Contradictions of the Transmission Theory of Art
CONTRADICTIONS OF THE TRANSMISSION THEORY OF ART Aliana Lloyd Syracuse University
Abstract This paper examines Leo Tolstoy’s Transmission Theory of Art, which contends that art must be an intended transmission of an artist’s emotion to the audience. Originating from the Expression Theories of the Romanticism Era, Tolstoy’s theory comprises eight conditions for which a work must satisfy to be recognized as art. My focus is on four of the most contentious conditions: the necessity for intentional emotional expression (conditions 1 and 2), the same emotion perceived by the audience (condition 6), and clarification by the artist of such emotional transmission (condition 7). Through the examination of both historical and modern art forms, including the works of Franz Kafka, Emily Dickinson, and Leonardo Da Vinci, this paper notes the inadequacies in the Transmission Theory. Ultimately, this analysis refutes the Transmission Theory while suggesting a more inclusive and flexible set of criteria for understanding the diverse realm of art. I. Introduction he Expression Theories of Art assert that art is fundamentally based on the expression of some emotion or feeling and is made for the sake of externalizing one's emotional state. These theories were created during the Romanticism Era, when expression was artists' primary objective. The Expression Theories attempt to define the conditions for an artwork's validity; by the Expression Theories' logic, one is only worthy of recognition if it displays an expression of some internalized emotional state. Leo Tolstoy's Transmission T
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