Langer, S. (1985). Problems of Art. New York, NY, Holiday House.
In the chapter Expressiveness from her book Problems of Art, Susanne Langer discusses the intricacies surrounding human identification, understanding, expression, creation, and discussion of forms and experiences in our life. First, she discusses the ease that we humans have in describing and discussing, in what she calls discoursive form, those objective forms around us - rivers, lamp shades, etc. Then she moves on to the difficulty of humans discussing and understanding more subjective forms specific to each human's experience, and how they can be understood through the creation and expression of art.
My greatest take away from this dense and confusing reading is the role that art plays in allowing humans to understand the largely subjective and difficult-to-describe world around us - not everything is as simple as the proportions of lamp shades. Art objectifies the subjective, intangible forms of emotion and sensation that always surround us in such a way that allows us to isolate, understand, and discuss them, building a common and growing understanding of ourselves and the world around us (and the world behind us). Art allows us to understand, and to learn within and across generations, and therefore is critical to include in a well-rounded education.
Questions for Dr. Langer:
-What principles shoud be included and addressed in music education in order to prepare students to understand the subjectivities throughout their lives?
-How would I explain to someone exactly why understanding the subjectivities is? As a rhetorical question, why can't we get by just knowing in discoursive form the objective shapes of the world around us?