Key Concepts in the Age of Crossing Boundaries :the Question of Leisure in Culture, Arts and Aesthetics – Leisure Concept

The aim of this Key concepts in the age of crossing boundaries: the question of Leisure in Culture, Arts and Aesthetics research project is to study the issue of leisure in the context of traditional theoretical reflections in Western and Eastern cultures and their new features under the impact of globalization in the contemporary glocalism. This project integrates the Social Sciences and Humanities research objectives and it also fits the CNRS interdisciplinary priority researches on non-European civilisations and societies. Besides, it develops the international exchanges that CNRS and Taiwan NSC promote, by continuing the collaborative research led by CRAL between Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), Paris and Taipei Soochow University (SU), financed both by CNRS and by Taiwan NSC since 2001. Today, research team is reinforced by a collaboration with the University of Toronto, initiated and led by CRAL. This project is constituent of the Aesthetics axis of CRAL's long-time researches and it prolongs the APN program Chinese Arts and Western Aesthetics (2001-04) (project leader : Yolaine Escande). Our research groups have been doing common research work since 2001, centring on the globalization of arts and on the problem of the frontiers of aesthetics and arts (see the results already obtained in the last part). This project is new, under three aspects : first, it proposes a reflection that has never been led in the aesthetic field, by focusing on the concept of leisure, from view points of philosophy, anthropology, sociology, art and literary theories. Second, it goes far beyond pure sinological or aesthetic concerns, by its interdisciplinary method that integrates different fields of researches. Third, this leisure project not only materialises an institutional exchange, but also an intercontinental research between Taipei SU PAA (Asia, Taiwan), CRAL (Europe, Paris), and University of Toronto (North America, Canada). Each, with their own financial resources, will co-operate through forum discussion on website, workshops hosted at Paris, Taipei, Toronto, papers presented in international conferences, and publications of articles in academic journals. This project will focus on the studies of aesthetic meaning and artistic value of leisure culture, which are generally let aside in intellectual discourse, because of the still active belief in the modernist opposition between art and distraction. That is to say, in this project, the concept of leisure will be taken as a category of aesthetics and art, rather than an instrument of investment. The co-research works will not only relate with an in-depth reflection on the leisure concept in traditional Eastern and Western cultures, via scholarly profound dialogue among the researchers from both sides, but will also relate with deep investigation the role of leisure in contemporary cultural life, art activities, such as music, film, literature, photography, etc. The detail will be explained the latter part. Thus,the studies of this proposal are different from current issues debated in the studies of leisure industries, or leisure management, such as tourism, outdoor activities, shopping, food and restaurant, etc., which also are the main current studies of leisure in Taiwan since the 1990s Moreover, one of the important contributions of our collaborative research project will be to investigate the role of leisure in contemporary cultural life, art activities, such as music, film, literature, photography, etc. Without any doubt, due to the globalization of high-tech development, people living in contemporary society compellingly work less and play more. It means we are facing a tremendous shift from a labour society to a leisure society. Meanwhile, following the fast growth of leisure industries raised in Europe, in Asia, and in North America, leisure service is gradually turning to be a name of the busiest enterprise around the world, which cre..