Play and Festival: The Role of Participation in the Experience of Art

Abstract

In order to avoid subjectivism hidden in the basis of modern aesthetics -established by Kant- Gadamer (1900-2002) proposes the experience of art in the form of play, which is consistent with other hermeneutical components of his thought. A work of art as play is no longer a mere object of “aesthetic consciousness”, but it is a totality in which we take part. A live and full presence in the paly of art is both theoretical and practical experience. This kind of participation in the paly of a work of art can be sought in other cases which are a kind of play themselves, i.e. festivals, celebrations and religious rites. However, it seems that the concept of participation regarding the paly of art has two modes: one is that the participation means to accompany other people in a presentation and have a collective experience and the other means to attend in play of a work of art without paying attention to the presence of other people. It seems that Gadamer has been swaying from one participation dimension to another. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n3p769