Hans Maes (University of Kent): 'Aesthetic Melancholy'
Emily Brady and Arto Haapala (2003) define melancholy as a complex emotion with aspects of both pain and pleasure which draws on a range of emotions - sadness, love and longing - all of which are bound with a reflective, solitary state of mind. Melancholy, they argue, does not just play a role in our encounters with art works and the natural environment, but also invites aesthetic considerations to come into play in more everyday situations. As such, melancholy can be considered an aesthetic emotion per se. In this paper, I critically examine the various aspects of Brady and Haapala’s account, after which I present an alternative analysis of melancholy and its aesthetic relevance.
Aesthetics Seminar Convenors: Catharine Abell , David Collins and Adriana Clavel-Vazquez
