Abstract
The consensus is that the novel—along with painting, sculpture, and architecture—should be categorized as a non-performing art. In this essay, I argue that such categorization is misguided: In fact, there is good reason to categorize the novel as a performing art. I begin by showing that x is a performing art if the following conditions are satisfied: (a) x is an art and (b) to fully appreciate a work of x, it is necessary to experientially engage with a performance or a performance-like object. I then demonstrate that in the case of the novel, these conditions are actually satisfied.
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Notes
A performance-like object is, roughly, whatever (a) is not a performance but (b) manifests all the relevant properties manifested by a performance. For a detailed characterization of the notion of a performance-like object, see Section 3.
For a detailed account of the notion of a performing art, see Section 3.
Besides Kivy (2006, 2010)’s, just one argument in favour of treating the novel as a performing art can be found in the literature—the argument by Urmson (2004). Since, in my view, this argument is considerably weaker than Kivy (2006, 2010)’s and also due to lack of space, I do not discuss it here. The reader can find a detailed critique of this argument in Aliyev (2018).
See, e.g., Petkov and Berlin (2013).
For a possible argument in favor of the claim that this intention is necessary for an artistic performance, see Davies (2011, 4–7).
Primary properties are properties through which the primary content—that is, the set of “those contentful properties that may be the ground of other contentful properties but which are not themselves grounded in contentful properties” (Davies 2010, 411)—of the work is articulated.
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Acknowledgements
Thanks to Jerrold Levinson, James Hamilton, and Daniel Wilson for a number of excellent suggestions that have led to substantial improvements.
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Aliyev, A. The Novel as a Performing Art. Philosophia 49, 941–955 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-020-00277-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11406-020-00277-4