The Energy of Text. Against Ethical Criticism

Abstract

The article is a philippic aimed against so-called ethical criticism and the aesthetic attitude in literary studies. At the same time, however, its purpose is also to defend the autonomy and self-contained value of artistic works, which are devastated by miscellaneous “etisms”. The article fits squarely into the more clearly visible, within literary studies, departure from ethical research and return to the text as such, which stems from the recognition that ethics (in plural, since there is no universal moral philosophy) are, after all, ideologies and, in their logic, only impose stipulated ideas upon others. And this is an extraordinary paradox, when noble assumptions turn out to be inconsistent with their implementations. Surprisingly, with each ethical reading, an artistic text becomes the weaker one, less significant and even unimportant. Naturally, the choice of aesthetics is always subject to accusations. And it may also be considered as an ethical choice, i.e. ideological in its nature. After all, even Malevich’s white square was once regarded as unethical since it was argued that such works, through denial of participation, support power systems which are considered (not for all) to be evil. What can one say to that? Maybe that no case is known when aficionados of abstract painting wished to adapt, forbid, force or impose something upon those who prefer different types of paintings or dislike any kinds of painting at all. The situation is different when it comes to ethicists, as we can see in everyday life. They usually have only one opinion – their own. And therefore, this article is not aimed at imposing anything upon anybody.