Edmund Burke's theories
regarding how a pleasure principle is involved in searching for
resemblance between works of the imagination continue to form the foundation upon which all
mainstream critical analysis is based. Burke asserted that the pleasure one finds in a work of creativity is derived from its resemblance to something that we found pleasurable previously, something that has successfully imitated the original. We are struck by and pleased by the resemblance between something new and something we have already found pleasant to our aesthetic sensibility.
Nearly all mainstream criticism from commercial reviews to personal opinions exemplifies this concept. The critical worth of a work of the imagination is invariably decided, at least in part—and usually in great part—by how well the imitation compares to the original, imitation here meaning not a copy in terms of content but in terms of duplicating the elements of the original that we found pleasing. The artistic value of a film noir made this year will undoubtedly be judged by how well it corresponds to the
accepted rules laid down by the great film noir films of the 40s and 50s.
Innovation and
originality in creative works are generally thought to be
considered high marks, yet when the innovation and originality do not correspond with what has been considered acceptable, the innovation and originality take longer to be subsumed into the mainstream.
An example would be the innovation of Picasso's cubism being rather quickly accepted and praised because a Picasso face was recognizable as a face despite all the parts being rearranged, whereas the mainstream verdict regarding Jackson Pollock is still out at least in part because his paintings don't seem to resemble anything other than a mess, which is rarely considered pleasurable. Most people do not find pleasure in viewing a Pollock painting, and it is probably in part because of their inability to find a resemblance between it and the representative painting style of their choice. Burke is surprisingly incisive in determining the influence of the pleasure in finding resemblance between objects, and one's taste is perhaps unconsciously shaped and defined by this very natural desire to uncover a unity between objects which bring one pleasure.
More summaries about the An Enquiry into the Sublime