Download or read book Ornamental Aesthetics written by Theo Davis and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work argues that ornamental aesthetics are central to the writing of Thoreau, Dickinson, and Whitman. It explores the stakes of such an ornamental aesthetics through a parallel investigation of the ornamental aspects of Heidegger's phenomenological philosophy. It advances a new theory of ornament as a practice of attending, honoring, and noticing, in contrast to more familiar theories in which materiality, handcrafting, or historical grounding are emphasized.