A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful was published in 1757, and it quickly became a cornerstone of Romanticism. The “sublime” is supposed to inspire awe but also shock, even horror.
“The passion caused by the great and sublime in nature, when those causes operate most powerfully, is astonishment: and astonishment is that state of the soul in which all its motions are suspended, with some degree of horror.”
Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria incorporates the ideas of Friedrich Schelling, who privileged the irrational and the subjective in interpreting experience and understanding Nature (and thus reality).
The idea of a subversive, subjective, emotionally intense and deep emotion-producing art is perfectly illustrated in the works of Turner and Goya, especially in the idea that it could be horror-producing. The extreme idealization of Nature, especially when viewed in retrospect, ties in with German Idealism, which was championed by Kant, and then radicalized by Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel. https://iep.utm.edu/germidea/
Right now, I’m listening to the sounds from the University of Oklahoma’s Gaylord Stadium as the game approaches kick-off. I can hear crowd noises, music and general game energy from inside my house, despite the fact I have double-paned windows and foam insulation. I’m five blocks away from the stadium. The announcer is literally shouting, and the marching band is playing as the crowd cheers. White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” launches and I know that for the rest of the evening, I won’t be able to get the lyrics and the riff out of my head for at least the duration of the game.
I'm gonna fight 'em off
A seven nation army couldn't hold me back
They're gonna rip it off
Takin' their time right behind my back
OU is now a part of the SEC and I have to set out traffic cones earlier than before so people won’t park in my driveway. There is a roar and the Pride of Oklahoma charges into BOOMER – SOONER and White Stripes are now fierce rivals for the Boomer-Sooner riff. I’m a half a mile from the stadium, sitting in my bedroom checking on the score and looking at Ezra Pound’s The Pisan Cantos and Julio Cortazar’s Hopscotch (English translation of Rayuela, pronounced rye-zhwayla in Argentina). Suddenly it is quiet. There must be an injury on the field. Oh no, oh no, oh no. Just checked. It’s half-time. That explains it. Well. The excitement will pick up, that’s for sure. If I want to run over to OnCue, I need to do it now. It will be tricky. They rent out parking spaces for $20 a pop. Braum’s, thankfully, keeps their parking for customers only.
Darude “Sandstorm” is playing. I feel my adrenaline going again - and I’m five blocks away. I can only imagine what it’s like to be in the stadium right now.
Totally SUBLIME.
