Antithetical Arts
On the Ancient Quarrel Between Literature and Music
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Oxford University Press
Published:26th Mar '09
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£41.49(9780199596294)
Antithetical Arts constitutes a defence of musical formalism against those who would put literary interpretations on the absolute music canon. In Part I, the historical origins of both the literary interpretation of absolute music and musical formalism are laid out. In Part II, specific attempts to put literary interpretations on various works of the absolute music canon are examined and criticized. Finally, in Part III, the question is raised as to what the human significance of absolute music is, if it does not lie in its representational or narrative content. The answer is that, as yet, philosophy has no answer, and that the question should be considered an important one for philosophers of art to consider, and to try to answer without appeal to representational or narrative content.
Antithetical Arts, like Kivy's earlier books, is a model of clarity and shows great historical sensitivity and engagement with the issues under discussion. * Jeanette Bicknell, Mind *
clear, resourceful, spirited, and entertaining * Paul Griffiths, Times Literary Supplement *
Kivy's writing style happily shares many of the characteristics of good literature - wit, elegance, clarity, clear narrative development and readability. In short, his book, apart from anything else, is a good read. To the aesthetician, it is also of great philosophical interest, amd places the current debates on musical expression within a historical context. * Elisa Galgut, Philosophical Quarterly *
Kivy's book is written in an extraordinarily clear and lucid style. There is a little surprise, an unexpected or witty observation, a new turn of the argument waiting at every other turn of the page. Furthermore, one might even say that Kivy's prose has a distinctive musical flavor to it... It also has many instructuve historical details on the long debate about how to understand music... Although it is difficult to imagine a narrativist being much impressed by Kivy's arguments, all of them should read this wonderful book. Like music, it can be a source of great pleasure and insight to the reader. * Peter Rinderle, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *
ISBN: 9780199562800
Dimensions: 223mm x 144mm x 22mm
Weight: 481g
288 pages