Art Criticism - The State University of New York
Art Criticism - The State University of New York Art Criticism - The State University of New York
mode of self-consciousness that best realizes integrity of self. There are two extremes of recognitional interactions. One is the mas~ ter/slave scenario where there is a maximally uneven distribution of power amongst the participants; the other is where unequal power relations are minimized in the realization of a communal spirit. 7 Hegel makes clear in the Phenomenology that the master/slave interaction is ineffective at achieving .the integrity of self of both parties. What he does not thematize in the Phenomenology, and would do so only in subsequent texts, is that as unequal power among the participants is diminished, there is an increase in the likelihood of achieving mutual respect and the integrity of all involved. 8 Minimization of domination is a regulative ideal necessary to the formation of community9 - community embodied in mutually respectful and recognitional styles of interacting with others. Community is not the donation of a prior rational spirit, but a temporary and local human achievement, realized through historically specific practices, and always requiring struggle, inventiveness, and a smattering ofluck. Let me interject at this point that I see this sketch of self-consciousness as not only pointing towards facets of our historical essence in the West, and perhaps the fundamental ethical promise of our times,1O but also as gesturing towards some of the woes of our modernity. Our daily jobs demand lots of work that is mostly alienated, while our institutions tend to close down and colonize public spheres that might otherwise entertain communal interaction. What predominates in our culture are practices of consumption - consuming activities that nourish life in ever more pleasurable and refined ways, but also acts that consume prepackaged subjectivities: body regimes of dieting and exercising; fashion styles that "make a statement"; commodities that once in our possession "reflect" who we are. Because our lives typically lack sufficiently expressive work as well as recognitional interactions that are consistent and regular, we seek self-integrity in the ubiquitous circuits of consumptjon. Hence the spectacle of modern life, where we purchase not so much the commodity for its use-value, but for how it will make us look to others, what kind of identity it will bestow upon us. 1I Of course as a subjectivity that is consumed for the eyes of others, rather than a sense of self that emerges in an ongoing interaction, this form of identity is skin deep and fails to achieve integrity of self; instead, it readily perpetuates further acts and cycles of consuming an identity. 12 Much of the disquiet in our lives, I am suggesting, has to do with the desire to achieve communal selfintegrity in a culture governed by all-consuming practices. Schooling contributes to the problem. From kindergarten onwards the teacher-student relation is a modern form of what Foucault brilliantly diagnosed as pastoral power, where the teacher is responsible for the "souls" of her students. 13 No doubt this is necessary for the early years of education. 106 Art Criticism
But the same basic relation of teacher-student remains in tact at all levels of schooling. By the time of college and graduate school, students are adults, eligible to vote and to go to go off to war to die, but they remain positioned as subordinate to the teacher. The university professor is defined in our culture as a specialist, an expert in field of study, hence the possessor of certain truths. Lateral interactions amongst the students are rendered to a minimum; students mostly enter into competitive relations and on occasion help each other with assignments. But the primary relation is that between professor and student, exemplified in the standard classroom arrangement of students sitting side by side facing not each other but the teacher, who stands at the front of the room pronouncing the truth of the matter at hand. We like to convince ourselves that the humanities and social sciences are requisite for students becoming citizens, but traditional classroom formats forestall students engaging in practices of mutual recognition. Pastoral power is directed towards normalizing thought. This derails the development of what Kant called Miindigkeit, the maturity to think for oneself without final appeal to an external authority. 14 By interacting with each other in practices of respectful deliberation, students become more active learners and less slavish to authority. They become autonomous thinkers not so much by going to the library and writing a paper to satisfy the teacher's expectations (which positions the teacher as the master who authorizes the truth of the student's thought), but primarily by interacting with each other in open formats of dia- 10gue. IS Yet our educational procedures and assumptions - the primacy of lecturing, our deep seeded positivistic and monological views of truth, the necessity of "careful" grading - do much to counter students becoming a community of mature, autonomous thinkers. Classroom Obligations Having outlined the plight of community in modernity and how college schooling contributes to this malaise, I want now to reflect on the phenomenology of teaching, especially as regards obligations in the classroom. This sections intends to point out how we teachers tend to conflate the pedagogical obligation to educate students with the administrative imperative to normalize and discipline a variegated student body.16 In being a teacher, one inevitably endeavors to be a good teacher, to teach well. That is to say, the good of teaching is embodied in its practice. But what counts as this good is not a fixed end, but an open field of possible outcomes. For there are many ways of succeeding at teaching, and some of these are never known in advance. Nevertheless, we can surmise that these outcomes all directly or indirectly involve the education of students, so that the good of teaching always has in the end an obligation to others. The vol. 17, no. 1 107
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mode <strong>of</strong> self-consciousness that best realizes integrity <strong>of</strong> self.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are two extremes <strong>of</strong> recognitional interactions. One is the mas~<br />
ter/slave scenario where there is a maximally uneven distribution <strong>of</strong> power<br />
amongst the participants; the other is where unequal power relations are minimized<br />
in the realization <strong>of</strong> a communal spirit. 7 Hegel makes clear in the Phenomenology<br />
that the master/slave interaction is ineffective at achieving .the<br />
integrity <strong>of</strong> self <strong>of</strong> both parties. What he does not thematize in the Phenomenology,<br />
and would do so only in subsequent texts, is that as unequal power<br />
among the participants is diminished, there is an increase in the likelihood <strong>of</strong><br />
achieving mutual respect and the integrity <strong>of</strong> all involved. 8 Minimization <strong>of</strong><br />
domination is a regulative ideal necessary to the formation <strong>of</strong> community9 -<br />
community embodied in mutually respectful and recognitional styles <strong>of</strong> interacting<br />
with others. Community is not the donation <strong>of</strong> a prior rational spirit, but<br />
a temporary and local human achievement, realized through historically specific<br />
practices, and always requiring struggle, inventiveness, and a smattering<br />
<strong>of</strong>luck.<br />
Let me interject at this point that I see this sketch <strong>of</strong> self-consciousness<br />
as not only pointing towards facets <strong>of</strong> our historical essence in the West,<br />
and perhaps the fundamental ethical promise <strong>of</strong> our times,1O but also as gesturing<br />
towards some <strong>of</strong> the woes <strong>of</strong> our modernity.<br />
Our daily jobs demand lots <strong>of</strong> work that is mostly alienated, while our<br />
institutions tend to close down and colonize public spheres that might otherwise<br />
entertain communal interaction. What predominates in our culture are<br />
practices <strong>of</strong> consumption - consuming activities that nourish life in ever more<br />
pleasurable and refined ways, but also acts that consume prepackaged<br />
subjectivities: body regimes <strong>of</strong> dieting and exercising; fashion styles that "make<br />
a statement"; commodities that once in our possession "reflect" who we are.<br />
Because our lives typically lack sufficiently expressive work as well as<br />
recognitional interactions that are consistent and regular, we seek self-integrity<br />
in the ubiquitous circuits <strong>of</strong> consumptjon. Hence the spectacle <strong>of</strong> modern<br />
life, where we purchase not so much the commodity for its use-value, but for<br />
how it will make us look to others, what kind <strong>of</strong> identity it will bestow upon<br />
us. 1I Of course as a subjectivity that is consumed for the eyes <strong>of</strong> others, rather<br />
than a sense <strong>of</strong> self that emerges in an ongoing interaction, this form <strong>of</strong> identity<br />
is skin deep and fails to achieve integrity <strong>of</strong> self; instead, it readily perpetuates<br />
further acts and cycles <strong>of</strong> consuming an identity. 12 Much <strong>of</strong> the disquiet in<br />
our lives, I am suggesting, has to do with the desire to achieve communal selfintegrity<br />
in a culture governed by all-consuming practices.<br />
Schooling contributes to the problem. From kindergarten onwards<br />
the teacher-student relation is a modern form <strong>of</strong> what Foucault brilliantly diagnosed<br />
as pastoral power, where the teacher is responsible for the "souls" <strong>of</strong><br />
her students. 13 No doubt this is necessary for the early years <strong>of</strong> education.<br />
106<br />
<strong>Art</strong> <strong>Criticism</strong>