ABSTRACT
The notion of style plays an important role in a number of disciplines (e.g. anthropology, archeology, art history and publishing) – the theory of art has no monopoly on the concept. In fact, the earliest systematic discussions of style appear in Greek and Roman writings on rhetoric. The term “style” (derived from the Latin word “stilus,” which refers to the mechanism used for writing on wax tablets in ancient Rome) is used widely in ordinary discourse to characterize a range of nonaesthetic and nonartistic activities and objects. Nonetheless, style is a central notion in the arts, and it is primarily from the perspective of the arts that it will be discussed in this chapter. Criticism, history and theory of the arts make reference to a wide range of kinds of
style, which may be individuated with respect to the ultimate bearers of the style. Individual style (e.g. Vermeer’s style, Hitchcock’s style) may be distinguished from various forms of general style: historical or period style (e.g. Impressionism, Postimpressionism), national and regional style (e.g. Russian ballet style, Celtic folk music), school style (e.g. in the style of Giotto, the style of the Second Viennese School, the Metaphysical style) and universal style (e.g. classicism, naturalism, realism) (Wollheim 1979). There are also style characteristics or style qualities (e.g. bombast, flamboyance, pretentiousness), which do not, on at least some accounts, amount to full-fledged styles on their own (Walton 1979). And there may even be other distinguishable categories of style such as genre style and the style of a particular work of art (Carroll 1998). The aforementioned notions of style seem to serve a wide range of art-critical, art-
historical and art-theoretical functions. In particular, style seems to play identificatory, interpretive, evaluative and explanatory roles in our artistic practices. This chapter will begin by focusing on those various functions that style is meant to perform. It will conclude with an investigation of some general issues about style: the relationship between style and content, the relationship between style and intention, and the centrality of style to the arts and the aesthetic.
