Painting: Fenyu
In the consumer society, the definition of capital is rejected and the truth of "beauty" is faced
Using Western theories as a mirror, this paper reflects on China's local experience of aesthetic capitalization
It provides effective theoretical support for examining the current era
New book recommendations
"Aesthetic Capitalization"
Written by Wang Jingmin
ISBN 978-7-80768-468-8 定价：78.00元
Life, Reading, New Knowledge Joint Bookstore Life Bookstore Publishing Co., Ltd
Introduction
Based on the perspective of capitalism criticism in the 21st century, combined with the development and changes of "aesthetic capitalism", this book expounds the knowledge genealogy of "aesthetic capitalization" and criticizes the value orientation of "aesthetic capitalization" in view of the objective reality of the interaction and integration of capital, consumption and aesthetics. Based on the knowledge production of Western "aesthetic capitalism" and combined with the realistic representation of domestic aesthetic capital, "aesthetic capitalization" has become an important academic proposition. The critical paradigm of generalization, descriptiveness and explanatory power in the book provides an effective theoretical device and analytical tool for the academic community to accurately grasp the current era.
About the Author
Wang Jingmin
Doctor of Literature, Professor and Graduate Tutor of the School of Foreign Chinese Languages, Hebei University, mainly engaged in the research of Western literary theory, British and American literature, and comparative literature. He has published more than 50 academic papers in journals such as Academic Monthly, Social Science Front, and Foreign Language Teaching, and published monographs and translations such as "Research on Jonathan Kahler Poetics", "Aesthetic Redemption in the Age of Consumption", and "Practical Ecocriticism", and participated in the compilation of many textbooks.
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Editor's Choice
"We are in a situation where 'consumption' controls the whole of life," Baudrillard said. ”
Welsch said, "Once married to aesthetics, even undesirable goods can be sold......
"People seem to live for goods," Marcuse said. ”
In the consumer society, how to reject the definition of capital and face the truth of "beauty"?
"Aesthetic Capitalization" uses Western theories as a mirror to reflect on China's local experience of aesthetic capitalization, dispel aesthetic fog, and show the power of criticism.
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Introduction Aesthetics and Capital: From Toilet Differences to Dancing Together 1
I. Theoretical Origins 2
II. Academic Topics 6
III. Research Value 12
Chapter 1 The Context of Aesthetic Capitalization 14
I. The overall change of social forms 14
II. The Evolution of Cultural Values 21
3. Consumption logic and aesthetic changes 26
Chapter 2 The Intellectual Genealogy of Aesthetic Capitalization 31
I. The Aesthetic Requisition of Taste Industrialization 31
II. The Aesthetic Spirit of Contemporary Capitalism 45
III. The Ethical Transformation of Contemporary Capitalism 53
Chapter 3 The Theoretical Orientation of Aesthetic Capitalization 61
I. The Essence of Aesthetic Capitalism 61
II. The Mechanism of Operation of Aesthetic Capitalism 69
III. Attempts at Aesthetic Capitalism 77
IV. The Negative Orientation of Aesthetic Capitalism 84
Chapter 4 The Evolutionary Logic of Aesthetic Capitalization 94
I. Consumerization of Society 94
II. Consumption Symbolization 99
III. Aestheticization of Symbols 105
IV. Aesthetic Capitalization 115
Chapter 5 The Realistic Face of Aesthetic Capitalization 127
I. The Aesthetic Dimension: The Progress of the Critique of Capital 127
II. The Logic of Capital: The Return of Aesthetic Life 135
III. Internal Mechanisms: The Generation of Aesthetic Capital 142
IV. Multiple Facets: The Form of Aesthetic Capital 148
Chapter VI The Cultural Consequences of Aesthetic Capitalization 165
I. The structure and function of consumption rules 165
II. The Realistic Feelings of Aesthetic Photography 178
III. The Symbolic Satisfaction of Sensual Experience 192
IV. The Dissolving Character of Capital Ethics 201
Chapter VII Literary Symptoms of Aesthetic Capitalization 210
I. The Phenomenology of Consumption and the Change of Literary Institutions 210
II. The Concept of Daily Life and the Transformation of Literary Concepts 229
III. Literary Expressions of Physical Concealment and Openness 258
IV. Aesthetic Exercises and Reflections on Identity 273
Chapter VIII Aesthetic Governance of Aesthetic Capitalization 281
I. Reconstruction of Aesthetic Discourse 281
II. Essentials of Aesthetic Governance 295
3. Aesthetic Governance Effectiveness 303
Critical Reflections on Aesthetic Capitalization 311
Ref.: 322
Afterword 333
preface
preface
Text丨Li Zhengshui
Time changes, the world changes. In today's accelerated world, social changes are all-encompassing, and new things are emerging one after another, which is inevitably dazzling and confusing, and there is often a sigh that it cannot keep up with the pace of the times. In order to cope with this drastic change, scholars in the humanities and social sciences have put forward many new ideas and perspectives, and gradually formed some descriptive, general, and explanatory conceptual terms and theoretical propositions, with the aim of providing footnotes for the transition from industrial society to post-industrial society and explaining the transition from modernism to postmodernism. These academic ideas are of positive significance and provide a useful reference for us to grasp the current society. However, with the advancement of academic research, some of these concepts and terms are facing deconstruction and adjustment, while others must be deepened and extended, especially they need to be recontextualized to form a knowledge form and value order that is integrated with and adapted to the reality of Chinese society. For this reason, it is of great practical significance to carry out in-depth research in the current social environment and academic context. Of course, there are many topics that need to be studied, such as "consumer society", "consumer culture", and "consumerism", and the key is to be able to advance existing research and put forward new academic perspectives in light of the conditions of the new era. This not only has high academic value, but also has profound social significance. Professor Wang Jingmin's forthcoming book "Aesthetic Capitalization" is one of them, and he is interested in promoting the study of consumer society and putting forward new insights and propositions, which is commendable. I have known Jingmin for many years, and I have the privilege of reading the manuscript of this book in advance, so I would like to briefly talk about my impressions.
The first is the tracking of cutting-edge academic issues. Objectively speaking, in the study of consumer society and consumer culture, Baudrillard and his successors have aroused widespread attention, and some research results have been accumulated in Chinese and foreign academic circles, and it is of little significance to repeat the exploration of this. It is gratifying to note that the book not only reflects on the ideological concepts of Baudrillard and other scholars, but also focuses on the academic frontier discourse of "aesthetic capitalism", combing its academic pedigree, identifying its basic connotations, identifying its value positions, and revealing its social and cultural influence. Fundamentally speaking, this academic discourse, which continues to be popular in Chinese and foreign academic circles, reflects the efforts of Western society to self-adjust and repair its institutional mechanisms, and although it can produce certain effects, it also contains inherent inferiority: it cannot change the nature of capital oppression and exploitation, but destroys the social and cultural ecology and literary aesthetic form through aesthetic manipulation. This makes consumption, aesthetics, capital and other factors intertwined and integrated, which has become a hot topic in the current academic circles. The discussion of these topics undoubtedly reflects the book's tracking of cutting-edge academic topics, which is worthy of recognition.
The second is the concern for social reality. Needless to say, the problem of consumption is no longer just an economic concept, it is also a social and cultural concept, which has infiltrated people's work and life, and also shaped the cultural ecology and literary and artistic forms, and has an important impact on people's values. This kind of influence is confusing, complex and difficult to discern, with both positive and negative implications, and together they constitute the problem domain of our academic research. In recent years, some studies have been interested in the interpretation of concepts in the study, which has alienated the social and cultural reality, deviated from the problem-oriented orientation of academic research, and has become more and more isolated and closed. This cannot but be said to be a regrettable thing. In stark contrast, the book always adheres to the awareness of problems, pays close attention to the actual changes of consumption, aesthetics, and capital, discovers regularities from it, and criticizes and corrects various symptoms such as consumption fetishism, aesthetic objectification, and capital alienation, so as to provide academic reference for creating a better life and academic support for the comprehensive and free development of people.
Again, it is a generalization of academic propositions. This work condenses and summarizes the deductive logic of "aesthetic capitalism", reveals the basic laws of its gradual occurrence by social consumerization, consumption symbolization, symbolic aestheticization, and aesthetic capitalization, and creatively puts forward the proposition of "aesthetic capitalization", making it an academic tool for identifying the current social and cultural reality, especially in analyzing the changes of aesthetic culture and the progress of aesthetic criticism. The book also describes and summarizes the social and cultural patterns affected by aesthetic capitalization, and carries out penetrating analysis and argumentation on topics such as cultural representation, literary symptoms, and aesthetic governance. This suggests that we should critically learn from Western academic resources, actively set up academic propositions, put forward academic discourse, and construct an independent knowledge system based on China's position and cultural self-confidence, which is very important for current literary and artistic research and aesthetic criticism.
Finally, there is the exploration of research methods. The book uses comparative poetics and genealogical research methods. In the sense of comparative poetics, this work does not simply conduct comparative research, but extracts specific issues, analyzes its theoretical origins, grasps its academic evolution, reveals its value connotation, and makes precise analysis and accurate judgments in combination with the specific cultural context of China and foreign countries, which is refreshing to read. As far as genealogy is concerned, the author excavates the historical origin and current reality of academic discourse from the aspects of genealogy, functionalism, and values, and combines the newly emerged academic concepts with its prehistory, rheological history, and cross-cultural reception history.
In the process of reading the manuscript, I deeply felt the broadening of the author's academic horizons, as a professor of English, he has great enthusiasm for theoretical research and also shows a high level of theoretical literacy. Of course, the theoretical issues involved in this work are extremely complex, in the new social context, the criticism of capital is still on the way, the value of consumer research is diverse, and the aesthetic topic is even more diverse, so it is difficult to attribute it to one person. It is impossible to solve all the problems in one book by discussing the relevant issues overnight, and it is impossible to solve all the problems through one work. In this sense, the answers to the questions raised in this book may not be satisfactory, but in fact, it is more an encouragement to Professor Wang Jingmin to continue to move forward bravely and carry out more in-depth exploration of these questions, so as to usher in a new landscape on the road of academic improvement.
Book excerpts
The harmony between aesthetics and capital, the interaction and evolution of aesthetic capitalization and capital aestheticization, have now reached an unprecedented level, so that the concept of "aesthetic capitalism" has appeared. This concept is indiscriminately derived from the knowledge production of Western academic circles, but it has also aroused resonance among Chinese scholars, and its theoretical deduction is unfolding in multiple levels and dimensions, objectively summarizing the context in which aesthetic capitalization occurs. So, what exactly is "aesthetic capitalism", what is its intention, and what is its implications? Does it really escape the interpretive vision of classical Marxist theory, does it indicate the latest development trend of capitalism, and does it have realistic explanatory power and academic generalization? These are all questions that need to be clarified urgently, and to answer these questions, it is necessary to have a clear understanding of the genealogy, functionalism, and value orientation of "aesthetic capitalism". Any kind of theoretical concept and academic thought does not arise out of thin air, and must have a specific reason. The origin and abuse of "aesthetic capitalism" have a specific background, and examining it is also the premise and key for us to accurately grasp the evolution of "aesthetic capitalism".
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The transformation of the production society into the consumer society means that "the rapid increase in productivity has created enough material means of subsistence to meet people's living needs and even surplus, and in the Western society in the era of affluence, an unprecedented new problem has emerged, which is not to promote production to meet consumption, but to promote consumption in order to produce ". In fact, it is not so much that consumption can be used to produce, but that only by promoting consumption can the overall operation of society be guaranteed; Without consumption, not only will production face catastrophic stagnation, but the life of society as a whole will also stagnate. Therefore, to promote consumption is to maintain the benign momentum of the society, to stimulate consumption in every possible way, and to guide consumption in a new way, which is the first choice of businesses and the nation and country behind them. As a result, creating a consumer culture is its preferred strategy and strategy, which also reflects more complex entanglements and relationships.
Following in the footsteps of the consumerization of society, the symbolization of consumption came into being. Without the symbolization of consumption, the operation of the consumer society is unsustainable, so it can be said that the symbolization of consumption can be called the core meaning of the consumer society. Accordingly, the real intention of consumption is no longer in the physical sense of the object of consumption, that is, the use value or even exchange value of various goods or objects, or experiential services, but in its symbolic value and symbolic value. As Baudrillard puts it: "Consumption is not a material practice, nor is it a phenomenology of 'abundance'...... Rather, it is to organize all these [elements] into essences that have the function of expressing meaning; It is a virtual totality, in which all the objects and information, from this point on, constitute a more or less logically coherent discourse. If the word consumption is to be meaningful, then it is a systematic manipulation of symbols. That is to say, the clothes we wear, the accessories we wear, the cars we drive, and the houses we live in certainly have their physical referents, but the use value of these referents is no longer important, what matters is the referent of the symbol behind it, which is the symbolic meaning of social status, identity, taste and taste, especially the distinguishing function of symbolic meaning. This constitutes a kind of temptation mechanism, so that consumers enter the symbolic consumption, and those who are unable to consume, or who have the ability but do not consume, will become the "new poor" of the consumer society. In other words, consumption means a systematic manipulation of symbols, behind consumption is no longer the consideration and consideration of the use value of goods, but the comparison and measurement of many symbolic meanings, and this measurement itself hides the inducement and incentive mechanism, so that consumers in the consumer society are indulged in illusions and happy to do it, and complete the psychological expectation of social value in the consumption impulse again and again, so as to complete the consumption behavior, and lay the foundation for the structural operation of the consumer society. "To become the object of consumption, the object must become a symbol", because consumption in the sense of consumer society does not refer to practical consumption, but symbolic consumption. The American sociologist George Ritzer put it bluntly: "Baudrillard believed that in a world controlled by symbols, consumption no longer had anything to do with the satisfaction of what we normally think of as 'need'." As the most active factor of consumer society and consumer culture, as the specific presentation of consumer symbolization, symbols are ubiquitous, ubiquitous, and ubiquitous, constituting a maze of symbols around everyone.
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This article is excerpted from "Aesthetic Capitalization"
Written by Wang Jingmin
Life, Reading, New Knowledge Joint Bookstore Life Bookstore Publishing Co., Ltd
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