Chinese Journal of Literary Criticism

No.3, 2020

The Analysis of Aesthetic Psychology and the Interpretation of Phenomenological Aesthetics: The Ontological Construction of the Aesthetics of “Imagery” since the 1980s

(Abstract)

Mao Xuanguo

Since the 1980s, there have been two important approaches to the ontological construction of the aesthetics of “imagery”. One is to advocate the philosophical-psychological method from the traditional philosophical concept of subject-object dichotomy, and to understand “imagery” as the object of literature, art and aesthetic psychology. This approach emphasizes the existence of “imagery” as a kind of aesthetic experience and psychological phenomenon, and underlines its significance in aesthetic and artistic activities. The other approach consists in the integration of the traditional Chinese aesthetics of imagery and phenomenological aesthetics, and breaks away from the traditional theoretical mode of subject-object dichotomy. This second approach regards “imagery” as the product of intentionality, which unifies subject and object, phenomenon and noumenon, human beings and the world.