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Artistic misunderstandings: The emotional significance of historical learning in the arts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2017

Nicolas J. Bullot
Affiliation:
School of Creative Arts and Humanities, Casuarina Campus, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Northern Territory 0909, Australia. nicolas.bullot@cdu.edu.auhttp://www.cdu.edu.au/creative-arts-humanities/staff-profiles/nicolas-bullot
Rolf Reber
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, NO-0317 Oslo, Norway. rolf.reber@psykologi.uio.nohttp://www.sv.uio.no/psi/english/people/aca/rolfreb/

Abstract

The Distancing-Embracing model does not have the conceptual resources to explain artistic misunderstandings and the emotional consequences of historical learning in the arts. Specifically, it suggests implausible predictions about emotional distancing caused by art schemata (e.g., misunderstandings of artistic intentions and contexts). These problems show the need for further inquiries into how historical contextualization modulates negative emotions in the arts.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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