representationalism

[ rep-ri-zen-tey-shuh-nl-iz-uhm, -zuhn- ]

noun

1. Also called representative realism. Epistemology. the view that the objects of perception are ideas or sense data that represent external objects, especially the Lockean doctrine that the perceived idea represents exactly the primary qualities of the external object.
2. Fine Arts. the practice or principle of representing or depicting an object in a recognizable manner, especially the portrayal of the surface characteristics of an object as they appear to the eye.

representationalism

/ ˌrɛprɪzɛnˈteɪʃənəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. philosophy the doctrine that in perceptions of objects what is before the mind is not the object but a representation of it Compare presentationism naive realism See also barrier of ideas
2. fine arts the practice or advocacy of attempting to depict objects, scenes, figures, etc, directly as seen

Derived Forms

• ˌrepresenˌtationalˈistic, adjective
• ˌrepresenˈtationist, nounadjective

Other Words From

• repre·sen·tation·al·ist noun
• repre·sen·tation·al·istic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of representationalism¹

First recorded in 1895–1900; representational + -ism

Example Sentences

With its full departure from representationalism, it was received by the masses as an act of hostility, a dangerous expression of Marxism or a prank.

From Washington Post

But, on the other hand, such a form of finite representationalism is also overcome and superseded in the faith which realises one spirit and in the devotion of worship.

From Project Gutenberg

But Nikolais was sensationally popular for many years, abroad as well as here, and he was one of the best-known dance makers who led the post-World War II movement against representationalism in dance.

From New York Times

Though Diebenkorn and Natkin belong to no school and live and work on opposite sides of the continent, their similar approaches to painting have brought them both to a kind of stylistic halfway house between representationalism on the one hand and formal geometry on the other.

From Time Magazine Archive

The mere fact of the show certainly means that abstraction is going to have to move over and make room for a new kind of U.S. representationalism.

From Time Magazine Archive