The Art of Disappearing. Religion and Aestheticization

In this essay we attempt to define ‘aestheticisation’ as a critical notion to analyse religious phenomena in contemporary Western society, which is marked by consumerism and totalitarianism. By means of a close reading of two epoch-making aesthetic theories (Theodor W. Adorno’s and Hans Urs von Balthasar’s), we will develop an alternative to the mainstream definition of aestheticization as subjectivisation. In particular, an exploration of the structural components of aesthetic experience (subject-object relation and form), within their respective philosophical and theological approach, will open up a different perspective upon aestheticisation (understood as formalisation) and its impact on religion.

ISBN:978-1847061324

Jaar van publicatie:2008