Theorizing Aesthetic Transactions from Children's Criterial Values in Theatre for Young Audiences

Abstract

Child spectators and adult theatre critics often hold opposite views on what makes the “best” theatre for young people. To explain why this enormous gap exists, we discuss children's aesthetic criteria as cross-cultural spectators and examine the theoretical and methodological differences between aesthetic appreciation and artistic criticism. To explain aesthetic transactions between child spectators and adult actors, we discuss our different philosophical interpretations of aesthetic distance and propose two models to stimulate further discussions. Future reception studies need to integrate theories of aesthetic philosophy and developmental psychology to raise the artistic quality of TYA around the world.