The Aesthetic VocabularyBeauty, Values, and Art

English II Unit 3

J. Barr1

Aesthetics Aesthetics is the study of beauty. Since not everyone agrees on what is

beautiful, aesthetic terms contain judgments and reveal the values of the viewer.

The aesthetic vocabulary gives us the words to describe what we like and exactly what we like about it.

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Aesthetic terms

Examples Tasteful Refined Pleasing Ugly Cliché

Non-examples Large Blue Modern Expensive Silent

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Non-examples can become aesthetic based on context.

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Beautiful

synonyms Pretty Gorgeous Attractive Stunning Picturesque

antonyms Ugly Hideous Revolting Disfigured

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Japanese terms aware --originally surprise or delight, but now tinged with melancholy that

may bring us to the brink of tears. miyabi -- elegant and refined providing a quite, delicate pleasure mu --expressing a spontaneity that suggests the Buddhist ideal of detachment

from self yugen --originally "profound or mysterious" but now mainly "intuitively

sensed" and lying "beyond" art, related to "eternal loneliness" *shibumi --colors or patterns with a complete lack of ostentation shibui as an

adjective. In James A. Michener's book Iberia the word ... is referenced as follows: "The Japanese have a word which summarizes all the best in Japanese life, yet it has no explanation and cannot be translated. It is the word shibui, and the best approximation to its meaning is 'acerbic good taste' (from Wikipedia)

seido -- the inner life or essence of something expressed simply and directly, especially (for example) in a rapid ink sketch

sabi --old and imperfect, slightly melancholy, like a time-worn face. Essential to tea ceremony; must possess makoto, sincerity. In literature a kind of attentive melancholy: "to be found in the autumn disk, in withered fields, or in the sight of drab brown birds winging across a marsh at twilight"

suki --something luxurious or elaborate but also artless or natural. wabi --transcendental aloofness

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Shibui

German terms Schönheitsbewusst: beauty-conscious oberflächlich: superficial die Sommerfrische - summer holiday/vacation;

enjoyment of summer days liebevoll : lovingly Umweltverschmutzung: the dirtying of the world

(pollution) Weltschmerz: “world-pain” Lebensmüde: tired of living Schadenfreude: “harm-joy” taking joy in the pain

of others Gestalt: an organized whole that is seen as more

than the sum of its parts.

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French terms Cliché: overused to the point of losing

its meaning and becoming annoying. (from movable type, also called “stereotype.”)

Gauche: awkward, lacking social grace Je ne sais quoi: “I don’t know what”

An intangible quality that makes something distinctive or attractive.

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