Cross-Cultural Aesthetic Contrasts and Implications for Aesthetic Evolution and Change

Abstract

In contrast to small-scale societies, philosophies of art in complex societies tend to be relatively explicit, produced by specialists, and densely textured—a pattern exemplified by the differences between the aesthetic systems of Aboriginal Australian versus pre-Columbian Aztec societies. These differences may parallel the gradual changes in aesthetics that occurred as some small, pre-neolithic cultures evolved into complex states. Also, when traditional societies undergo the shock of culture contact, their previously profound aesthetic systems, whether explicit or implicit, tend to be replaced by concerns about craftsmanship, intensiveness of work, and market value—as exemplified by pre- and post-contact Aztec culture. Also discussed are possible future developments in each of these dynamic processes, respectively designated “bary-evolution” and “ocy-evolution.”