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38 Chapter 2 − the Psychology of Art and Literature

Chapter 2 Analysis of Aesthetic Experience: “Psychical Distance”

1. We have said that aesthetic sense derives from the intuition of form, and it does not imply a practical end. Now we can examine a very important theory that stems directly from this fundamental principle. Usually people are im- mersed in the practical world, and pay attention solely to practical demands, forgetting that this world can be appreciated like a painting. During aesthetic experiences, we have always, it is true, something to do with this world, but we escape from the bonds of the practical and look at the world with a certain distance. In the Alps there is a highway with a certain beautiful view. Alongside the road there is a sign suggesting that tourists slow down to enjoy the pan- orama. Men, generally, are like those cars that, taking advantage of a straight road, rush along without stopping. But there are also some, more fortunate, that follow the advice, allow themselves a moment of rest and enjoy that won- derful view. During this rest, the attitude towards the Alps changes completely. Before, they were nothing more than a place to drive the car and take the air. Now they come to be looked at with detachment, as at a painting. The English psychologist, Bullough, has studied this idea in depth, identifying a principle he calls “psychical distance”. It is not only applicable in the theory of aesthetic experience that we illustrated above, but it also provides a useful yardstick for art and literary criticism. We will now describe it in detail. What is “psychical distance”? An example may clarify matters. Let us con- sider the situation of a fog at sea.1 Finding oneself in a sea fog when travelling by boat is not at all pleasant. It goes without saying that progress is hindered and that breathing becomes difficult. From here and there can be heard the hooters of other ships nearby, while the anxious sailors move about their tasks and the passengers create an uproar: sometimes there is the feeling that some accident could happen, giving rise to a general uneasiness. The boat makes laboured headway. One seems to be in a boundless world without any sign of

1 The example of the fog on the sea is taken directly from the article by Edward Bullough, “Psychical Distance as a Factor in Art and an Aesthetic Principle”, in British Journal of Psychology, vol. V, 1912-1913, pp. 87-118. The article was reprinted in M. Rader (ed.), op. cit., pp. 394-411 with the omission of the last eleven pages. The illustration of the experience of fog at sea in relation to the conception of “Distance” is made by Bullough at the beginning of the article.

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Analysis Of Aesthetic Experience: “psychical Distance” 39

land where one could find temporary safety. Everyone feels to be at the mercy of an unknown fate. In such circumstances even the most widely experienced of men can do nothing but try to keep calm. But considered from another point of view a sea fog is a most beautiful spectacle. For a moment you do not think that it is holding up the voyage, you do not think of it as being dangerous and annoying. Instead, you observe this phenomenon with the utmost con- centration; observe this light vapour that seems as a soft veil that, just like a cage, covers the mirror-smooth sea. Then the birds and the distant mountains appear wrapped in a net, vague and confused as in a dream. Sky and sea merge, and it seems that, just by stretching out a hand, you could almost catch hold of the spirits that roam the heavens. All about you is shrouded in a mysterious silence, in a sublime vastness. You no longer see the usual everyday things; nor can you say with certainty whether you are among men or in the sky. Is this not a pleasant experience? The difference between these two experiences is due completely to the dif- ference in point of view. In the first case, the sea fog is part of the practical world. It is bound closely to your perceptions, to your emotions and hopes, to all the demands of real life, and constitutes for you either an instrument or an impediment. The entire practical life forces you to fear dangers, to seek secu- rity. So you can do nothing other than consider as unpleasant this sea fog that is both dangerous and a hindrance. In other words, the relationship between you and the fog is too constricted, there is too small a distance from you to al- low you to appreciate it with “calm judgement”. In the second case, you locate the fog outside the practical world and so it comes to be at sufficient “distance” from your real life. You are not moved to thoughts of joy or sadness, and so you are able to appreciate it with objectivity of judgement. This is the aesthetic ap- proach. 2. “Distance” has two aspects, one negative, the other positive. In its nega- tive aspect, it pushes aside all practical aims and needs. In its positive aspect, it leads to the contemplation of form. Through “distance”, the relationship be- tween the ego and things changes from a practical relationship to one of ap- preciation. From the point of view of the ego, “distance” is “detaching”; from that of the thing, it is “isolating”. At one time it often used to be said in praise of poets that “they were above the ordinary affairs of life”, that “they went beyond the appearance of things”, that “they were not hindered by the vanities of man”. Such remarks meant that they could look at things with a certain “distance”. On the contrary, such expressions as “to be a slave of things”, “to be attached to things”, or “fame binds and profit locks”, mean that if one gives too much im- portance to the utilitarian aspect of things, then one is not able to look at them with “distance”.