But of all art at its irrational best – or, to use his other favorite word, most "sublime."

Question

Yet despite some last-minute disclaimers that she is not condemning all critical commentary and some advice to critics to pay more attention to form, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that in her opinion interpretation impoverishes art and that its practice for a number of decades by most academic and professional critics had been unquestionably harmful. She concluded with the pronouncement that "in place of a hermeneutics we need an erotics of art."
Such a view would seem to place her in general agreement with Leslie Fiedler, who, addressing a national convention of the College English Association in the early 1970s, advocated "ecstatics" as a response to literature.
Professor Fiedler would make the gut reaction the be-all and end-all of art. The traditionally accepted standards and classics were in his view elitist, academic opinions and productions that had been forced on the reading public, who demonstrably prefer sentimental literature, horror stories, and pornography – all of the popular variety. Such popular writings produce almost exclusively emotional effects – particularly feelings of pathos, terror, and sexual titillation. They cause readers, said Fiedler, "to go out of control, out of [their] heads." He continued by pointing out that, "we do have a traditional name for the effect sought, and at its most successful achieved, by Pop; the temporary release from the limits of rationality, the boundaries of the ego, the burden of consciousness; the moment of privileged insanity [;] that traditional name is, of course, "Ekstasis," which Longinus spoke of in the last centuries of the Classic Era, not in terms of Popular Art or High Art, which in fact cannot be distinguished in terms of this concept; but of all art at its irrational best – or, to use his other favorite word, most "sublime."
(Note: It's talking about Susan Sontag who believed interpreting and criticizing literature, destroys it. She was against the criticism.)
Source: A Handbook of Critical Approaches to Literature Fifth Edition by Wilfred L. Guerin

Hello,
Would you please be kind enough to clarify the blue part to me? I know the meanings of each word written in blue but as a whole, I can not understand it.

Many thanks.

GPY · Accepted Answer

... not (just) in terms of Popular Art or High Art ... but (in terms) of all art at its irrational best

"art at its irrational best" means the best kind of irrational art (irrationality is presented as a quality that it is desirable for art to possess).

"sublime" is said to be a favourite word of Longinus (presumably in translation), and is suggested as an alternative to "irrational".

But of all art at its irrational best – or, to use his other favorite word, most "sublime."

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