Any man who observes nature is always inclined to question its precise order. The analogies and regularities of natural phenomena have often suggested a predetermined design, a benign creator, a sublime artist: thus nature appears to be his masterpiece. But even the most convinced supporters of natural theology cannot fail to see certain incongruities or irregularities, such as the “unevenness” of earth’s crust which is recognisable in mountain landscape. The new scientific and philosophical attitude, particularly starting from the eighteenth century, brings a new sensitivity that ascribes aesthetic worth to the beauty of wild and irregular landscapes. The essay aims to illustrate this development within the philosophical and literary texts of some great European authors, such as Rousseau, Goethe, Ludwig Tieck, Ugo Foscolo, Mary Shelley. The mountain environment has become, in this age, the ideal place in which to express interior conflict: it has a symbolic role, unimaginable in classical aesthetics. Nature is torn to pieces to represent a broken heart, and irregularity perfectly expresses conflict and laceration. In this sense, the great relevance of nature, observed during his period in literature, as well as in science and philosophy, implicates the non-exclusion of elements of disorder and deformity. This complicates as well as enriches the situation, and is therefore perfectly suited to the representation of the most complicated of Romantic spirits.
Mountain Landscape and the Aesthetic of the Sublime in the Romantic Narration / Giacomoni, Paola. - STAMPA. - (2008), pp. 107-121.
Mountain Landscape and the Aesthetic of the Sublime in the Romantic Narration
Giacomoni, Paola
2008-01-01
Abstract
Any man who observes nature is always inclined to question its precise order. The analogies and regularities of natural phenomena have often suggested a predetermined design, a benign creator, a sublime artist: thus nature appears to be his masterpiece. But even the most convinced supporters of natural theology cannot fail to see certain incongruities or irregularities, such as the “unevenness” of earth’s crust which is recognisable in mountain landscape. The new scientific and philosophical attitude, particularly starting from the eighteenth century, brings a new sensitivity that ascribes aesthetic worth to the beauty of wild and irregular landscapes. The essay aims to illustrate this development within the philosophical and literary texts of some great European authors, such as Rousseau, Goethe, Ludwig Tieck, Ugo Foscolo, Mary Shelley. The mountain environment has become, in this age, the ideal place in which to express interior conflict: it has a symbolic role, unimaginable in classical aesthetics. Nature is torn to pieces to represent a broken heart, and irregularity perfectly expresses conflict and laceration. In this sense, the great relevance of nature, observed during his period in literature, as well as in science and philosophy, implicates the non-exclusion of elements of disorder and deformity. This complicates as well as enriches the situation, and is therefore perfectly suited to the representation of the most complicated of Romantic spirits.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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