Edmund Burke and Critical Theory: Taste, Resemblance and Pleasure
Edmund Burke writes that “a pleasure is perceived from the resemblance, which the imitation has to the original” and, later, “when two distinct objects have a resemblance we are struck, we attend to them, and we are pleased.” Nearly all mainstream criticism from commercial reviews to personal opinions exemplifies this concept. The critical worth of any work of creativity or the imagination-be it a movie, music, art-is invariably decided, at least in part-and usually in great part-by how well the “imitation” compares to the “original.” It is a relativistic method of comparing worth that has serious flaws, the biggest of which is the refusal to judge the work on its own merits.
The artistic value of a science fiction film made today, for instance, will undoubtedly be judged by how well it corresponds to twhat we’ve come to expect via science fiction films of the past. One need only look to the recent Star Wars prequels. If those movies had come out first, thirty years ago, they would have been considered the classics that the original Star Wars films are today because by comparison to what came before them they are original, complex and serious, yet fun. But because they are naturally compared to the “classic” original Star Wars films, they suffered, despite being more original, complex and serious-with the exception of Attack of the Clones-than the originals, they just weren’t as much fun.
Innovation and originality in creative works are generally thought to be considered high marks, yet when the innovation and originality do not correspond with what has been considered acceptable, the innovation and originality take longer to be subsumed into the mainstream. An example would be the innovation of Picasso’s cubism being rather quickly accepted into the mainstream-relatively quickly – -and praised because a Picasso face is still recognizable as a face despite all the parts being rearranged. On the other hand, artists such as Jackson Pollock and Willem De Kooning are still awaiting the mainstream acceptance finally awarded the cubists because those paintings don’t seem to “resemble” anything other than a mess. And a mess is not very often considered pleasurable.
Locating the resemblance between a new work of art and an old one is where the pleasure is located. Edmund Burke’s contention is that we receive pleasure from a work of art by locating the resemblance to something that has previously awarded pleasure. Most people I have come in contact with do not find particular pleasure in viewing a Pollock painting, and it is probably in part because of their inability to find a resemblance between it and the representative painting style of their choice. (Funny but true: I was in church a few years ago and there was a guest speaker who was using a Jackson Pollock painting to illustrate the chaos in the world; during a lull I shouted, “Jacob, it’s upside down.” Got some laughs, but he didn’t hear me. When I later told him, he seriously asked, “Oh my gosh, was it?” Just goes to show.)
Edmund Burke is surprisingly incisive in determining the extent of the influence of the pleasure in finding resemblance between objects when making a critical judgment of artistic value. One’s taste is perhaps unconsciously shaped and defined by this desire to discover a unity between objects which bring one pleasure.
