Realism As An Art To Explore A Dimension

Realism in the history of aesthetics, whether as a method, a trend of thought or a concept, had an exceedingly far-reaching influence. With the tremendous social and cultural changes in the 20th century, the vacillation of realism's connotation and the elastic development of its external form are connected and interact on each other, constituting a peculiar view in the humane and art realms which we call "the phenomenon of realism". To analyze it from the perspective of the theoretical means, we can easily get such a hint as "the aesthetic relationship between art and reality". And a thorough investigation of those art and literary trends of thought or schools including critical realism, surrealism and magic realism will show that on the one hand, the changes of reality and people's conceptions of reality are bound to find their way into and exert influences on art, and the formation of the artistic text cannot do without the real life; on the other hand, the artistic text itself is reality-oriented, and it has to merge into the real life in some special way so as to realize the value of art. Therefore, the "realism" they together refer to or are referred to as, can in fact be used as a dimension of our art study.Realism as a dimension of art study, is mostly concerned with the aesthetic relationship between art and reality. That is what we've concluded from the evolution of realism (especially the art and literary phenomena of the 20th century), and it can be seen at every stage of development of the history of aesthetics. The aesthetic relationship between art and reality is a basic question that the art and literary aesthetics can't evade, and to which we must supply a timely response.Although the artistic creation is closely linked with real life, we shouldn't mechanically regard the art world as the "Imitation-Reproduction" or (aesthetic) reflection of the real life; moreover, the generative process of the artistic text from real life is not so simple as the theory of reflection or the unity ofreproduction and expression. Based on the contemporary cultural horizon and theoretical background, we should see the art-reality relationship as an interactive one, and the formation of the artistic text is just the process in which this complicated aesthetic relationship exists and evolves. No doubt, the aesthetic relationship between art and reality also includes the artistic text's value question after its taking shape. That art is reality-oriented by itself has determined that only by merging into life and participating in the aesthetic construction of reality in the principle of defamiliarization and the aesthetic way, can it achieve its cultural meanings on the group of mankind and manifest the intact connotation of art as art.This passage doesn't intend any further theoretical definition of realism the literary and critical term; what we're trying to disclose is the aesthetic relationship between art and reality. Realism is of long standing and its development may well be endless though it's likely to be changed beyond recognition, for the aesthetic relationship between art and reality conditions art and influences reality. To reveal the real existence and significance of realism as a dimension of art study and thereby help establish a criticism oriented towards the world, may be conducive to extricating the science of art and literature and aesthetics from the current "rootless" predicament. We can't leave the real life to create, comprehend or appreciate art, for it is just in this reality that we're living.