Miller's appeal to an extreme form of subjectivity is at the opposite end of any worthy discussion of ideas. Sentimentality is a worthy idea. It deserves analytical discussion, not only for denoting personal judgments but also for its larger and more diffuse role in shaping cultural values. A worthy idea for analysis is not necessarily a "good" idea, if by good we mean a benefit for human identity.
American culture, including its most vulgar kitsch and popular tropes, is essentially sentimental. What's interesting about this sentimentality is how it clouds perceptions of reality and thus values by which to make judgments, not only about art but about the whole matrix of human activities. For example the American mythology of its founding that supports the altruistic concept of democtratic freedom is baked in sentimental projections unsupported by historical fact. In short, American culture never practiced what it preached. We create symbols of the real world in order to gain greater access to the relationship between ourselves and the world. Such symbols are interchangeable and metaphorical. They enable us to compare and contrast, to perceive one thing as if it were another, to multiply our experiences and thus our capacities to cooperate with reality. I think this is the same root for all edeavors, whether scientific, speculative, or artistic. If so, then the role of art is to gain access to reality. Sentimentality is a shroud over reality that directs perception inward to assuage the difficulty of assimilating the self to the objective world. Sentimentality is the comforting blanket of infancy, a retreat to a fantasy of the womb. I think the best art mediates the self and reality. It offers a metaphorical fusing of the self as if other, an objectification of the self as a make-believe symbol of reality. It is a rebirth into the world. The "space" of the art "object" then is a fictional space, what Winnicott termed "potential space". Perhaps it is impossible to eradicate our longing for the comforts of sentimentality and perhaps some sentimentality is always present in our efforts to accomodate reality. Perhaps to that extent it is good. But to choose it over the more difficult and conflicted and ultimately rewarding task of merging the self to objectivity is fatal to creativity and human intellect. What great art, literature, music is willfully sentimental? None! What popular art, fiction, demagoguery, and daily prattle is sentimental? Most! Choose sentimentality for its own sake and you choose the lesser life. WC --- On Fri, 1/23/09, Chris Miller <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Chris Miller <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: The good sort of sentimentality > To: [email protected] > Cc: [email protected] > Date: Friday, January 23, 2009, 8:13 AM > Michael asked me: > > "So, if you're actually interested in the notion > of how sentimentality is > connected to the arts, then why don't you describe what > you mean ("have in > mind") by that term and give a few examples in art, > and the all of us can > respond." > > > Michael, I'm not interested in "how sentimentality > is connected to the arts" > -- but rather in how those on this list make that > connection -- especially if, > like William, they use it to judge good art from bad. > (though, it appears that > WIlliam would much rather discuss the neurology of judgment > rather than > explaining his own) > > And -- as I've said about four times now -- I do not > associate the word > "sentimentality" with either approval or it's > opposite. The Christian > tradition of painting and sculpture feels very sentimental > to me -- the > Chinese tradition of calligraphy does not -- and I greatly > admire both of > them. > > What about you, Michael ? > > Can you step away from the passive consideration of > "how sentimentality is > connected", and tell us how you would make a > connection ? Do you ever use the > word "sentimental" to show disapproval ? > > Does anyone else ? > > > ____________________________________________________________ > Come clean with a brand new shower. Click now! > http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2231/fc/PnY6rc1Hov87chXTW0Shhxbx8JPJv7 > jsJDIg6q3n1zdNec5LPqqiA/
