THE DEHUMANIZATION, OF ART AND OTHER ESSAYS ON ART, CULTURE, AND LITERATURE BY JOSE ORTEGA Y GASSET PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON, NEW JERSEYBH 30s OVI3 copy 68 © 1968 by Pern Civey Pew 1968 uy 1. cat e856) TSS/o AN obsranivg (pperick oda) ISBN ofsrepyp0 (hrdover ea) “ef iene "The San he Oe” ep 9a by Bean ir Fs Pasco Paranoia, 96 Al rg eave Nope of thi tsk nay be Frode in say form or by any deca’ ‘Sssial mean iadng ineraion serge od ‘eeal ms wiht the ples, expe by reviewer wha may gute Wie page! ns see CONTENTS age 3 ores ow THE XOVi page 57 age 195 age i31 page 175present themselves obscured by low pas ‘Nolte fri,” the evangelist exhorts us, “sit equus et mulus quibus now est intellectus*—do not act like horses and mules that lack understanding, The masses Kick and do not understand, Let us ty todo better and toextract from modern art its essential principle. That will enable us to seein what profound sense modem art is unpopular t ARTISTIC ART is not accessible to every man this im- (Tike new art plies that its impulses are not of « generically human Kind, Its an art not for men in general but for a spe cial’dlass of men who mey not be better but who evi- ently are diferent, (One point must be clarified before we go on, What is tthe majority of people call nestheic pleasure? What happens in their minds when they “like” a work of art; {or instance, e theatrical performance? The answer is 4 easy. A man likes a play when he has become interested in the human destinies presented to him, when the love sand hatred, the joys end sorrows of the personages so rove his heart that he participates ini all as though it ‘were happening in real life And he calls a work “good” if it succeeds in creating the Dlusion necessary to make the imaginary ar like living persons Jn poetry he seeks the passion and pain of the man be- a> hind the poet. Paintings attract him if he finds on them figures of men or women whom it would be interesting to meet, A landscape is pronounced “prety” if the country it represents deserves for its loveliness or its ‘grandeur tobe visited on a tip. Te thus appears that to the majority of people wes- thetic pleasure means a state of mind which is essen tially undistinguishable from thelr ordinary bebavi edliffers merely in accidental qualities, being perhaps less utilitarian, more intense, and free from painful consequences, But the object towards which their at- tention and, consequently, all thei other mental activi- ‘ties are ditected is the same asin daly life: people and passions, By art they understand a means through ‘which they are beought in contact with interesting bu- ‘man adfairs, Artistic forms proper—figments, fantasy are tolerated anly if they do not interfere with the per- ception of human forms and fates. As soon 2s purely. aesthetic elements predominate and the story of John tnd Mary grows elusive, most people feel out of their depth and are at a loss what to make of the scene, the book, or the painting, As they have never practiced any other attitude but the practical one in which 2 man’s feelings are aroused and he is emotionally involved, 2 work that doesnot invite sentimental intervention leaves them without « cue [Now, this isa point which has to be made perfectly clear. Net only is grieving and rejoicing et such human destinies as a work of art presents or narrates 2 very diferent thing from true artistic pleasure, but preoceu- £9)