L’universalisme de l’esthétique chez Okakura Kakuzō (dit Tenshin) et Ernest Fenollosa : critique et actualité

Abstract

In this paper I study Okakura Tenshin’s and Ernest F. Fenollosa’s aesthetic writings as an example of a universalistic theory of art. They endeavoured to construct a universalist aesthetics that would take into account the variety of aesthetic paradigms arising from different cultures. Fenollosa and Okakura tried to solve this problem by developing the concept of “synthesis”; however, an examination of Fenollosa’s work on calligraphy reveals the limits of this solution. My hypothesis, then, is that Okakura tried in several ways to move past such shortcomings; it is the logic behind these attempts that I shall endeavour to outline.

Keywords

• Theory of Japanese Art
• Aesthetic Universalism
• Okakura Kakuzō
• Tenshin
• Ernest Fenollosa