Cultural Modernity and Aesthetic Issues

Author: Zhou Xian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: The concept of modernity has always been closely associated with aesthetics or artistic practice. Although its connotation later far exceeded the scope of aesthetics and expanded to various levels such as society, politics, economy, and culture, its aesthetic significance has remained consistent. The research methodology of this book is quite similar to the keyword study method advocated by Raymond Williams. On the premise of highlighting the correlation among aesthetics, modernity, and social theory, it reveals some concepts that represent cultural modernity and aesthetic modernity, such as nostalgia, rationalization, the art world, avant-garde, and the end of art. By exploring the complex relationships between these concepts, it uncovers their rich socio-cultural implications. It is also a study of the history of ideas. This book not only offers a new approach to current aesthetic research in terms of methodology but also advances the discussion of the modernity issue at a micro level. There are different approaches to studying the issue of modernity. This book follows Habermas's classic definition of modernity, taking cultural modernity as an important to understand the issue of modernity, and gradually focuses on the aesthetic modernity issue related to aesthetics and art. This book breaks through the traditional limitations of "scholastic aesthetics" and reflects on aesthetic and artistic issues from a higher level, rather than merely analyzing aesthetic concepts at a logical level. By placing aesthetic issues in a broad socio-cultural context, this book contributes a profound elaboration of important concepts related to cultural modernity and aesthetic modernity, effectively revealing the complex aesthetic landscape of contemporary society and culture, as well as the perplexed inner state of modern people. Therefore, this book is not only a breakthrough in the field of aesthetics but also a valuable component of current modernity issue research.