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(SEPTEMBER 30, 2020)
CHAPTER 1
GENERAL OVERVIEW
OF THE
HUMANITIES
With the advent of the computer age, advanced science and technology
have overwhelmed many aspects of our lives, and even our possibilities
of survival are affected. But turning to the humanities where the world of
man’s spirit is evident in humans, rather than technical values, we
experience a certain degree of relief. The humanities can provide
enjoyment and stimulation, especially when we try to understand what it
covers.
THE MEANING, IMPORTANCE, AND SCOPE OF HUMANITIES
HUMANITIES
- Came from the Latin word ‘humanus’, which means human, cultured and refined.
- To be human is to have or show qualities like rationality, kindness and tenderness. It has different connotations in different historical eras.
- Today, however, we know of humanities as loosely defined group of cultural subject areas.
- It is not a group of scientific or technical subjects.
- The term humanities refer to the arts—the visual arts such as architecture, painting, and sculpture; music, dance, the theater or drama, and literature.
- They are the branches of learning concerned with human thought, feelings and relations.
- The importance of the human being and his feelings and how he expresses those feelings have always been the concern of humanities. ART Art is very important in our lives. It constitutes one of the oldest and most important means of expression developed by a man. Whenever men have lived together, art has sprung up among them as a language charged with feeling and significance. The desire to create this language appears to be universal. As a culture force, it is pervasive and potent. It shows itself even in primitive societies. Art, like love, is not easy to define. It concerns itself with the communication of certain ideas and feelings by means of a sensuous medium—color, sound, bronze, marble, words and film. This medium is fashioned into a symbolic language marked by beauty of design and coherence of form. It appeals to our minds, arouses our emotions, kindles our imagination, and enchants our senses. (Machlis, 1963) In every age or country, there is always art. Wherever we go, whether it be a city or a province, here or abroad, we surely have to pass buildings of various sorts—houses, schools, churches, stores, and others. Some of them appear attractive and inviting; some do not. We look at some of them with awe or admiration. In viewing all these buildings, however we are being concerned with architecture which is one of the oldest and most important of the many areas of art. Art has five areas: the visual arts, music, dance, literature and drama. Visual Art The art that we perceive through our eyes is called the visual art , and architecture is one part of it. Visual arts involved not only painting and sculpture but include such things as clothes, household appliances, and the furnishings of our homes, schools, churches and other buildings. Through the
Teenagers dance at parties. Both young and old go to disco bars. Children everywhere dance because it is pleasurable to express happiness through bodily movements. Theater or Drama The area of the theater or drama is another of the important arts. Dramatic activities are usually part of every school and community program. Classes dramatize the events they are studying; clubs, organizations and institutions stage plays. The play may be a comedy, tragedy, mystery, musical, or melodrama. In any of them, a group of people act out the plot to get across to the audience the idea the author is trying to express. Essentially, the stage is a place for re-enacting the joys and problems of life, a place where the playwright strips life of nonessentials and deals with basic and important issues. The spectators get involved in these situations and thus gain greater insight into human motives and passion. Motion Picture The motion picture is a popular addition to the various forms of the theater. Through it, a great number of people are able to see dramatic performances every day. The radio makes drama available for auditory sense and the imagination. The television brings the art of drama to many people. Theatrical productions, including motion pictures and television, combine art forms. Play The play itself is a form of literature. Scenery and costume provide the visual arts, and music may serve as a background to set the mood or to serve as part of the plot. Opera The opera is a drama set to music. Thus it is the form of the theater. In many musical shows, dancers are also important performers. The theater, therefore, combines several of the arts. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ART AND NATURE They are fundamentally different. No matter how close art is to nature, however, art always shows that it is man-made. It is an interpretation of nature and life.
WHAT THE ARTS HAVE IN COMMON
We have identified the five areas of art: the visual, music, dance, literature and drama. But there is one thing that is common to them all. What relates a painting to a song, a play to a dance? The most basic relationship is that the art is concerned with emotions, with our feelings about things. When a person sees a picture, he thinks it is beautiful, or when he watches a play or dance performance, he thinks it is exciting, he feels that it is lovely or stirring. His reaction is primarily emotional. People experience excitement, pleasure, anger, and all the other emotional states in a way which is very different from their intellectual responses. Emotions are part of our basic nature. An Artist
- A person who exhibits exceptional skills in design, drawing, painting, and the like who works in one of the performing arts, like an actor or musician.
- Unlike other people, he is more sensitive and creative.
- He possesses an unusual degree, the knack for interpreting ideas into artistic form through the use of words, pigments, stone, notes, or any other materials used by artists.
- When he sees or learns something that impresses him, he expresses himself in one medium or another so that others may understand it too.
- He learns to project his creative impulse through the symbols of his art—a picture, a poem, or a piece of music according to his present inspiration and his training.
- His process of creation differs from that of an amateur or beginner only in degree. There are two kinds of artists—creators and performers. A composer writes a song to be sung by talented singers. A dramatist or playwright writes a play to be staged by a company of actors. A choreographer composes a ballet or dance sequence which will be performed by a troupe of dancers. Music, theater, and dance are performing arts. Besides the creators, they require other artists who recreate what has been composed. Thus performers are important. A song cannot be considered complete until it has been sung; or a ballet until it has been danced. Although the artistry of the performers is based on the creation of others, they bring individual interpretations to their performances. Thus, in the performing arts, the ideas and the interpretations of the performer are added to the original ideas of the creator. This dual contribution gives added richness and meaning to these fields of arts. It makes them different from painting, for example, in which the creative artists communicate directly with the observer.
how the people of that time were pre-occupied with life after death, for many of their most impressive monuments were erected as tombs for the pharaohs. Playwrights and novelists have always been concerned with the frailties of a man, with his hopes and fears, his courage and cowardice, his charity and greed. Poets, with their artistry of statement, have given nobility and intensity to man’s experiences. Through dance, the events of life are given symbolic and ceremonial form. The Material and Process The second phase of creation in art concerns the material which the artist uses to give form to his idea. A painter uses pigments; a sculptor uses stones, metal or wood; an architect, various building materials. An author uses words; a composer, musical sounds which he sets down as notes. A choreographer uses people and their movements as the material for his creations. The artist’s various materials have a profound effect on his products. Perhaps a sculptor and a musician both want to do works of art which will show their deep religious feeling. The sculptor decides to carve a religious figure in stone to be placed in church; the musician writes hymns to be sung in the same church. The sculpture is something we can see or take in at a glance in its entirety, and so sculpture is an art of space. The hymn we hear takes a number of minutes to be sung or the entire composition to be played and so music is an art of time. All the arts fall into either one or the other classification. The theater and opera, in which several form of the arts are involved, are arts of both space and time. Organization and Form The third phase in creating is organizing the idea and giving it form in the selected material. In several of the time arts, the works generally have a three-part structure:
- an introductory section which “sets the stage” for what follows;
- a middle section which develops the plot, the melody, or the story; and
- a concluding section which is the final working out of the forces and ideas which the artist set in motion. Style is a term that refers to the development of forms in art that is related to particular historical periods. A. Symmetrically Balanced
- The two sides of the objects are identical.
- Tends to emphasize the center. B. Asymmetric Balance
- Found in most paintings and other two-dimensional graphic works.
- The forms and colors on one side are balanced by different forms and colors on the other. In any field of art, it is the idea which is the important factor. The parts and their organization into a final art product grow out of that idea. Thus, the third phase of the analysis of any work has to do with its form and organization. We must decide whether the form grows out of the idea or problem which prompted it; whether the form it has been given is individualized and unique; whether the work has unity; and whether the organization in itself call forth an aesthetic response from us. The arts are remarkable in their diversity, not only in subject matter but also in materials and forms. No rules can govern either creation or appreciation. The artist is influenced by the world around him, so that his work reflects the time and place in which he lives. If artists or critics do set up rules to follow, other artists and critics will prove the rules false. Arts change as life changes. Authorities in arts states that the work of the artist must be judged against the background of the time in which he lived. The understanding of the great art of all periods is the key to the understanding of human being. There is a need to associate with great men through their work in order to enrich and ennoble our own lives. THE SCOPE OF HUMANITIES The humanities is a many-faceted subject. As mentioned earlier, it consists of the visual arts, literature, drama and theater, music, and dance. VISUAL ARTS The visual arts are those we perceive with our eyes. They may be classified into two group; graphic (flat, or two-dimensional surface) and plastic arts (three-dimensional). The Graphic Arts
- This term covers any form of visual artistic representation.
- Portrayals of forms and symbols are recorded on a two-dimensional surface.
- Printers use the term graphic arts to describe all processes and products of the printing industry.
- Painting
- The process of applying pigment to a surface to secure effects involving forms and colors.
- Its medium includes oils, watercolors, tempera, and others.
- Canvas, wood, paper, and plaster are some of the surfaces on which paintings are executed.
- All processes in which printing is done from a flat (plane) surface. Lithography - The process of printing from a flat stone or metal plate by a method based on the repulsion between grease and water. - The design is put on the surface. - The surface is then treated so that ink adheres only to areas where drawing has been done; ink is then transferred to the paper in printing. Silkscreen - Silk is stretched over a rectangular frame and unwanted portions in the design are blocked out. - Pigment is forced through the clear areas. - For multi-color prints, a separate screen is used for each color.
- Commercial Art
- This art includes designing books, advertisement, signs, posters, and other displays to promote sale or acceptance of product, service or idea.
- Mechanical Processes
- These are developed by commercial printers for rapid, large-quantity reproduction of words and pictures in one or more colors.
- Photography
- This is a chemical-mechanical process by which images are produced on sensitized surfaces by action of light.
- Reproductions may be in black and white or in full colors of the original. The Plastic Arts
- This group includes all fields of the visual arts in which materials are organized into three- dimensional forms.
- Architecture
- The art of designing and constructing buildings and other types of structures.
- Materials used include stone, concrete, brick, wood, steel, glass, and plaster.
- Architecture is often referred to as the “mother of the arts”, because it houses, serves as background for, or occurs in relation to other fields of art such as painting, sculpture, interior design, landscape architecture, and city planning.
- Landscape Architecture
- Planning outdoor areas for human use and enjoyment.
- Gardens, parks, playgrounds, golf courses.
- Chief materials are plants, trees, shrubs, flowers, vines, and ground cover.
- City Planning
- Refers to planning and arranging the physical aspects of a large or small community.
- Structures and areas concerned with all phases of living and working are attractively and efficiently organized and related.
- Interior Design
- The term is used to designate design and arrangement of architectural interiors for convenience and beauty.
- Includes backgrounds (walls, floors, ceilings), furnishings, and accessories.
- Design of wallpapers, textile for curtains and upholstery are important fields of interior design.
- Sculpture
- Refers to the design and construction of three-dimensional forms representing natural objects or imaginary (sometimes abstract) shapes.
- Common materials are stone, wood, clay and metal; but ivory, jade, wire, string, and other materials are also used.
- Sculptures of figures are called statues.
- Crafts
- Refers to the designing and making objects by hand for use or for pleasure.
- Includes fields such as ceramic, jewelry, leatherwork, and weaving.
- If these fields are mass-produced, they are classed as industrial design.
- Industrial Design
- Refers to design of objects for machine production.
- E.g. designs for automobiles and household appliances.
- Dress and Costume Design
- Covers the design of wearing apparel of all types—dresses, coats, suits, shoes, ties, and the like.
Music is the art of arranging sounds in rhythmic succession and generally in combination. Melody results from this sequence, and harmony from the combinations. Music is both a creative and a performing art. The common forms are song, march, fugue, sonata, suite, fantasy, concerto, and symphony. Musical compositions fall into three groups. Vocal Music
- Composed primarily to be sung.
- The voice or voices are generally accompanied by one or more instruments. Instrumental Music
- Music of this kind is written for instruments of four general types—keyboard (piano, organ, etc.); stringed (violin, cello, guitar, etc.); wind (flute, clarinet, etc.); brass winds (trumpet, saxophone, etc.); percussion (drums, xylophone). Music Combined with Other Arts
- Opera
- A drama set to music.
- Mostly or entirely sung with orchestral accompaniment.
- It is spectacularly staged with accomplished singer, elaborate scenery and costumes.
- Operetta and Musical Comedy
- Also a drama set to music but is light, popular, romantic, and often humorous or comic.
- Operettas use spoken dialogue instead of recitative.
- Oratorio and Cantata
- Sacred musical drama in concert form.
- Made up of recited parts (recitative), arias, and choruses, with orchestral accompaniment.
- No action, sets, and costumes are used.
- Oratories are usually based on Biblical themes.
- Other Forms
- Other forms of arts are the ballet music and background music for motion pictures. DRAMA AND THEATER
A drama or a play, is a story re-created by actors on a stage in front of an audience. The following are the most common types of drama. Tragedy
- One of literature’s greatest dramatic art forms.
- A drama of serious nature in which the central character comes to some sad or disastrous end.
- All tragedies portray suffering. Melodrama
- The emphasis is on action rather than on character.
- The action is sensational or romantic and usually has a happy ending. Comedy
- Includes all plays with happy ending.
- The Romantic Comedy
- A light, amusing tale of lovers in some dilemma which is finally solved happily.
- Farce
- A light, humorous play.
- The emphasis is on jokes, humorous physical action, ludicrous situations, and improbable characters.
- Comedy of Manners
- Sometimes called ‘drawing room comedy’.
- Sophisticated, sometimes satirical.
- The characters are usually high-society types, and situations have little to do with real life.
- The emphasis is on witty dialogue. Miscellaneous
- Tragicomedy
- A drama blending tragic and comic elements but which ends happily.
- Sometimes called contemporary or interpretative dances.
- Represent rebellion against the classical formalism or ballet.
- Emphasize personal communication of moods and themes.
- Varied styles of movements usually based on the current trend. Musical Comedy
- Refers to dances performed by soloist, groups, choruses in theaters, night clubs, motion pictures, and television.
- Combines various forms of ballet, modern, tap, and acrobatics.
