The Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics (since 1977) is pleased to announce that it is bringing out soon a Special Issue on Somaesthetics (in two volumes, theory and applications) to felicitate Prof. Richard Shusterman on his 70th birth anniversary.
Many eminent scholars like Thomas W. Leddy, Roger T. Ames, Jerold J. Abrams, Kristina Höök, Leszek Koczanowicz, Tonino Griffero, Wojciech Malecki, Max Ryynnanen, Yanping Gao, Alexander Kremer, Stefan Snævarr, Anne Tarvainen, Stefano Marino, Tanehisa Otabe, Dorota Koczanowicz, Vinod Balakrishnan and others have contributed to this ambitious volume.
Submissions are open for the regular Spring 2020 Issue (Vol. 43, No. 1) of the Journal. Email: anantasukla@hotmail.com, jclaindia@gmail.com.
Submissions are also open for these special volumes:
1. A special volume on “Chinese Aesthetics: Traditional and Transcultural Perspectives”
Concept Note: China has a long and rich tradition of artistic practices and aesthetic theory, but this tradition has, in contemporary times, been underutilized in international philosophical aesthetics and transcultural theory. This issue of JCLA aims to address this problem by inviting papers that explore Chinese aesthetics, the role it has played in international and transcultural aesthetics, and the most promising ways it could contribute to these fields: 1. Chinese Aesthetic Theory (Traditional and Contemporary); 2. The “traveling” of Chinese art and aesthetics in the history, such as Chinoiserie; 3. Chinese aesthetics as inspirations for other aesthetic cultures or theoretical invention; 4. Comparative studies of aesthetics or artistic genres (poetry, painting, music, drama, calligraphy, etc) between Chinese and other cultural traditions.
2. A special volume on “Aesthetic Taste”
Concept Note: The 18th century was nicknamed the “Century of Taste” by George Dickie. This is not too surprising with thinkers like Burke, Hutcheson, Mendelssohn, Shaftesbury, Hume, and Kant. But discussions of taste have waned since then. The 2000s saw a revival in the core traditional aesthetic concepts: beauty, aesthetic experience, and the sublime. However, taste has been slower in making an appearance. Some recent work (e.g., gustatory taste) has begun to show modest signs of renewed interest. However, there has yet to be a sustained effort to develop new theories of taste, even though it remains central part of our lives. Even popular culture has not abandoned the concept—a multitude of TV shows project ‘good’ taste, judging people’s talents, homes, cooking skills, and more. Rather than passively watching popular culture control the discussion, academics should be active participants in it. This special issue is an attempt to showcase how theories of taste matter today. Some suggested topics: 1. Taste in the digital age; 2. Beauty and disgust in politics; 3. Good and bad taste; 4. Taste in popular culture; 5. Standards of aesthetic appreciation in art and nature; 6. Everyday tastes; 7. Comparative aesthetics as it relates to taste; 8. Classical theories of taste in contemporary perspective, etc.
ABOUT THE JOURNAL
Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics (ISSN: 0252-8169) is a half-yearly journal published by the Vishvanatha Kaviraja Institute, India. The Institute was founded on 22 August 1977 coinciding with the birth centenary of legendary philosopher, aesthetician, and historian of Indian art, Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877-1947).Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics is the oldest journal of India in the field of literature and philosophy which still continues sans any societal or institutional support. It is also the only Indian journal in humanities that has drawn the attention of and has also published the most revered scholars of the West, past and present, right from its beginning 43 years ago. The Journal is committed to interdisciplinary and cross-cultural issues in literary understanding and interpretation, aesthetic theories, conceptual analysis of art, literature, philosophy, religion, mythology, history of ideas, literary theory, history, and criticism.The Journal has already published legends like Rene Wellek, Harold Osborne, John Hospers, John Fisher, Murray Krieger, Martin Bocco, Remo Ceserani, J.B. Vickery, Menachem Brinker, Milton Snoeyenbos, Mary Wiseman, Ronald Roblin, T.R. Martland, S.C. Sengupta, K.R.S. Iyengar, V.K. Chari, Charles Altieri, Peter Lamarque, Martin Jay, Jonathan Culler, Richard Shusterman, Robert Kraut, T.J. Diffey, T.R. Quigley, R.B. Palmer, Keith Keating, and many renowned scholars.JCLA is indexed and abstracted in the MLA International Bibliography, Master List of Periodicals (USA), Ulrich’s Directory of Periodicals, CrossRef, EBSCO, ProQuest, and Gale.Celebrated scholars of the time like Rene Wellek, Harold Osborne, Mircea Eliade, Monroe Beardsley, John Hospers, John Fisher, Meyer Abrams, John Boulton and many renowned foreign and Indian scholars were Members of its Editorial Board.