Figures of Speech or Figures of Thought?: The Traditional View of Art, Revised Edition with Previously Author's Unpublished Notes (Perennial Philosophy) PDF
Preview Figures of Speech or Figures of Thought?: The Traditional View of Art, Revised Edition with Previously Author's Unpublished Notes (Perennial Philosophy)
Art / Religion Figures of Speech or Ananda K. (cid:31) Th is new edition of Coomaraswamy’s classic work includes all of the defi nitive Coomaraswamy revisions he later intended to add to the book. Figures of Thought? (cid:31) Contains, for the fi rst time, translations of the Greek, Latin, French, German, and Italian terms and phrases used by Coomaraswamy. The Traditional View of Art (cid:31) Introduction by Roger Lipsey, the foremost authority on Coomaraswamy’s writings. Revised Edition with Previously Unpublished Author’s Notes (cid:31) Edited by William Wroth, a specialist in the Hispanic and Native American A K C traditional arts and cultures. nanda . oomaraswamy “Coomaraswamy uncovers and puts before us the truths of a primordial tradition, refl ected in the world’s existing traditions and expressed by them as if in diff ering dialects. He asks us to join him in the eff ort to decipher the religiously rich arts and crafts, literatures and folklore of the world’s traditions.” —Roger Lipsey, from the Introduction F i g u “Coomaraswamy is an extremely precious author.” r e —Frithjof Schuon, author of Th e Transcendent Unity of Religions T s o h “Coomaraswamy’s essays [give] us a view of his scholarship and brilliant insight.” e f S —Joseph Campbell, author of Th e Hero with a Th ousand Faces and T p Th e Masks of God ra e e d c “Ananda Coomaraswamy is in many ways to me a model: the model of one who i h t has thoroughly and completely united in himself the spiritual tradition and io o n r attitudes of the Orient and of the Christian West….” a F —Th omas Merton, author of Th e Seven Storey Mountain and New Seeds Vl ig of Contemplation u i e r “[Ananda Coomaraswamy is] that noble scholar upon whose shoulders we are w e s still standing.” o o f —Heinrich Zimmer, author of Th e King and the Corpse and Philosophies A f T of India r h t o “Coomaraswamy’s work is as important as that of Joseph Campbell or Carl Jung, u g and deserving of the same attention.” h —David Frawley, author of Yoga and Ayurveda t? A K C (1877-1947) was one of the great art historians of the twentieth century. His books and articles deal primarily with visual art, aesthetics, literature and language, folklore, religion, and metaphysics. World Wisdom World Wisdom Introduction by Roger Lipsey $ 24.95 US / $ 29.95 CAN World Wisdom The Library of Perennial Philosophy The Library of Perennial Philosophy is dedicated to the exposition of the time- less Truth underlying the diverse religions. This Truth, often referred to as the Sophia Perennis—or Perennial Wisdom—finds its expression in the revealed Scriptures as well as the writings of the great sages and the artistic creations of the traditional worlds. Figures of Speech or Figures of Thought? The Traditional View of Art: Revised Edition with Previously Unpublished Author’s Notes appears as one of our selections in the Perennial Philosophy series. The Perennial Philosophy Series In the beginning of the twentieth century, a school of thought arose which has focused on the enunciation and explanation of the Perennial Philosophy. Deeply rooted in the sense of the sacred, the writings of its lead- ing exponents establish an indispensable foundation for understanding the timeless Truth and spiritual practices which live in the heart of all religions. Some of these titles are companion volumes to the Treasures of the World’s Religions series, which allows a comparison of the writings of the great sages of the past with the perennialist authors of our time. Figures of Speech or Figures of Thought? The Traditional View of Art Revised Edition with Previously Unpublished Author’s Notes by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy Edited by William Wroth Introduction by Roger Lipsey Figures of Speech or Figures of Thought? The Traditional View of Art: Revised Edition with Previously Unpublished Author’s Notes © 2007 World Wisdom, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission, except in critical articles and reviews. First edition published by Luzac & Co., London, 1946. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Coomaraswamy, Ananda Kentish, 1877-1947. Figures of speech or Figures of thought? The Traditional View of Art / by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy ; edited by William Wroth ; introduction by Roger Lipsey. -- Rev. ed., with previously unpublished author’s notes. p. cm. -- (Perennial philosophy series) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-933316-34-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Art. 2. Aesthetics. 3. Figures of speech. I. Wroth, William, date. - II. Title. N7445.C777 2007 701--dc22 2007024177 Cover Art: Kichijo-Ten (Srî-devi); Japanese painting from the end of the 8th century. Detail from the retable of Sta. María de Avià, Catalonia, Spain; first half of the 13th century. Printed on acid-free paper in Canada. For information address World Wisdom, Inc. P.O. Box 2682, Bloomington, Indiana 47402-2682 www.worldwisdom.com Table of ConTenTs List of Illustrations vi Acknowledgements vii Editor’s Preface ix Introduction by Roger Lipsey xvii Author’s Preface xxiii I. “A Figure of Speech, or a Figure of Thought?” 1 II. The Mediaeval Theory of Art 31 III. Ornament 71 IV. Ars Sine Scientia Nihil 85 V. The Meeting of the Eyes 89 VI. Shaker Furniture 93 VII. Literary Symbolism 99 VIII. Intention 107 IX. Imitation, Expression, and Participation 117 X. The Intellectual Operation in Indian Art 129 XI. The Nature of Buddhist Art 145 XII. Saṃvega, Aesthetic Shock 177 XIII. An Early Passage on Indian Painting 183 XIV. Some References to Pictorial Relief 189 XV. Primitive Mentality 191 XVI. Notes on Savage Art 213 XVII. Symptom, Diagnosis, and Regimen 223 XVIII. The Life of Symbols by Walter Andrae 227 List of Abbreviations and Short Titles 231 List of Works by Ananda K. Coomaraswamy Cited in this Book 243 Biographical Notes 247 Index 249 lisT of illusTraTions 1. Quentin Matsys: Christus Salvador Mundi 91 © IRPA-KIK, Brussels 2. Shaker Furniture 94 From Edward Deming Andrews and Faith Andrews, Shaker Furniture: The Craftsmanship of an American Communal Sect (New Haven, 1937) 3. The Gracious Manifestation of the Devī 134 © Smithsonian Institute, courtesy of the Freer Gallery of Art 4. Sarmatian (?) Ornament, 204 Reproduced by permission of the Trustees of the British Museum. 5. Horse and Donkey: Folk Art and Bourgeois Art, 205 Photograph in A. K. Coomaraswamy collection. aCKnoWleDGMenTs This new edition of Ananda K. Coomaraswamy’s Figures of Speech or Figures of Thought? includes material from the author’s notes and com- ments which he made after the book was first published in 1946, as well as a new introduction by Roger Lipsey, the leading authority on the life and work of Coomaraswamy. We are grateful to Dr. Lipsey not only for his introduction, but also for the editing of some of these essays when he re-issued them in Coomaraswamy I. Selected Papers: Traditional Art and Symbolism (Princeton University Press, 1977), now long out-of-print and difficult to obtain. Coomaraswamy himself was fluent in many languages and assumed, no doubt correctly in the 1930s and 1940s, that most of his readers would also be fluent in the major European languages. Often, therefore, he did not translate words, phrases, and even long passages in Greek, Latin, French, German, and Italian. He did, however, have mercy on his readers with regard to words in Sanskrit which he almost always explained or translated. To make this new edition more accessible to a wide audience, we have ren- dered in English all of the previously untranslated material in the above languages and have transliterated all Greek words into our alphabet. The editor is grateful to Dr. Richard McCombs for his transliterations and translations of Greek and his translations of Latin words and phrases. Deborah Kornblau, Roger Gaetani, and Susana Marin all generously assisted in translations from the other languages. Dr. Timothy Scott cheerfully proofread the entire typescript. We have also added to this new edition a list of abbreviations and short titles of works utilized by the author and a list of his own works cited in the essays, as well as an index. Margaret Rich and AnnaLee Pauls of the Rare Books and Special Collections Department of the Princeton University Library kindly provided us with photocopies of Coomaraswamy’s own copies of some of the essays in this volume. The editor is greatly appreciative of the help and dedication of the editorial and design staff of World Wisdom Books: Michael Fitzgerald, Mary-Kathryne Steele, Stephen Williams, Roger Gaetani, Susana Marin, and former staff member Sarah Jacobi. It has been a pleasure to work with them. Finally we are all grateful to the late Dr. Rama P. Coomaraswamy who was an enthusiastic supporter of this project, providing us many helpful suggestions as well as his father’s annotated desk copies of several of his publications. We only regret that Dr. Coomaraswamy could not still be with us to see the fruit of his and our labors. vii eDiTor’s PrefaCe ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy 1877-1947 “Blessed is the man on whose tomb can be written Hic jacet nemo” [Here lies no one]. (A. K. Coomaraswamy, Hinduism and Buddhism, p.30) In response to a request for autobiographical information, Ananda K. Coomaraswamy replied: “I must explain that I am not at all interested in biographical matter relating to myself and that I consider the modern practice of publishing details about the lives and personalities of well- known men is nothing but a vulgar catering to illegitimate curiosity… this is not a matter of ‘modesty’ but one of principle.” The principle involved here, often enunciated by Coomaraswamy, was to value the truths expressed by the man above the man himself, who was merely a vehicle for their expression. Now nearly sixty years after his death, he would perhaps forgive us this venture into biography, especially since the wisdom he so eloquently unfolded remains of such precious value in this world of uncertainty and flux in which we live in the twenty- first century. The breadth of Coomaraswamy’s knowledge, the many fields of which he had full grasp, seems astonishing in today’s world of narrow scholarly specialization. While primarily known among scholars as an art historian, he shed light upon many other diverse subjects, for he did not limit the study of art to descriptive or historical inquiry. He drew the broadest implications for the meaning and always-present value of the works of art under consideration, delving into aesthetics, literature and language, folklore, religion, metaphysics and many other fields. His heritage and early years uniquely prepared him for this life’s work. Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy was born in 1877 in Colombo, Ceylon. His father was the distinguished Sri Lankan barrister Sir Mutu Coomaraswamy and his mother Elizabeth Clay Beebe, from a wealthy English family. Sir Mutu died in 1879 when Ananda Coomaraswamy was two years old. His mother had already brought the young Ananda back to England, and after his father’s death, they lived in a cottage in Kent. Ananda attended Wycliffe College in Gloucestershire from 1889 to 1897. He received the B. Sc. in geology and botany from University College, London in 1900 and in 1906 his doctorate in Geology from London University. At least as early as 1896 he began to make annual ix
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