Didacticism


Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasizes instructional and informative qualities in literature, art and design. In art, design, architecture and landscape, didacticism is an emerging conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to explain.
When applied to ecological questions, didacticism in art, design, architecture and landscape attempts to persuade the viewer of environmental priorities; thus, constituting an entirely new form of explanatory discourse that presents, what can be called “eco-lessons". This concept can be defined as "ecological didacticism".

Overview

The term has its origin in the Ancient Greek word διδακτικός, "related to education and teaching", and signified learning in a fascinating and intriguing manner.
Didactic art was meant both to entertain and to instruct. Didactic plays, for instance, were intended to convey a moral theme or other rich truth to the audience. An example of didactic writing is Alexander Pope's An Essay on Criticism, which offers a range of advice about critics and criticism. An example of didactism in music is the chant Ut queant laxis, which was used by Guido of Arezzo to teach solfege syllables.
Around the 19th century the term didactic came to also be used as a criticism for work that appears to be overburdened with instructive, factual, or otherwise educational information, to the detriment of the enjoyment of the reader. Edgar Allan Poe called didacticism the worst of "heresies" in his essay The Poetic Principle.

Examples

Some instances of didactic literature include:
Some examples of research that investigates didacticism in art, design, architecture and landscape:
Some examples of art, design, architecture and landscape projects that present eco-lessons.