Transformative Aesthetics Routledge Advances in Theatre & Performance Studies Series

Aesthetic theory in the West has, until now, been dominated by ideas of effect, autonomy, and reception. Transformative Aesthetics uncovers these theories? mutual concern with the transformation of those involved.

From artists to spectators, readers, listeners, or audiences, the idea of transformation is one familiar to cultures across the globe. Transformation of the individual is only one part of this aesthetic phenomenon, as contemporary artists are increasingly called upon to have a transformative, sustainable impact on society at large. To this end, Erika Fischer Lichte and Benjamin Wihstutz present a series of fresh perspectives on the discussion of aesthetics, uniting Western theory with that of India, China, Australia, and beyond.

Each chapter of Transformative Aesthetics focuses on a different approach to transformation, from the foundations of aesthetics to contemporary theories, breaking new ground to establish a network of thought that spans theatre, performance, art history, cultural studies, and philosophy.

Introduction: Transformative Aesthetics—Reflections on the Metamorphic Power of Art

Erika Fischer-Lichte

1 Aristotle’s theory of Katharsis in its Historical and Social Contexts

Edith Hall

2 The Taste of Art and Transcendence: Transformation(s) in Rasa and Bhakti Aesthetics

Guillermo Rodriguez

3 Metamorphosis in the Picture

Bernhard Waldenfels

4 Somaesthetics and Self-Cultivation in Chinese Art

Richard Shusterman

5 Schiller’s Transformative Aesthetics

Benjamin Wihstutz

6 Clairvoyance and Transformation: Wagner’s Neuroaesthetics

Matthew Wilson Smith

7 The Invisible Vanguard: Reflections on Political Movements and Contemporary AvantGarde Formations

James Harding

8 Applied Theatre: Theatre for Change

Matthias Warstat

9 Transformative Resistance and Aesthetics

Bill Ashcroft

10 The Art of not Relating with one Another—Notes on Some Issues and Potentials of Relational Art

Sandra Umathum

Erika FISCHER-LICHTE is professor of Theatre Studies at Free University Berlin. She is past president of the International Federation for Theatre Research, and holds the chair of the Institute for Advanced Studies on "Interweaving Cultures in Performance".

Benjamin WIHSTUTZ is assistant professor of Theatre Studies at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, and a research fellow for eight years at the Interdisciplinary Research Center "Aesthetic Experience and the Dissolution of Artistic Limits".