On the Role of Sympathy in Aesthetic Expression: Theódore Jouffroy and Sully Prudhomme

Abstract

The place of sympathy in the nineteenth-century aesthetic reflection is probably more prominent and extensive than what the histories of aesthetics have traditionally recognized. An interest in recovering theoretical arsenal that stimulates us to better understand the rich implications of this subjective and intersubjective phenomenon for art and aesthetic communication in general, in our highly aestheticized world, drives this article. It seeks to help disseminate and recognize the contributions of two thinkers of the French tradition, who are little remembered in the field of aesthetics: Théodore Jouffroy (1796-1842), who set a standard in the field of aesthetic reflection on sympathy, and Sully Prudhomme (1839-1907), who proposed a theory of expression in the arts based on sympathy. The paper explains the Théodore Jouffroy's understanding of the aesthetic as the realm of the expressive-symbolic, as well as his significant vision of the aesthetic fact, which integrates sympathy and expression in a relationship between subject and object. Likewise, it discusses the relationship between sympathy and aesthetic pleasure in the vision of this thinker. Later, Sully Prudhomme's theory on artistic expression is analyzed. The influence of Jouffroy on his work is argued; some points of contact and others in which Prudhomme distinguishes itself are determined.