Infection Theory of Art

Tolstoy defines art as the transmission of feeling from artist to audience, where the work's success is measured by its infectiousness—the degree to which it unites receiver and creator in a shared emotional experience.

Tolstoy defines art as the transmission of feelings from one person to another, causing infection, and distinguishes it from speech which transmits thoughts.

Art's essence is to infect all people with the artist's feeling, making universal comprehensibility a test of true art.

Tolstoy reiterates that genuine art transmits feeling from artist to receiver, a process absent in counterfeits.

Art is defined by its ability to infect the receiver with the artist's feeling; peasant singing exemplifies this, while most upper-class art fails.