forest crying ‘My Wing’! † (9). He then, ends his reply by saying she loves him now, but she will only turn on him.Ishtar, embarrassed and deeply angered, goes up to the heavens going to her father Anu asking for him to let her unleash the Bull of Heaven so he go down and kill Gilgamesh. When Anu simply states that Gilgamesh did nothing wrong, Ishtar threatens that if she does not get what she wants she will â€Å"knock down the Gates of the Netherworld†¦and will let the dead go up to eat the living! † (10). Despite a warning from her father that no crops will grow for 7 years Ishtar is undeterred. This shows how, Ishtar, is selfish uses her power of seduction on Gilgamesh.But when rejected, she is blinded by her fury and willing to do anything to get revenge even if it means the deaths of innocent men. It is clear that women are portrayed in a certain way in the Epic of Gilgamesh. This is due to the position they held the social hierarchy of the day. They were portrayed as beings with the power of seduction whether they had good intentions or evil intentions were completely up to them. This is why they were treated as mere objects that must be controlled by man.The temple priestess, for example, held much power, she was the representative of God on earth, not only this but it is she who ensures there will be a good crop, whether or not the king will be successful in battle. In this instance the Temple Preistess, Shamhat, sent by Gilgamesh to tame and eliminate the threat that is Enkidu. Secondly how Ishtar, after attempts to seduce Gilgamesh and fails, blinded by rage and selfishness, wreaks havoc on the innocent people of Uruk as she attempts to get revenge on Gilgamesh.

Peer Mentor

In this quarter, being a peer mentor has a great impact to me, especially with the fact that the minute that I got is all international student from another country, like China, Korea, and Vietnam. At first I think mentoring people in the age range between 16 until 17 will be a really hard and tough Job, because people at that age tends to think that they know everything and usually refuse to receive a commentary or advisory from another people.They tend to do whatever they want without thinking about the consequences and sometimes very hard to approach because they think hey know everything best for them and keep everything themselves. In fact all my minute are easily approachable and very fun to have chat with. At the first meeting most of them are a little bit shy to ask or to talk about their personal problem, but as time goes on they become really talkative and tell me everything that they think I would like to know, for example their grades, their living situation, etc.They sha re everything without I have to ask or insist them to tell me about something, which I think is very good and far beyond my expectation. As a peer mentor, I learn a lot about my minute culture and their characteristic. Furthermore, I learn how to be responsible for them and try to be a good role model for them, by being active in class and do all the homework far before its due.In conclusion, being a peer mentor this quarter Is really fun for me and have a lot of positive effects towards me, I know more people, learn how to communicate with people which Is not from my home country, learn how to approach people, and learn how to manage my time, which I think Is very Important for me, especially to be a person which is not only excel In grade but also have a good relationship and willing to serve and help other people.

Jewish And Christian Sacred Text - 1001 Words

Jewish and Christian Sacred Text For years people have had a hard time distinguishing the difference between Christians and Jews. Even when reading about these two religions, they are very similar. There are two main differences that stand out the most amongst these religions. One of them is that Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah while Jews believe He was a prophet. The other difference is their opinions on sacred text. Jewish people and Christians both have sacred text; however, Christians believe that the Bible is meant to be read as a text as a whole. Christians have the Holy Bible and Jews have what is known as the Tanakh. In relation to the Christian Bible, the Tanakh is only the Old Testament, while the Holy Bible is both the Old Testament and the New Testament. This means that stories like Creation, Original Sin, and Ten Commandments are the same for both religions. While the Tanakh is the Jews’ form of Jewish scripture, the Torah is what they believe to be the most sacred (Fisher, pg. 248). The Torah consists of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy (Fisher, pg. 278). This is why the sacred text amongst these religions are alike, yet so different. The Old Testament are written accounts of what occurred before Christ. Between the Old and New Testament there was a 400 year gap that is known as the â€Å"Intertestamental Period† (The Bible Almanac, pg.36). After this time period, Jesus was born. The NewShow MoreRelatedA Comparison Of The Tanach And Bible138 0 Words   |  6 Pageshas a sacred text which is used to understand their worldview and their religion better. A sacred text is what a religion believes is holy and authoritative. Religious texts show its followers what to do in worship, daily living and conduct. While Christianity and Judaism have numerous similarities because of the mother-daughter link, differences still exist. The sacred text for Judaism is the Tanach while for Christianity the Bible is used. This essay will explore the structure of each sacred textRead MoreJudaism, Islam, and Christianity Essay1687 Words   |  7 Pagesreligious texts and also how they approach God in prayer. One similarity that has high significance in the world of all three religions is the importance of Abraham. Abraham is referred to in the Old Testament that is used in both the Jewish faith and Christianity. Also Islam’s refer to Abraham as well as the man that had to make the sacrifice of giving up his son. His obedience was highly regarded and recognized throughout these religions. Through the many passages throughout each sacred book GodRead MoreThree Religions : One God1467 Words   |  6 PagesJesus Christ, and those who practice these teachings are called Christians. It is the most popular religion in the world with over 2 billion adherents. Christianity developed out of Judaism in the 1st century C.E and it is founded on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The sacred text of Christianity is the Bible, including both the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament), and the New Testament. Traditional Christian beliefs include the belief in the one an d only true God, whoRead MoreSimilarities Between Christianity and Judaism1418 Words   |  6 Pagesreligion has similarities and differences, and pro’s and cons. Two of the major religions, Judaism and Christianity, are alike in their inspiration of sacred texts, but are different in their identity of Jesus, and practice of worship. Although Christianity and Judaism are very different religions, they are similar in their inspiration of sacred texts. While Christianity has the Bible, and Judaism has the Torah, there is still a question of how those books were written, and by whom. In both the BibleRead MoreJudaism Vs. Christianity And Judaism1303 Words   |  6 Pagespromising him to make his ancestry a sacred people and provide them with a holy land. Meanwhile, Christianity derives from Jesus Christ with whom the disciples were called Christians because of their way of living – which was the way of Jesus Christ. Although both Judaism and Christians believe in God which they call Jehovah, Christians believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Trinity), while the Jews believe that God is one person, Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the SonRead MoreGod, God And The Creator Of The Earth And Living Things1010 Words   |  5 Pagesthe Jewish and Christian scriptures share a few beliefs in common. Both scriptures identify the belief of one God, who is almighty and the creator of the earth and living things. Both scriptures express the understanding that the Earth is God’s domain in which God demands that all humans act according to God’s commandments and they will be redeemed in the eyes of the Lord. They also follow the belief that there will be a coming of the Messiah, along with a doctrine of resurrection. Christians payRead MoreChristianity And The New Testament1311 Words   |  6 PagesChristianity is a religion that is based on the life experiences and tea chings of Jesus Christ in the New Testament. Christianity is the largest religion on Earth, with over two billion followers which are called Christians. Jesus is believed to be the Son of God and the Savior of Humanity who is coming as Christ in the flesh which is prophesized in the Old Testament. Christian’s profession of faith is that Jesus suffered for everyone, died and was buried in the tomb, and was resurrected from theRead MoreEssay about Issues and Traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam1580 Words   |  7 Pagesgrounded in such belief and worship (Company, 2000). This paper will examine three major religions of today: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. An attempt will be made to identify the top two current issues each religion faces as well as look at two sacred traditions and study the significance and major characteristics of each. Judaism Judaism is monotheistic in nature and has been described as a religion, a race, a culture, and a nation. All of these descriptions have some validityRead MoreThe Teachings Of Religion Have For The Most Part Stayed The Same1318 Words   |  6 PagesChristian’s beliefs are very sacred to them, just as any other religion. The doctrines of God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Trinity and the Bible are of the utmost important. The teaching of afterlife vary between each demonination of the Christian belief but essentially want to reach Heaven. Judaism is one of the oldest religions that is still being practiced today. The Jewish people believe that there is an all-powerful God, and they live by the 13 Articles of Faith. The sacred texts have little to say aboutRead MoreAppendix H Monotheistic Religions739 Words   |  3 Pagesknown through the Talmud, Torah, and the Ten Commandments. * The most vital act is to love God. * There is One God who created the Universe and rules it. * Covenant linking God and Jewish people | * Christians ought to follow the Ten Commandments and additional laws enclosed in the Christian Bible. * Only One God created the universe and rules it * Jesus is the son of God. | * The Five Pillars of Islam are the central beliefs that Muslims must practice. | Nature of