Mono no aware concept in Japanese aesthetics

Abstract

Although, until the nineteenth century, we could not find in Japanese thought an approach that would be considered a counterpart to Western aesthetics, in art and cultural practice, nuanced interpretations of aesthetic experiences have been developed, such as wabi sabi, mono no aware and ma. The term mono no aware refers to impermanent, that is, transient beauty, ie. her experience that does not arise on the basis of current sensory experience. This concept should be understood as an aesthetic experience that accepts the beauty of transience, although transience itself cannot be considered beautiful. Mono no aware, is not the emotional response to the rational judgment of transience, but the feeling that permeates us when we become aware of sensory experience with the knowledge of transience. This, however, is not about any sensory experience, but only one in which we find beauty. Hence, the concept of mono no aware remains inseparable from the experience of the beautiful, but it is not equated with it.