Literary texts of consumer society (literary text forms in the era of broad mass media)

Author: Jiang Rongchang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: This article begins by retracing some fundamental misconceptions in the social justice theory of "modernity," examines the value foundation of the consumer society system within the framework of social justice theory, and clarifies that the consumer society is a stage that the "modern society" logically progresses to since the foundation of "modernity," as well as a result driven by the "class struggle" at the practical level, as represented by the debates between left- and right-wing thinkers in the theory of "modernity." The article also responds to representative discussions related to postmodernism and the consumer society. Regarding several key areas of postmodernism, such as "the modern state of knowledge," "symbol and image consumption," "the disappearance of the boundary between life and art," and "high culture vs. popular culture or elite culture vs. mass culture," the article presents its own perspectives.