让艺术和审美研究从实践出发——艺术人类学之学术意义的一种阐释

Artistic and Aesthetic Studies Based on Practice:An Interpretation of the Academic Significance of the Anthropology of Art

西方现代美学在批判古典美学纠缠于形而上的本体论问题、以思辨方法演绎理论体系等过程中提出了从事实和经验出发分析与解决有关艺术和审美的具体问题的学术目标,但由于美学自身的方法论为这一目标的实现设置了障碍,从而进展缓慢;现代人类学特有的田野工作和“民族志”方法为解决美学的这一难题提供一条路径。目前美学与人类学的结合主要从资料引用、思想启迪等方面切入,属于跨学科研究的性质,现代人类学的研究方法尚未真正进入艺术和审美研究的领域,因而作为学科意义的艺术人类学目前尚未确立。把田野工作和“民族志”的方法融进艺术和审美的研究之中,是探寻解决当代美学难题、实现有关艺术和审美研究从经验事实和实践出发的重要路径,也是创建艺术人类学的根本依据和意义所在。

The modern aesthetics of the West. while criticizing classical aesthetics＇ indulgence in the metaphysical problems of ontology and in its interpreting theories through reasoning, has its analysis and solution of the artistic and aesthetic problems based on facts and experience as its goal. However. because the methodology of aesthetics itself becomes the barrier to realizing this goal, there has not been much progress. The unique fieldwork and “ethnographical” methods of modern anthropology provide an approach to solving this thorny aesthetic problem. At present, the combination of aesthetics with anthropology usually starts with such aspects as the citation of data and enlightenment, that is, an interdisciplinary approach. Because the research methods of modern anthropology have not been used in artistic and aesthetic studies, the anthropology of art as a branch of learning has not been established. Thus, the integration of fieldwork and “ethnographical” methods with artistic and aesthetic studies is an important approach to solving the contemporary aesthetic problems and to improving the artistic and aesthetic studies based on experience, practice and facts, which is the cornerstone and significance of establishing the anthropology of art as a discipline.