{"product_id":"the-psychology-of-art-9780262220132","title":"The Psychology of Art","description":"\u003cp\u003eVygotsky opened up an original field in the science of psychology  based on the socio-historical theory of the nature of mans consciousness.  This work  now translated into English for the first time  approaches the study of art from a psychological basis. However  Vygotskys view is free of the old subjective-empirical outlook. His method  while objective and analytical  found its basis in the reasoning that to analyze the structure of artistic creation one must recreate the total reaction the work arouses. This novel concept motivated Vygotsky to evolve the means by which artistic accomplishments could be examined and the elements of their validity \"revealed.\"  The Psychology of Art discusses the literary genre in its classical formsthe fable  the epic  the short story  and Shakespearean tragedy. The heightened levels of perception and feeling that are created by great literature and drama are discussed by Vygotsky with clarity and conviction.  Many of the appraisals in this work resulted from Vygotskys reaction to the fallacious \"solutions\" proposed by the one-sided  traditional views of the literary critics of his time. An entire chapter  \"Art as Technique \" investigates and expresses his contradistinctive views of the formalistic view of the nature of art. For Vygotsky  form did not\/could not exist independently as a valid dimensionform appeared only in relation to the medium or the material it incarnates.  Vygotskys presentation of his thesis in The Psychology of Art is a logical procession of his basic thoughts. In the first chapter  \"The Psychological Problem of Art \" he clarifies the major pitfall of criticism up to his day  where he points out: \"The fundamental error of experimental aesthetics consists in starting from the wrong end  that of aesthetic pleasure and aesthetic appraisal  all the while intentionally ignoring the fact that both pleasure and appraisal may be arbitrary  secondary  or even irrelevant features of aesthetic behavior.\" From here he goes on to investigate the psychological premises of art.  In viewing a work of art as \"a combination of aesthetic symbols aimed at arousing emotion in people \" Vygotsky proceeded to analyze these symbols and recreate the basic  \"impersonal\" components that make up the psychology of the workwithout specific references to author-creator or reader-subjectexamining only the elements of form and material that are combined in the work. For example  in his chapter on Hamlet Vygotsky examines the structure from \"subjective\" and \"objective\" viewpoints  presents the problems of \"identification\" of the hero  and discusses the play in its various levels of consciousness.  Essentially a work of synthesis  The Psychology of Art laid the foundations for a new science of art  and as such is a major contribution to its study.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45277015769141,"sku":"ByrdShop_026222013X","price":240.94,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780262220132.jpg?v=1780569636","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-psychology-of-art-9780262220132","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}