
Antithetical Arts
On the Ancient Quarrel Between Literature and Music
Peter Kivy(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 26. March 2009
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-0-19-956280-0 (ISBN)
Description
Antithetical Arts constitutes a defence of musical formalism against those who would put literary interpretations on the absolute music canon. In Part I, the historical origins of both the literary interpretation of absolute music and musical formalism are laid out. In Part II, specific attempts to put literary interpretations on various works of the absolute music canon are examined and criticized. Finally, in Part III, the question is raised as to what the human significance of absolute music is, if it does not lie in its representational or narrative content. The answer is that, as yet, philosophy has no answer, and that the question should be considered an important one for philosophers of art to consider, and to try to answer without appeal to representational or narrative content.
Reviews / Votes
Antithetical Arts, like Kivy's earlier books, is a model of clarity and shows great historical sensitivity and engagement with the issues under discussion. * Jeanette Bicknell, Mind * clear, resourceful, spirited, and entertaining * Paul Griffiths, Times Literary Supplement * Kivy's writing style happily shares many of the characteristics of good literature - wit, elegance, clarity, clear narrative development and readability. In short, his book, apart from anything else, is a good read. To the aesthetician, it is also of great philosophical interest, amd places the current debates on musical expression within a historical context. * Elisa Galgut, Philosophical Quarterly * Kivy's book is written in an extraordinarily clear and lucid style. There is a little surprise, an unexpected or witty observation, a new turn of the argument waiting at every other turn of the page. Furthermore, one might even say that Kivy's prose has a distinctive musical flavor to it... It also has many instructuve historical details on the long debate about how to understand music... Although it is difficult to imagine a narrativist being much impressed by Kivy's arguments, all of them should read this wonderful book. Like music, it can be a source of great pleasure and insight to the reader. * Peter Rinderle, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
frontispiece
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
497 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-956280-0 (9780199562800)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
03/2011
1st Edition
Oxford University Press
€61.80
Shipment within 15-20 days
Person
Peter Kivy is Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers University, New Jersey. His field of specialization is aesthetics and the philosophy of art.
Content
Preface ; PART I: THE FOUNDING OF FORMALISM ; 1. First the Music, and then the Words ; 2. Designs a la Grecque ; 3. Body and Soul ; PART II: THE FORTUNES OF FORMALISM ; 4. Mood and Music ; 5. Persona Non Grata ; 6. Action and Agency ; 7. Shostakovich's Secret? ; PART III: THE FATE OF FORMALISM ; 8. The Failure of Formalism and the Failure of its Foes ; 9. Attention, Ritual, and the Additive Strategy ; 10. Musical Morality ; 11. Empty Pleasure to the Ear ; BIBLIOGRAPHY