Note on the introduction of Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology in Argentina. The importance of Guerrero’s Estética

Abstract

The paper begins with a brief account of the introduction of Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology in Argentina. It first mentions the contributions of Luis M. Ravagnan and Carlos L. Ceriotto and then goes on to examine the references made by Luis Juan Guerrero in his Aesthetics. As regards the aesthetics of artistic manifestations, emphasis is laid on Merleau-Ponty’s notion of indirect language and the significance of the voices of silence. With reference to the aesthetics of artistic powers, the non-objective experience of living together in a reciprocal understanding is highlighted in order to account for the answer of the artist to the call of the cultural tradition and the answer of a spectator to the call of the work of art. Finally, regarding the issue of aesthetic tasks, attention is focused on the analysis which Guerrero, again following Merleau-Ponty, offers on festivals whose distinctive trait is to be the great play of historical peoples and the originary place that gathers all their artistic tasks.