Resonant Experience: An Exploration of the Relational Nature of Meaning and Value

What is it about?

Powerful experiences of art are often described as “resonant." What does this mean? In this article I propose to define resonance as a expanded, refined, or otherwise enhanced feeling of the relational context in which experience is determined. I then proceed to show how this concept of resonance can be used to understand the experience of enriched meaning and value in art. This exploration of resonance is inspired by William James’s claim that meaning is based in the direct experience of relation, together with John Dewey’s claim that basic features of experience are intensified in the enjoyment of art.

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