Can art and society be two different worlds? Do not artists and non-artists belong to the same world? This fact cannot be ignored by critical theories of art. Art for society's sake limits the scope of aesthetics. Art for art's sake throws social norms to the winds.
tinai takes a comprehensive view. A fragmented society consists of individuals. But the unit of a holistic society is the indivisible family — the oikos that is sustained by land. To say that art is a social act is to say that it is performed within a land-based oikos. In fact it holds out a mirror — plain, concave and convex — and reflects this oikos, the life in this oikos as it is, the way it isn't, and the way it ought to be. And the perfection, completeness and beauty in art are values any society should seek to realize. If so, a holistic society will want to value art at whatever cost and take pride in being society for art's sake.
NOTE: This online version of tinai 2, unlike the print edition, does not contain diacritics.
Nirmaldasan is the pen name of N. Watson Solomon, Senior Sub-Editor with The Hindu. He is also a Visiting Lecturer at the Madras Christian College and Editor of the Journalism Online newsletter (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/journalismonline). He is the author of two verse collections titled An Eaglet In The Skies (1996) and Rocking Pegasus (2002). Visit him at https://www.angelfire.com/nd/nirmaldasan
Dr. Nirmal Selvamony is Reader at the Department of English, Madras Christian College, Tamilnadu. His interests include music, drama, criticism and Tamilology. His wife, Dr. Ruckmani Nirmal (Professor in Pharmacology at Chengalpattu Medical College, Tamilnadu), is interested in holistic health. They have two daughters, Padini (16) and Madhini (10), who love music, dance, books and creative writing.
