Aesthetic Assessment of Kitsch: A Reading on Bad Taste in Kant’s “Critique of Aesthetic Judgment”

Year 2023, , 480 - 503, 17.07.2023

Zeynep Çiğdem Uysal Ürey

https://doi.org/10.37246/grid.1183168

Abstract

Kitsch, devised as a term of modern aesthetics after the 19th century, indicates an aesthetic value judgment that is identified as ‘bad taste’. It is acknowledged that the issues of aesthetic judgment and taste were systematically addressed for the first time by Immanuel Kant in his “Critique of Aesthetic Judgment” in the 18th century. This study attempts to reevaluate the notion of kitsch as an aesthetic value judgment through a reading of Kant’s arguments over the concepts of aesthetic judgment, taste, and bad taste as presented in his work “Critique of Aesthetic Judgment”. Tracing the notion of kitsch as bad taste in the writings of Kant would demonstrate possible convergences or discrepancies there may be and would be significant for providing an understanding about the philosophical roots of the term.
With such an attempt, this study conducts a discursive analysis, and respectively examines the notion of kitsch as an aesthetic judgment of taste; the notions of aesthetic judgment and taste in Kant’s “Critique of Aesthetic Judgment”; and the notion of ‘bad taste’ thereof in order to make a comparison with the notion of kitsch. The examination that looks for the definition of bad taste in the “Critique of Aesthetic Judgment” reveals that the conditions of ‘bad taste’, as portrayed by Kant through the role of charm and emotion in aesthetic judgment, overlap with the characteristics of kitsch on the basis of sentimentality and desire for attention. Consequently, as a result of the reading on bad taste in Kant’s arguments, this study argues that over the traits of sentimentality or the pretentious use of charms and emotions, the philosophical roots of the term kitsch as an aesthetic value judgment existed long before its name has been coined.

Keywords

Kitsch, Immanuel Kant, Aesthetic Judgment, Taste, Bad Taste

Kitsch'in Estetik Değerlendirmesi: Kant'ın “Estetik Yargının Eleştirisi” Adlı Eseri Üzerinden Kötü Beğeni Hakkında Bir Okuma

Abstract

19. yüzyıldan sonra bir modern estetik terimi olarak ortaya çıkan kitsch kavramı, “kötü beğeni” olarak tanımlanan estetik bir değer yargısına işaret eder. Estetik yargı ve beğeni konularının sistematik olarak ilk kez 18. yüzyılda Immanuel Kant tarafından “Estetik Yargının Eleştirisi” adlı eserinde ele alındığı kabul edilmektedir. Bu çalışma, Kant'ın, “Estetik Yargının Eleştirisi” adlı eserinde sunduğu estetik yargı, beğeni ve kötü beğeni kavramlarına ilişkin argümanlarını okuyarak, bir estetik değer yargısı olan kitsch kavramını yeniden değerlendirmeye çalışmaktadır. Kitsch kavramının kötü beğeni olarak Kant'ın yazılarında izini sürmek, olabilecek kesişim veya çelişkileri ortaya koyacak ve terimin felsefi kökleri hakkında bir kavrayış sağlamak açısından önemli olacaktır.
Çalışma, bu amaç doğrultusunda söylemsel bir analiz gerçekleştirmekte ve sırasıyla, bir estetik beğeni yargısı olarak kitsch kavramını; Kant'ın “Estetik Yargının Eleştirisi” eserinde ortaya koyduğu şekliyle estetik yargı ve beğeni kavramlarını; ve kitsch kavramıyla bir karşılaştırma yapmak amacıyla aynı eserde ortaya koyulan şekliyle “kötü beğeni” kavramını incelemektedir. “Estetik Yargının Eleştirisi”nde kötü beğeninin tanımını arayan inceleme, Kant'ın estetik yargıda albeni ve duygunun rolü üzerinden tasvir ettiği “kötü beğeni” koşullarının, duygusallık ve dikkat çekme arzusu temelinde kitsch'in özellikleriyle örtüştüğünü göstermektedir. Sonuç olarak, Kant'ın “Estetik Yargının Eleştirisi” adlı eseri üzerinden kötü beğeni hakkında yapılan bu okuma, duygusallık vurgusu, veya albeni ve duyguların gösterişli kullanımı bakımından, estetik bir değer yargısı olan kitsch teriminin felsefi köklerinin, terimin ortaya çıkışından çok önce var olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır.

Keywords

Kitsch, Immanuel Kant, Estetik yargı, Beğeni, Kötü beğeni

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