When having an experience of sublimity, we may feel what has come to be known as awe: a feeling of mixed valence, both vividly positive and frightening. And even though it appears we are at loss when trying to express it, we keep on trying. In this paper, I shall discuss whether it is accurate to speak of awe and sublime about art, and try to show how and why it is possible to link awe, in its very definition, with language. Thus, I propose an account of awe as a metacognitive feeling of a failu…
Read moreWhen having an experience of sublimity, we may feel what has come to be known as awe: a feeling of mixed valence, both vividly positive and frightening. And even though it appears we are at loss when trying to express it, we keep on trying. In this paper, I shall discuss whether it is accurate to speak of awe and sublime about art, and try to show how and why it is possible to link awe, in its very definition, with language. Thus, I propose an account of awe as a metacognitive feeling of a failure of language, that emerges from the immersion provoked by an object. The inherent linguistic nature of awe would then explain why expressing it using words seems to always gives a sense of dissatisfaction.
