Double Variation Of Aesthetic And Enlightenment

In the literary education, the relation between aesthetic and enlightenment is a disputable question. Generally speaking, aesthetic and enlightenment is unanimous principally. Aesthetic is a meta-utility or non-utility relation between people and reality, the aim of which is making people gain affectional enjoyment and spiritous delight. Enlightenment means doing away with ignorance and liberating human nature, setting people free from utilitarianism. Aesthetic realizes meta-utility through perception, while enlightenment through reason: they have different ways to aim, but they both direct to human liberation and significance obtainment. Ideal literary education is the unification of aesthetic and enlightenment. But, in imperfect historical phases of human society, enlightenment is always limited and aesthetic is always distorted. In early 20 century, it was interior and exterior difficult position in China and consistent worrying mentality of literary intellectuals that made enlightenment limited as a movement of changing national character. Collaborating with ignorance in traditional literature, aesthetic was feudalized and degenerated national character. Therefore, aesthetic and enlightenment were separated in Luxun' s age. Fronted with them, Luxun chose to emphasize enlightenment and shelve aesthetic. As a great writer, he certainly knew literary aesthetic nature. But the situation was so severe and his desire for developing country by developing people was so strong that he added much enlightenment reason spirit to literature, regardless of aesthetic. Meantime, feudalized aesthetic couldn' t contribute to liberating human nature. Oppositely, it would contribute to degenerating national character. So, he created many new aesthetic formsdistinguished from traditional aesthetic literature. All that formed Luxun' s opinion of emphasizing enlightenment and shelving aesthetic on literary education. With the passage of time, re-unification of aesthetic and enlightenment in today' s literary education is possible and necessary. And their re-unification can settle disputations about today' s literary education. There are three theories in today' s literary education: language-oriented, spirit-oriented and aesthetic-oriented. Their common fault is one-sided comprehension of literary value. Literary education is not only aesthetic education or spirit education, much less language education. In literary education, aesthetic, spirit and language are combined tightly. Aesthetic is ideal nature of literature. Enlightenment is practical task of literature. Aesthetic and enlightenment are realized by language. Among them, aesthetic is the core, around which spirit education and language education revolve and carry on. Today' s literary education is a perceptual enlightenment, namely the unification of aesthetic and enlightenment. Today' s literature still needs critical spirit. But concrete connotation of enlightenment has been changed creatively. Literary enlightenment cannot preach moral lesson and teach ideas directly, but realizes enlightenment by aesthetic. In today' s literary education, enlightenment and aesthetic should both restore their general and ideal connotation. So, aesthetic is enlightenment. Aesthetic itself is the aim of literary education. Obtainment of aesthetic is accomplishment of enlightenment.