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‘PSYCHICAL DISTANCE’ AS A FACTOR IN ART AND AN AESTHETIC PRINCIPLE
Author(s) -
BULLOUGH EDWARD
Publication year - 1912
Publication title -
british journal of psychology, 1904‐1920
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.536
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8295
pISSN - 0950-5652
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8295.1912.tb00057.x
Subject(s) - citation , factor (programming language) , art history , computer science , library science , history , programming language
Edward Bullough redirects aesthetics away from the subject or model of a work of art to the “aesthetic object.” The “object” of art or “formal content” is obtained by maintaining a “psychical distance” from the work. Only if we suspend judgment about the actual surrounding of a work of art (e.g. the stage, the proscenium, the wobbling sets, or the cold being suffered by the tenor) can we relate ourselves to the art phenomenon. Bullough is anxious to avoid suggesting that this psychical distance is impersonal. We may become quite emotionally caught up with the tragedy of Othello without ever once believing that an actress was literally smothered to death on stage. However, if the play triggers in us our own jealousy and we begin to obsess about the possibility of our own spouse’s betrayal, we have lost our personal contact with the travails of Othello, the Moor; and we’ve lost sight of the aesthetic object.