Fear and anxiety in the dimensions of art

Abstract

In the paper I am concerned with various manifestations of aesthetic fear and anxiety, that is, fear and anxiety triggered by works of art, which I discuss from aesthetic as well as anthropological perspectives. I analyse the link between fear and pleasure in catharsis, in Edmund Burke’s notion of the sublime, and in reference to Goya’s Black Paintings and to Paul Virilio’s thought. Both aesthetic fear and aesthetic anxiety exist alongside other emotions, such as pity and sadness, and, most notably, alongside pleasure which is autonomous or which arises from a fascination with evil.