A Study Of Cultural Industry In Economic And Social Development

"Cultural industry" began to grow up in the second half of last century. China cultural industry, which has a naissance background different from that of western cultural industry and which started in the historical process of building the socialist market economy system, has its own developing characteristics. Cultural industry research, which is a reflection of the research on the relation between culture and industrial civilization and even the whole social civilization, comes into being with the need of the social historical development and comes to be attached importance to. In today's China, there are a lot of works and articles on the research into cultural industry, some of which are of a cultural perspective while others of an economic perspective, but few of them supply a detailed discussion from the perspective of Marxist theory of social development. In contrast, in foreign countries, some philosophers and sociologists have achieved a lot by adopting the theory of social development, but their research is mainly based on the situation of contemporary western countries. This dissertation is based on the world development of cultural industry and the cultural industry in China's actual conditions, and the argument is grounded on both culture and industry. And then, facing the new historical situation and the actual conditions of our country, this study enriches Marxist theories to keep pace with the times in order to direct the development of our country's cultural industry in the course of promoting theoretical innovation.The dissertation is basically composed of six chapters, the first three composing the first part and the second three composing the second part. The first part, including the first three chapters, is divided into three subparts. Firstly, the dissertation gives the definition for "cultural industry" based on the two internal elements of "both culture and industry", compares the influential definitions of cultural industry theories at home and abroad, analyzes the translated terms and concepts relevant to "cultural industry", investigates deeply into the relevant discussions in Marxist classic works and digs up Marx's original ideas of this aspect from his original works pointing out the contemporary significance of such ideas though the concept of "cultural industry" was not put forward in his works. Secondly, the dissertation deals with the fact that "cultural industry" differs from but at the same time develops with the rise of contemporary "information economy", "knowledge economy" and "creative economy"; and it discusses the more important status of cultural industry in the shift from "dual economy" to "monistic economy", in "tertiary industries", and in "service industry", and it discusses its more important status in "improving economic structure and offering cultural service". Finally, based on the purpose to reveal the ideological features of cultural industry with its cultural content and its features of economic operation with its form of industry, the dissertation addresses the role of cultural industry in promoting economic growth, enriching cultural life, and enhancing the soft national strength in social development as well as the role of making culture "mediocre", "pseudo-world" overflowing, and "perfect crime" start in certain social conditions, holding that the two roles are different in different social systems; and it discusses the self historical trend of the role of cultural production and cultural industry in the historical process of social development forms and stages.The second part, consisting of the second three chapters, involves three aspects. Firstly, the dissertation discusses the building state of China cultural industry. Secondly, the dissertation analyzes the developing situation of Shandong cultural industry as an illustrative example of the developing state of China cultural industry. Finally, some tips are put forward on how to well develop cultural industry while faced with existing problems.What this dissertation is original lies in the following three aspects: Firstly, by comparing and integrating various literatures the dissertation deeply unearths the primitive thought about "cultural industry" from Marx's original discourse though Marx did not put forward the concept in his original works. New to the past literature of the academic field, this contribution acts as a new extension to and deepening of the academic research in such fields as scientific socialism and economics as well as the construction of the theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics.Secondly, the author thinks over and investigates into cultural industry by taking it in the overall situation of the whole socio-economic development: (1) The past studies on the naissance of cultural industry and its relation with knowledge economy, information economy and creative economy tend to discuss them separately while ignoring their real relations, taking them either as the same or as independent or coordinate economic patterns. In the section the "Naissance of Cultural Industry", the dissertation deals with this issue in the way different from past literature, forms a dynamic developing survey where history and logic are in agreement. (2) The past discussion on the status of cultural industry used to fail to make basic argumentation in the social structural evolution from "dual economy" to "unary economy". In the section the "Status of Cultural Industry", the dissertation aims to make clear that developing cultural industry doses not act as an expedient measure nor simply to increase the index of tertiary industry in "tertiary industries", instead it is determined by historical inevitability in the historical tendency of modern society which changes from "dual economy" to "unary economy". All this forms a new angle in the study of the "status" of cultural industry. (3) The past discussion on the role of cultural industry used to focus on one function, that is, either on the positive function or on the negative function in social development. It is pointed out in the dissertation that cultural industry is of two functions in promoting social progress: It can play a positive role or a negative role in social progress. The important difference lies in the fact that though cultural industry can of course play a positive role in the capitalist world in contributing to socio-economic prosperity, yet its negative role may manifest itself expansively together with the capitalist system; whereas in socialist system, the positive role of cultural industry in human development can be given full play to and its possible negative role can be controlled and stopped through the restriction, regulation and proper direction of socialist system though the negative role can also occur with improper direction.Thirdly, the dissertation makes a far deep historical investigation into the "cultural industry" in the coordinate system of social development. The dissertation, especially by putting "cultural production" and "cultural industry" in the evolution of Marx's historical "Three Principal Patterns", gives such a developing series of dynamic explanation that holds that culture changes from its pattern not as an "industry" to its commodity pattern as an "industry" and to its pattern of "cultural production". It is the historical trace of cultural production of human society. Based on this, the dissertation points out that cultural industry must be developed vigorously in order that cultural products will not appear in the shape of cultural commodity. And it is emphasized in light of China's current reality that the following two choices are both not advisable: either to develop culture via the investment manner of planned economy without developing cultural industry; or to develop cultural industry like the capitalist countries, making cultural products tinted with the utter nature of commodity. Developing cultural industry with Chinese characteristics is on the one hand for developing economy but at the same time it does not only act as an expedient measure for increasing the cultural content of economic products so as to arrive at economic rise; it is for making culture prosperous but at the same time it does not act as an expedient measure for making culture prosperous; instead, it is a historical task which must be fulfilled for developing socialism with Chinese characteristics so as to push forward social and historical development. The dissertation proposes that since there are no chapters exclusively on cultural industry in the present textbooks on the theoretical system of scientific socialism such content should be included, extended as the development of socialist cultural industry with Chinese characteristics, and discussed as special subjects. In a word, this dissertation supplies answers to the following questions: What is cultural industry? What about the general concept, naissance and development, nature, status and role of cultural industry that appeared in history? How to look upon the cultural industry which should be developed in China? How to get hold of the policies for developing cultural industry at present? To meet with such requirement, we should on the one hand investigate into the different opinions in the original works by modern philosophers, economists, and sociologists on the basis of fundamental theories; and on the other hand, by facing the most actual problems of cultural industry, make a large amount of investigation into the practice of contemporary cultural industry so as to put forward policy argument. The dissertation attempts to provide argument, by uniting theory and practice, on the issue of "cultural industry", which we are able to experience and perceive in our present life, in the big proposition and historical coordinate system of human social development. The theory aims to be useful in carrying forward theoretical development at the level of social development rather than only at the level of economic or cultural policy; while the practice aims to be useful in guiding actual practice by promoting the vision of social development instead of only at the level of theoretical concept.