Re: ' I don't recall a single instance of being told that such art should be evaluated by western standards"
Where do you get this from William? It's a silly distortion of what I said. Your continual, unpleasant innuendos about "scholarly" standards clashes badly your own apparent inabilty to read with care. I have often noticed this in discussions with you. You see what you want to see. DA On Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 11:37 PM, William Conger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I'm not grappling with Derek but I am discounting his > so-called arguments. He does not offer arguments if > by that we mean reasoned inductive or deductive > process, supported by specific evidence, reference, > and, yes, informed opinion. Instead we get summative > opinion, the appeal to authority, himself. I've read > some of his website essays and I think they are > extremely well written, persuasive, clear. But even > there, in his remarks supporting Malraux, there is an > absense of specific interpretation backed up by > Malraux's own words or contested by the reasoning of > other writers on the same topics. > > As for non-western art and the idea that it is > misunderstood, I think this outlook has been well > established for decades. Fifty years ago, in my > undergraduate college years I had courses in > non-western art: Prehistoric, African, Oceanic, > Japanese, Chinese, Indian and related topics in four > different American universities. I don't recall a > single instance of being told that such art should be > evaluated by western standards (although as a learning > artist I did admire its "design"). Perhaps I was > especially fortunate in being taught by enlightened > people but there was also an abundance of scholarly > and even general literature that clarified the > distinction between the European aesthetic and the > purposes of other artforms. A look at the index and > publication dates in any good library will justify my > comment. So I think Derek is making a big deal of > something that's actually quite commonly understood by > educated people (such as the listers here) and has > been for quite a long time. Thus Derek stresses an > elementary point. And in defending Derek, so does > Cheerskep. > > WC > > -- Derek Allan http://www.home.netspeed.com.au/derek.allan/default.htm
