Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
WhatdoestheEastmeantotheWest?Onourinspirationalget-togethers
FortheJapanesesenseofbeauty,referredtoas
wa,harmonywasalsocrucialbutitwasarrivedat
viaacompletelydifferentroadlTheoriginalmean-
ingofthewordutsukushiiseemstoindicatethat,
fortheJapanese,thenotionofbeautybelongs
moretotherealmofemotionsthantheintellectl
Utsukushiicanbetranslatedas“beautiful,”andthis
ishowitisusedtodaylHowever,earlyinthesec-
ondmillenniumAD,themeaningofthiswordwas
somewhatdifferent,aswenoticeinsurvivingworks
ofliteraturefromtheperiodlItdescribedthefeel-
ingevokedbysomethingfrail,somethinginneed
ofcarelMorethananything,itappliedtosome-
thingthatispleasantduetoitsvulnerabilityand
delicacylAsimilarmeaningresultedfromitsuse
inreferencetoobjects,notpeoplelInhermemoir
Makura-nososhi,SeiShonagonwrites:“Nanimo
nanimochiisakimono-waminautsukushii,”which
maybetranslatedas:“Beautifulisanythingthatis
small,”or“Allthatissmallbreedsasenseofpro-
tectivenessl”IntheMuromachiperiod(1392-end
of15thcl),thewordutsukushiibegantoacquireits
modern-daymeaningof“beautiful,”thoughitstill
harboursacertainemotionalconnotationtodayl
Reason,sostronglyunderpinningWesternclas-
sicismsincethetimeofancientGreece,isabsent
fromJapaneseaestheticslIntheWest,fromthe
CanonofPolykleitostotheworkofJacques-Louis
David,itwasdeclaredthatart,likeaguide,should
bethe“lightofreason,”and,thus,beautywasde-
terminedbyfidelitytotheprinciplesofrational-
ismandmathematics,or,asmentionedearlier,by
symmetry,proportion,perspectiveandthe“gol-
denratiol”WefindnosuchthinginJapanlThere,
beautyisneverunderstoodasanexternalquality
butsomethingintrinsictoaphenomenon,being
orobject;beautyexistsintheheartofthosewho
canfeelitlThisideaiswonderfullyreflectedin
theforewordtotheanthologyKokinshū(“Collec-
tionofPoemsAncientandModern,”compiledin
theearly10thcl)lTheauthoroftheforeword,the
poetKi-noTsurayuki(dl946),states:“Theseeds
ofJapanesepoetrylieinthehumanheartandgrow
intoleavesoften-thousandwordsl”Thispathwas
followedbylatertheoreticiansandpoetslFinally,
whenMotooriNorinaga(1730-1801),thelead-
ingexponentofkokugaku(thenationalschool)and
eulogizeroftheJapanesetradition’sgreatnessand
immortality,definedthetheoryknownasmono-no
aware(“pathosofthings,”“charmofthemoment,”
orthelike)inattemptingtoexplaintheessence
19
ofJapanesepoetry,hetooreferencedemotional
qualitiesplayingacentralroleintheformation
ofJapanesesensitivitieslAccordingtothislineof
thinking,thatwhichisbeautifuldoesnothaveto
beperfectandflawlesslUnlikeinEuropeanculture,
wherenatureis“improvedon”inpursuitoftheide-
alofperfection,Japaneseartistsacceptnatureinall
itsimperfectionsandunpredictability,findingits
charmpreciselyinthoseaspectslInasinglehum-
blepaintingorinadiminutiveornamentalmotif
wecanencounternumerousJapanesetakesonthe
essenceofbeauty:miyabiorsophistication,wabi-
noblesimplicity,sabi-imperfectioncausedbythe
passageoftimeandwear,theenigmaticprofound-
ness(yūgen)ofsymboliczengardensandmono-
chromaticpaintings;allofthisminglesandcomes
togetherinmono-noaware,ortheabilitytoreach
theessenceofathingandasensitivitytobeautyin
allitspermutationsnecessarytocreateatruework
ofartl
Arrivingattheexhibition,theviewerinfalli-
blyandintuitivelyfeelsthisquality,succumbsto
itanddelightsinit,bywayofwhichtheremote
and“other”Eastbecomescloseandtheartfulfils
itsforemostobjective:itexplains,reveals,portrays
theworldandlife,movesandbewitchesl
Bibliography
Juszczak1995=WiesławJuszczak,Fragmenty.Szkice
zteoriiifilozofii,Warsaw1995:103l
Kieniewicz2003=JanKieniewicz,Wprowadzenie
dohistoriicywilizacjiWschoduiZachodu,Warsaw
2003:11l
Kipling1889=RudyardKipling,TheBalladofEast
andWest,1889l
Maleszko2006=KatarzynaMaleszko,Sztukajapońska
zkolekcjiMuzeumNarodowegowWarszawie/The
JapaneseartcollectionoftheNationalMuseumin
Warsaw,Krakow2006l
Mathews2005=GordonMathews,GlobalCulture/In-
dividualIdentity.SearchingforHomeintheCultural
Supermarket,Abingdon2000:14,17,21l
