Aesthetics : Modern and Postmodern

Contents: Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1. The evolution of aesthetics. 2. Modernism: a historical background. 3. Modern aesthetics and its manifestation in various art forms. 4. The phase of transition: a socio-philosophical and historical compulsion. 5. The emergence of postmodernism and its philosophy. 6. Postmodern aesthetics and its manifestation. 7. A comparative analysis of modern and postmodern aesthetics. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.

"In this insightful social-political discussion on aesthetics, Dr. B. Tirupati Rao examines the aesthetic phenomenon from Plato to Derrida.

Dr. Rao focuses on the difference/differance, if not the clash between modern and postmodern aesthetics. He gives a new clues for a fuller understanding of the intricate epistemological roots of modern, post modern and poststructuralist aesthetics.

This book is instantly accessible in its approach without being simply condescending or uncritically denouncing the influential thinkers like Sartre, Adorno, Althusser, Barthes, Baudrillard, Deleuze, Goldmann, Gadamer, Foucault, Lyotard, Paul de Man, Jameson, Cixous and Kristeva.

The work presents us with a clear and concise picture of all the major aesthetic phenomena of the western world.

The work also connects sociology with psychology as a unifying tool for the postmodern thought, which otherwise would remain just fragmentary idea or concept still running into the danger of the present crisis in theory and practice." (jacket)