Thank you Mark for the hint - indeed Nakai studied Kant's philosophy 'and especially his "Critique of Judgment". <div>Unfortunately, the "fear of space" Nakai refers to seems to have few in common with the idea of "sublime" (even if we may find, as you suggest, a familiarity between "fear" and "bewilderment") : the famous "critic" Nakai is indebted to would have stated that builiding the pyramids of Egypt was a way for the people to put limits to the infinite space of the desert, that they eventually perceived as a threat, or something irrational, for themselves were a nation of slaves who couldn't handle the categories of "freedom" or "infinity". That's why Nakai argues that pyramids expressed the Egyptians' "fear of space"... Thanks anyway.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Mathieu<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2010/6/8 Mark Roberts <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mroberts37@mail-central.com">mroberts37@mail-central.com</a>></span><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
Mathieu,<br>
<br>
Off the cuff, I would say: have a look at what Kant says about the pyramids in A. §§ 26 of the "Critique of Judgment", and see if that resonates with what Nakai says in "Bigaku nyûmon". It's a discussion of the sense of bewilderment associated with the mathematical sublime, and Savary's account of the pyramids is cited as an example.<br>
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Regards,<br>
<br>
M. Roberts<div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
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On Jun 8, 2010, at 7:08 PM, Mathieu Capel wrote:<br>
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Dear Kinejapaners,<br>
<br>
Those of you who have approached Nakai Masakazu's theory may know that he often seemed reluctant to fully quote his sources. The realm of his interests is actually known, more or less, and can be linked, for instance, and besides other japanese fellows who were his contemporaries, to german thinkers from the end of 19th century to the beginnig of the 20th.<br>
Nonetheless, when reading Nakai's "Introduction to Aesthetics" (Bigaku nyûmon), it may be far from easy to locate his sources. In the chapter "Eiga ni kûkan", Nakai talks about the pyramid of Egypt, and the "fear of space" they symbolize : this idea actually was borrowed from " one critic" (p. 298 in the Iwanami Bunko edition), but who that critic is, that's something I wouldn't know.<br>
Being something as a detail of small significance, where he took that idea may seem of minor importance, but I have the feeling that knowing the name of that very "critic" may help to rebuild a little further Nakai's network of influences, thus, to evaluate what was the novelty of his thinking in the field of "iconology", and then, in the theory of cinema.<br>
I tried to find the answer in Takahashi Naoyuki's "Nakai Masakazu to sono jidai", but wasn't lucky enough. I have been searching until now around Burckhardt and his followers too, such as Wölfflin, for Nakai's theory seems close to the idea of "Zeitgeist" ; around Panofsky's iconology also, after Warburg, and Cassirer. Anyway, I couldn't find yet the proper quotation...<br>
Would someone know the answer ? Many thanks.<br>
<br>
Mathieu Capel<br>
Paris<br>
<br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Mathieu Capel<br>67 rue de la Roquette <br>75011 Paris<br>06 50 32 45 00 / 01 43 79 19 19<br><a href="mailto:mathieucapel@gmail.com">mathieucapel@gmail.com</a><br>
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