[Re]thinking and Georeferencing Aesthetic: Heritage, Identity and Time

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue explores the chronology of aesthetic thought (Bayer, 1995; Tatarkiewicz, 2002), considering its conceptual dynamism in the thread of history, transcending time and space. By confronting diverse mindsets and philosophical landscapes, we propose that aesthetic knowledge should be understood as a form of societal heritage—layered and continuously reinterpreted. Its seemingly borderless nature (Bozal, 2000) reflects the influence of chrono- and georeferenced conceptual beliefs which have been projected and reabsorbed across various cultural and territorial axes. This Special Issue promotes a philosophical and critical study of aesthetic traditions, engaging with diverse principles and canons (Jimenez, 2004; Costelloe, 2013). By examining the role of its protagonists (key-thinkers) and their circumstances, power and legacy, we face the historiographical absence of names outside the Eurocentric framework, as well as the underrepresentation of female philosophers (Buxton & Whiting, 2020). How do we understand the flow and dynamism of aesthetic theories when their underlying convictions intersect, dissolve or remove individual and collective identities (Groys & Nabais, 2022; Pepin, 2012; Rancière, 2022)?

To what extent do disruptive theories collaborate with creative movements, namely when failure, fall, and ruins (Brissac-Peixoto, 2010) are seen not as endpoints but as catalysts for a more lucid anthropological aesthetics—one that promotes personal and collective growth within society?

Why are female philosophers and aesthetic thinkers so rarely acknowledged, despite their recognition by peers and their contributions to major intellectual movements? Feminine conceptualization and/or mise-en-scène have shaped key developments in the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and even the 19^th century, long before the modern and contemporary empowerment of women in the Sciences, Arts, and Humanities.

The articles in this Special Issue aim to review and reinterpret the diversity of systems, stereotypes, constrains, and prejudices that fashioned the history of aesthetics. This will be achieved through the lenses of time and georeferencing—from West to East and North to South (Bourriaud, 1998; Groys, 2016).

We also consider the humanizing potential of aesthetic inquiry, particularly though post-colonial and decolonial perspectives (Mignolo & Gomez, 2012; Vergès, 2023). These approaches challenge intentional erasure, ignorance and omission—especially in the case of women philosophers and authors (Lescure, 2001; Mcalister, 1996; Mènage, 2021)—and call upon feminist studies and aesthetics (Gardner, 2024) to restore visibility and agency.

This Special Issue seeks to understand how dominant ideas, values, and axiologies (Cochrane, 2021) have been dismantled, and how new systems have emerged—sometimes reconfiguring themselves as familiar, yet transformed. We reflect on the cyclical nature of aesthetic heterogeneity and its heritage dimensions (Shoemaker, 1945; Lenieu, 2002; Brett, 1996).

By proposing this range of approaches, under a unified theme, we emphasize the urgency of critically engaging with multiple eras and societies. We advocate for global perspectives (Bourriaud, 2009), in particular those that are multi-georeferenced and non-Western perspectives and for equal representation of identities regardless race, gender or culture.

Finally, we examine how aesthetic systems interact with social structures, ideologies, and cultural identities (Groys & Nabais, 2022), and how contemporary global circumstances/challenges—such as digital transformation, migration, and ecological concerns—shape and disseminate aesthetic thought in the 21^st century (Naukkarinen, 2016).

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200-400 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editors (Email A) or to the Arts Editorial Office (arts@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

List of references:

BAYER, Raymond (1995) História da Estética. Lisboa: Ed. Estampa.

BOURRIAUD, Nicolas (1998) L’Esthétique Relationnelle. Paris : Les Presses du Réel.

BOURRIAUD, Nicolas (2009) Radicant : Pour une esthétique de la globalisation. Paris : Denoël.

BOZAl, V. (Ed.) (2000) Historia de las ideas estéticas y de las teorías artísticas contemporáneas, vol. I & vol. 2. Madrid : Visor.

BRETT, David (1996) The Construction of Heritage. Cork University Press.

BRISSAC-Peixoto, Nelson (2010) Cenários em Ruínas. Lisboa: Gradiva.

BUXTON, Rebecca & WHITING, Lisa (2020) The Philosopher Queens: The Lives and Legacies of Philosophy's Unsung Women. London: Unbound.

COCHRANE, Tom (2021) The Aesthetic Value of the World. Oxford University.

COSTELLOE, T. M. (2013) The British aesthetics tradition: From Shaftesbury to Wittgenstein. Cambridge University Press.

DARDIGNAN, Anne-Marie (2014) Ces Dames au Salon – Féminisme et Fêtes Galantes au XVIIIe siècle. Paris : Odile Jacob.

DUFOUR, Antoine (1970) La Vie des Femmes Célèbres. Paris : Librairie Droz.

GARDNER, Katherine (2024) Rediscovering Women Philosophers. London: Routledge.

GROYS, Boris (2016) In the Flow. London/NYC: Verso Book.

GROYS, Boris & NABAIS, Catarina (2022) Philosophical Conversations: towards Self-design. Universidade Coimbra Press.

JIMENEZ, Marc (2004) L'esthétique contemporaine : Tendances et enjeux. Paris : Klincksieck.

KUCZYNSKA, Alicja (Ed). (2006) Art transforming Life – on Wladislaw Tatarkiewicz’s Aesthetic. Warsaw University.

LENIEU, Marcel (2002) Les Archipels du Passé – Le Patrimoine et son histoire. Paris : Fayard.

LESCURE, Mathurin F.A. de (2001) Les Femmes philosophes. Paris : Adamant Media Corporation.

MCALISTER, Linda Lopez (dir.) (1996) Hypatia’s Daughters 1500 years of Women Philosophers.  Indiana University Press.

MÉNAGE, Gilles (2021) Histoire des femmes philosophes. Paris : Arléa.

MIGNOLO, Walter & GOMEZ, Pedro (2012) Estéticas y opción decolonial. Bogotá: Universidad Estatal Francisco José de Caldas.

NAUKKARINEN, Ossi & BRAGGE, Johanna (2016) Aesthetic in the Age of Digital Humanities. Journal of Aesthetics & Culture, 8:1, 30072, DOI: 10.3402/jac.v8.30072.

PÉPIN, Charles (2016) Les Vertus de l’Échec. Paris : Allary.

RANCIÈRE, Jacques (2022) O Espectador Emancipado. Lisboa: Orfeu Negro.

SHOEMAKER, Francis (1945) Aesthetic Experience and the Humanities. Columbia University Press.

TATARKIEWICZ, Wladislaw (2002) Historia de la Estetica. Vol. 1,2 & 3. Madrid: Akal.

VERGÈS, Françoise (2023) Um Feminismo Decolonial. Lisboa: Orfeu Negro.

Prof. Dr. Maria De Fátima Lambert
Dr. Hugo Monteiro
Guest Editors

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• aesthetic as heritage—between me and you and the other
• decolonial aesthetic thought: increasing and repairing
• georeferenced aesthetic systems—analysing, reviewing beliefs
• reviewing feminist aesthetic thought
• revisiting aesthetic and cultural heritage
• revising principles, canons and stereotypes
• restoring women philosophers for aesthetic historiography
• temporality of aesthetic systems—categories and insurrections