Notas sobre el ensayo

Abstract

There are several developments about the critical and/or creative potentialities of the essay. Because of its shape, several writers tried to include it in certain artistic genre –this has been György Lukács’ effort. On the other hand, there are some authors that assert that its statute is not artistic, since the instruments it deploys are concepts, and its aspiration is the truth – the last one is Theodor Adorno’s point of view. However, beyond this initial discrepancy, what we see through the presentation of this issue is the presence of a boundary. Boundary between art and science, boundary between critic and academy. How these delimitations are drawn, and in which criteria they are based, are some of the questions that we will try to hold. Consequently, a series of oppositions between scientific knowledge and essay become relevant. These oppositions turn around: relation between shape and content; criticism’s responsibility and its ubication; method’s statute in knowledge’s production; relation between concept and reality. The purpose of this article is, then, not only to clear these delimitations but also to put in evidence its compartments and its possible displacement.