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published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Philosophy

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This thesis examines the claims of Jeffrey Timm and James Buchanan that the field of Comparative Philosophy is moving in a postmodern direction. I examine their conception of the postmodern and compare to both the most influential views of postmodernism and with my own understanding of postmodernism. To evaluate their claims I examine the journal Philosophy East and West, which I argue is representative of the field of Comparative Philosophy. I analyze the works of the editors of the journal and also do a statistical analysis of the journal to determine whether the field is becoming more postmodern. I conclude that Timm and Buchanan may be correct.

Introduction: Although the hackneyed adage "one picture is worth a thousand words" defies proof and begs argument, the basic value of illustration in graphic communications is beyond dispute. Without attempting to put a relative value on illustration as compared with words, we can still be aware of the special effectiveness of images, in accomplishing communication goals. The roots of illustration go hack to prehistoric pictorial art of engraved or painted figures done on stone. The hand print can be interpreted as one of the first attempts at drawing. Prehistoric pictorial art depicted visually what could not be expressed by word or gestures some had religious significance, some the presence of myth, others plainly diadactic, showing daily life, social communication, the magic of the hunt, death, birth, group life and sexual symbolism. Little is known of the vast lapse of time between prehistoric art and the imagery that man devised in the service of developing civilisations at the dawn of history. With steadily increasing demands upon his skills, the artisan's mastery of the tools and materials progressed, so that by the beginning of recorded time he was in possession of the potential elements for printmaking. Yet the importance of communication, as we know it today, only developed centuries later with the motivating force of religion. The print could tell its story to those who could not read or write but could quickly grasp the meaning of a picture.

vii, 280 p. A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries under the call number: SCA Archiv Theses H855 / Adviser: Earl Pomeroy

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As we all know, there are multiple stories of art. But even in the West, each country has its own story, especially when it comes to the visual arts in the second part of the twentieth century. The stories told by the French, the German, the Italian, and the American textbooks and museums differ greatly. Yet, the American story is usually regarded as the standard account: the common Western story against which we mentally contrast the Non-Western stories. Without aiming at writing the true story of contemporary Western art, this dissertation tries to uncover alternative stories, interpret the differences, and explain how one particular view came to prevail as the story. Concretely, it examines four contentious issues on which the standard account is particularly challenged by other stories, namely the fracture of the Second World War, the shift of the artworld’s center from Paris to New York, the domination of American art in the 1970s, and finally the European comeback of the 1980s. Analyzing the different national interpretations of these events and confronting them with empirical data (place, date, participant, etc.), the dissertation uncloaks enduring myths and reductive explanations. It highlights above all the role of dealers, collectors, curators, critics, and government officials in the way art is produced, received, and remembered. It also demonstrates how the shifting historical, economic, and institutional contexts continuously reshaped the story, the canon, and the viewers, so that what art historians have traditionally seen as stylistic shifts and artistic leadership appears rather as the result of forces that extend beyond the artistic creation. Stories with less international recognition should not be dismissed in favor of an official story that would erode all differences and present us with a single -- and thus deficient -- perspective. Only through the consideration and analysis of multiple cultural and national perspectives can we understand the complexity of the artworld’s dynamics. Ultimately, I propose a comprehensive yet critical art historical approach rooted in cultural history that would offer a solution to writing art history in an age of globalization that purports to eschew previous assumptions of nationalism and creative genius. / text

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