Noël Carroll
Philosophy of Art: A contemporary introduction
(1999)
[79]
Part II
Theories of expression
What is expression?
... even if not all art is expressive, much art is. ... [so] , we still need to say something theoretical about expression and art, inasmuch as quite a lot of art is expressive. ...
... in ordinary language. ... sometimes ["expression"] behaves like a synonym for "representation." ... "The White Paper expresses the British position" ... "The White Paper represents the British position." However, ... philosophers of art, ... typically when they talk of expression, they intend it to contrast with representation. ...
Another broad meaning of "expression" in everyday speech is roughly "communication." ... But ...
[80]
... this too is a broader sense ... than philosophers of art have in mind. ...
... when philosophers of art talk about what poems express, they are not thinking broadly about the communication of ideas. ... [but rather about]
certain human qualities
(also known as
anthropomorphic properties)
—notably, emotional tones, moods, emotively colored attitudes, ...
When I say "this poem is angry" I could mean at least two things: that the poet
reports that he is angry
... or that the poet
expresses anger.
... One could say [i.e. "report"] "We are angry" in the same tone of voice that one could say "Everyone here is over five feet tall." [But] ... when we express anger in life or in art, we
manifest
anger—we
show it forth.
... the quality of our anger saturates our utterance. ...
To express anger, in this sense, is to
get the feeling of anger across
—to make it perceptible (to
embody or objectify
it). ... Roughly ... to express ... is to manifest outwardly an emotive property— ...
... an artwork may also manifest a range of other human qualities ... we might say "The story is courageous" or "It expresses courage," ... Thus, what may be expressed are not only
emotive qualities,
but
any human qualities,
