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ISSN 2084–1418
The paper edition of the Anthropology of History Yearbook is the definitive version

2015, No. (8), Anthropology and History

Arkadiusz Bednarczuk
Absence and presence of art in past culture: a critical contribution to Hans Belting’s anthropology of images

PDF version
Keywords: image anthropology, esthetics, symbol, action of image

Abstract:
This paper discusses the theoretical concept of the “anthropology of image” by Hans Belting. Contrary to the traditional art history that had chosen the artistic structure as the research objective, Belting noticed that within the archaic cultures, the meaning had been granted to an image not only through the visual appreciation, but also through action centered on manifestation (“making presence”), and carried on in the process of symbolization. While one can agree with the broad message of Beltings theory, the details amount to regress in anthropologically oriented studies of archaic art.

About Author:
BEDNARCZUK ARKADIUSZ - art historian, philosopher, Assistant Professor in the Department for Protection of Cultural Heritage and Intercultural Communication of the Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts in Kalisz, Adam Mickiewicz University. Email: arbed[at]amu.edu.pl

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