The figuration of the artist as a configuration of modernity

Abstract

This article intends to reiterate the role of the artist and his professional context for the configuration of the idea of modernity. In order to do so, I shall discuss a broad idea of modernity defended, among others, by Jack Goody and Philadelpho Menezes and, through the comparative and cross-cultural method, I'll underline the importance of the artist in the conceptualization of modernity. Comparing specifically the sociocultural role of the artist in Europe and Japan in the period known as the "modern era" and avoiding excessively ethnocentric conjectures, the article will review the monolithic character of modernity, treating it as transmodernity.