Synopses & Reviews
In premodern China, elite painters used imagery not to mirror the world around them, but to evoke unfathomable experience. Considering their art alongside the philosophical traditions that inform it, The Great Image Has No Form explores the andldquo;nonobjectandrdquo;andmdash;a notion exemplified by paintings that do not seek to represent observable surroundings.
Franandccedil;ois Jullien argues that this nonobjectifying approach stems from the paintersandrsquo; deeply held belief in a continuum of existence, in which art is not distinct from reality. Contrasting this perspective with the Western notion of art as separate from the world it represents, Jullien investigates the theoretical conditions that allow us to apprehend, isolate, and abstract objects. His comparative method lays bare the assumptions of Chinese and European thought, revitalizing the questions of what painting is, where it comes from, and what it does. Provocative and intellectually vigorous, this sweeping inquiry introduces new ways of thinking about the relationship of art to the ideas in which it is rooted.
Review
and#8220;This is one of those rare, precious, and necessary books that, once you have completed a first reading, you realize you have only just begun.and#8221;
Review
“[A] stimulating book . . . the author brings three worldviews into a fascinating trilogue . . . [and] his vantage point revitalizes the potentialities of translation . . . here is a book that any translator will wish to peruse and discuss.”—John Taylor, Arts Fuse
Synopsis
A capstone work from a renowned philosopher who explores how Western cultural biases may be challenged by classic texts in order to enter another way of thinking
Synopsis
How can a person from a Western culture enter into a way of thinking as different as that of the Chinese? Can a person truly escape from his or her own cultural perspectives and assumptions? French philosopher François Jullien has throughout his career explored the distances between European and Chinese thought. In this fascinating summation of his work, he takes an original approach to the conundrum of cross-cultural understanding.
Jullien considers just three sentences in their original languages. Each is the first sentence of a seminal text: the Bible in Hebrew, Hesiod’s Theogony in Greek, and the Yijing (I Ching) in Chinese. By dismantling these sentences, the author reveals the workings of each language and the ways of thought in which they are inscribed. He traces the hidden choices made by European reason and assumptions, discovering among other things what is not thought about. Through the lens of the Chinese language, Jullien offers, as always, a new and surprising view of our own Western culture.
About the Author
François Jullien is an internationally recognized philosopher and sinologist who explores the workings of European and Chinese thought. He has published more than thirty books and holds several academic posts in France. He lives in Paris. Jody Gladding is a poet and teacher in the MFA program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has translated more than twenty books from French to wide acclaim.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Translatorand#8217;s Note
Preface
Web of Texts and Corpus
1. Presence-Absence
2. From the Foundation-Fount of Painting
3. Vague-Drab-Indistinct
4. The Great Image Has No Form
5. Theory of the Sketch
6. Empty and Full
7. Not Quitting, Not Sticking
8. Quitting Form to Achieve Resemblance
9. The Spirit of a Landscape
10. On the Truth in Painting
11. Gaze or Contemplation?
12. Peindre nand#8217;est pas dand#233;peindre
13. Ink and Brush, Form and Color
14. What Does Painting Write?
15. Image-Phenomenon: Painting Transformation and Life
Gallery of Chinese Paintings
Glossary of Chinese Expressions
NotesIndex