The (extra)ordinary (con)texts of beauty and be-ing

Abstract

This article aims to interrogate Japanese theorist Sōetsu Yanagi’s philosophical writings on Zen Buddhism and Zen aesthetics (as expounded in his essays published in The unknown craftsman: a Japanese insight into beauty), as well as the being-historical writing of Martin Heidegger as encountered in his publication Mindfulness, in order to point out the similarities in thought expressed in these two publications with regard to the way in which the ordinary affords access to the extraordinary. In this way Heidegger’s terms ‘be-ing’ and ‘being’ are related to Yanagi’s framework of the relationship between ‘wabi’ and ‘shibui’. In the process Heidegger’s thought is hermeneutically interpreted in terms of Yanagi’s explication of the Zen notion of non-dualist beauty.

Hierdie artikel poog om die Japanese teoretikus Sōetsu Yanagi se beskrywing van Zen Boedisme en Zen aestetika (soos gevind in sy teks The unknown craftsman: a Japanese insight into beauty), sowel [as] Martin Heidegger se syn-historiese skrywe Mindfulness, te ondersoek om sodoende ooreenkomste in hul denke oor die wyse waarop die buitengewone in die gewone aangetref kan word, uit te wys. So-doende word Heidegger se terme ‘be-ing’ en ‘being’ vergelyk met Yanagi se beskrywing van ‘wabi’ en ‘shibui’. Verder word Heidegger se denke hermeneuties geinterpreteer in terme van die Zen benadering tot nie-dualistiese skoonheid soos deur Yanagi beskryf.