Classical, Romantic, and Modern: The Evolution of Western Aesthetic Paradigms

Author: Kou Pengcheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-07-01
Features: Due to participating in the National Social Science Fund project "History of Western Aesthetic Categories" under the guidance of Professor Zhu Liyuan, the author wrote the chapters on "Classical and Romantic" categories. This was done to delve deeper into the issue, conducting a more thorough, specific, and systematic study of the evolution of Western aesthetic paradigms. In the long history of "guerrilla warfare," the concepts of "Classical," "Romantic," and "Modern" served as entry points, with the paradigmatic evolution of aesthetic value orientation as the central focus and the realization of modernity as the underlying theme. By examining representative figures from each period as "points," the author achieved a balance between addressing the broader "surface" and delving into specific "points," thereby avoiding empty rhetoric and convincing himself. In the paper, the author presents the evolution of aesthetic paradigms as a superficial and directly observable historical phenomenon, while the pursuit of aesthetic modernity is regarded as the deep-seated driving force and goal of this paradigmatic evolution, being intrinsic and invisible. The evolution of aesthetic paradigms from classical to romantic marks the attainment of aesthetic modernity, and aesthetic modernity is manifested through the evolution of aesthetic paradigms. Aesthetic modernity serves as the deep red thread and underlying current of the evolution of aesthetic paradigms, while the evolution of judicial paradigms represents the external manifestation and ultimate outcome of aesthetic modernity. In this way, the evolution of aesthetic paradigms and the pursuit of aesthetic modernity are intertwined, with paradigmatic evolution essentially being the attainment of modernity, and the attainment of modernity manifesting as paradigmatic evolution. They thus achieve unity.